At the famous Old Course at St. Andrews, world No. 1 Nelly Korda looked set to complete an incredible season with a second major victory, but a terrible finish on Sunday destroyed her ambitions in a matter of holes.
A wild first three rounds and an overall wild season preceding Korda’s tumultuous final day at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open.
Korda had a fantastic run earlier in the year, winning six of seven LPGA tournaments, including the Chevron Championship in April, where she captured her second career major.
After that rough period, Korda really cooled off and started to miss cuts often, especially at the next two majors. Then, in the final round, an untimely shank on the fifteenth hole smothered a late assault at the Olympic gold in Paris.
However, as the year’s last major got underway this week at the Old Course, World No. 1 Korda appeared to be able to overcome her obstacles and return to the winner’s circle after all, starting with back-to-back 68s in relentless gusts to seize the lead after 36 holes.
After shooting a three-over 75 in the third round to give up the lead to Jiyai Shin, Korda’s Scottish roller coaster ride took a turn for the worst. For the American celebrity, though, the drama was far from over.
On Sunday, Korda recorded birdies at the 5, 7, 9, and 10 holes to surge ahead of the field and seize a two-shot lead. Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu, two other Americans, trailed behind and were in danger of losing out.
Then Korda’s bad luck struck at the par-5 14th hole. The hole ought to have been an excellent chance for her to tie the record with a fifth birdie and position herself for a stroll into the winner’s circle. Her second try at a layup went to waste in the deep grass, but she managed to catch a rebound and take her third shot over the green. Subsequently, Korda’s chip failed to make it and bounced back off the green.
She expertly chipped to four feet on her fifth stroke, giving herself a nice chance at bogey and putting her up by one. Nevertheless, Korda’s brief attempt at bogey went wide, allowing her to tie the lead with a devastating double-bogey.
“With 58 degrees, it suddenly shot on me.” After her round on Sunday, Korda explained her double-bogey on hole 14. “The wedge shot that I had over the green was sort of sitting a little bit in a hole with some of the—wwhatever you call it, the ‘hay’ or whatever you call it behind it,” Korda said. “I just can’t seem to catch it properly, and I obviously missed the golf putt.”
On the course, Ko was in front of her, while Vu was in back of her, and they both made birdie at the fourteenth. Even though Ko responded with a shot at the fifteenth hole, she led by one stroke at seven under thanks to a crucial birdie putt at the eighteenth hole, where Korda and Vu were still playing.
Korda might have had a chance to tie Ko with a birdie of her own at 18 seconds after her putt dropped. But she would never have the chance.
Korda’s second shot found the feared front-left bunker of the 17th hole, known as the “Road Hole.” She had to play away from the hole in order to make a clean escape. Next up for her was a mid-range putt for par. She missed that putt, falling to five under and two strokes behind Ko, the leader of the clubhouse.
After her round, Korda attempted to clarify what had transpired on the seventeenth.
“I had to strike it directly. I had one of those moments where you think you can get it, but you swing and miss and you hit the top of the bunker, and I was a little too close to the back edge [of the bunker on 17], Korda said. Rather than doing that, I took my medication and made a slight right turn. Putt really well, but just lacked sufficient pace.
She could only manage a par to end in a tie for second place at five under, meaning she would have to hole-out for Eagle 18 to tie.
Even if Korda’s performance in a major competition was disappointing once again, she managed to find some silverware during the week.
“Hey, let’s play golf. I’m going to make mistakes, and regrettably, I made two mistakes over the weekend that will hurt me down the stretch,” she remarked. Though I performed well, theoretically, that’s what kind of cost me the tournament. I performed well. Even after that, I fought. I will incorporate that into the upcoming events.
