U.S. Ladies’s Open: Nelly Korda makes a jaw-dropping 10 early on

Nelly Korda didn’t get off to an incredible begin on the U.S. Ladies’s Open, bogeying the primary gap—the powerful par-4 tenth.

She then steadied herself considerably with a par on the tough par-4 eleventh, as she accomplished essentially the most difficult stretch Lancaster Nation Membership has to supply.

However she had no thought what would hit her on the downhill, scenic par-3 twelfth, which measures 161 yards.

The tee shot performs 20 yards downhill, enormously exposing the outlet to the winds. Subsequently, judging the space—and choosing the fitting membership—on this gap is a problem.

The inexperienced slopes severely from again to entrance, and a creek meanders throughout the entrance of the placing floor.

“The par-3 over the water, from the tee field, you’ll be able to’t see how sloped of a inexperienced that’s, however then when you get onto that inexperienced, you’re like, oh, my gosh, you’re coming in with a 6-iron,” Korda mentioned of the twelfth on Tuesday.

Photograph by Logan Whitton/USGA

“For those who’re lengthy, in a way, you’re type of screwed. For those who’re quick, you’re screwed too.”

Nicely, Korda did herself no favors in placing her tee shot within the again bunker on Thursday, leaving herself in a precarious place. With the pin on the entrance portion of the inexperienced, she needed to play her second shot gently.

However Korda obtained too aggressive. Her bunker shot trickled down the slope, lastly coming to relaxation within the creek.

She then had to return throughout the bridge and play her fourth shot from the golf green on the opposite aspect. However that’s when catastrophe really struck.

Korda tried to bump and run her chip into the slope, however she didn’t put sufficient on it. That, too, discovered the water.

Chris Keane/USGA

The highest-ranked participant on the earth then made the identical mistake twice, shockingly placing her sixth shot into the stream. An unlimited quantity loomed, and her possibilities of profitable back-to-back majors had fully washed away.

She then positioned her eighth shot above the outlet, didn’t make the putt coming again down the hill, and tapped in for a ten, a jaw-dropping rating that would depart an novice depressed. It additionally marked the highest rating of her profession, per golf stat guru Justin Ray.

Her early-round blunder instantly evoked reminiscences of Jordan Spieth’s meltdown on the twelfth gap at Augusta Nationwide in 2016.

Like Spieth then, Korda walked off the twelfth on Thursday trying rattled, and rightfully so. Identical to that, she started her U.S. Ladies’s Open at 8-over by three holes, making issues quite tough for her the remainder of the way in which.

Now, she has a critical uphill climb simply to make the reduce, not to mention win the golf match.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By. Make sure you try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You’ll be able to comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.