On Thursday, Nelly Korda faced a difficult start to her opening round at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. Despite being the world No. 1 and having won six of her last seven starts, including the Chevron Championship earlier in the year, Korda struggled on the 161-yard 12th hole. After an opening bogey, she unraveled on the tricky green, with her tee shot finding the back bunker and her next shot from the sand carrying too far and rolling into the water.
Korda continued to struggle on the hole, dumping two more shots into the water before missing a putt and walking off with a septuple-bogey 10. Despite this setback, Korda remained focused and added two more bogeys to her scorecard, finishing her first round in 10-over par and tied for last place as she made the turn.
The challenges of the 12th hole were not unique to Korda – throughout the first two hours of play on Thursday, players had already recorded five doubles and three other issues on that hole. However, Korda had anticipated these difficulties earlier in the week, noting that the shallow green made it challenging to navigate. She described the hole as brutally difficult, with slopes that players couldn’t see from the tee box. Overall, Korda’s disastrous start to her opening round was a reminder that even experienced players can struggle on any given day in golf.
