After opening in even-par 72 Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open, Nelly Korda didn’t have many complaints other than, “I wish the ball found the bottom of the cup a little bit more.”
Her ball obliged Friday as she made seven birdies on her way to a 5-under 67 — her best-ever score in this major. Korda was tied for second and three off the lead when she signed her scorecard.
“I feel like I’ve had a very complicated relationship with U.S. Opens. But I’m happy to be in the position I am heading into the weekend,” she said.
Korda is making her 11th start in the national open. She has three missed cuts compared to two top-10s. One of those missed cuts came last year when — already a six-time winner on the season — she opened in 80.
Coming off a round in which she made only one birdie — on her final hole — and less than 40 feet of putts, Korda got rolling early Friday at Erin Hills with a 26-foot birdie on her third hole, the par-4 12th.
Over her next eight holes, she had a pair of routine two-putt birdies on par 5s and made a 20-footer at the 17th. Her only blips came via a pair of three-putt bogeys on Nos. 15 and 2, both of which included missed par saves from inside 3 feet.
A fifth birdie on the day, courtesy a 15-footer at the fourth, got her to 3 under for the championship as she tried to keep pace with Mao Saigo. The Chevron champion made six birdies in her first 12 holes to reach 7 under par and tacked on one more for a 66 to post 8 under.
Korda did her part, making a 9-foot birdie at the fifth and a 7-footer at the seventh.
The two-time major winner, who is seeking her first victory of the year, continued her stellar play off the tee and with her irons, hitting 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in regulation. The difference Friday was her putter, with which she gained strokes on the greens after ranking 106th in that category Thursday.
“Honestly, I was hitting really good putts yesterday. I was hitting it exactly where I wanted to and they just weren’t falling. It was one of those days,” she said. “Today, I did the same thing; I didn’t really try to do anything different, tried to roll it over an intermediate target. My distance control has been really good on the putting green, so hopefully I can keep trending in the right direction heading into the weekend.”
Read the full article here