Nelly Korda claims Women’s Open lead in dream marquee threeball

Korda being pursued by Charley Hull and defending champion Lilia Vu who were her playing partners for the first two rounds

What are the chances of the top trio on the halfway leaderboard at a major all having played together in the same threeball for the first two rounds? If the odds on that scenario must have been long indeed, those on Nelly Korda to convert a three-short advantage from here onwards will be understandably short.
After another blustery day at the Old Course, the world No 1 is on eight-under courtesy of a second successive 68 that holds pride of place as one of only two bogeyless rounds so far at this windswept AIG Women’s Open.
Korda’s playing partners, England’s Charley Hull and defending champion Lilia Vu, are on five under following a 72 and 70 respectively. Their convergence at the head of events is made all the remarkable when one considers that while this group are a combined 18-under for the opening 36 holes, the collective score of the other 141 golfers in the field is more than 600-over.
Of course, everyone but those who believe in fairies at the bottom of the garden – and, perhaps, the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger – know that the organisers fix the “draw” and put the big names together, but the vagaries of golf and especially links golf almost never allows for scripts as neat as this to unfold. Believe it, this was a one-off. As is Korda.
St Andrews has a habit of anointing greats – Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods are just three from the male game, while Lorena Ochoa had her crowning moment in front of the R&A clubhouse 17 years ago – and at the end of a season in which she has won six titles, including the first major of the year, Korda would be more than a befitting name on the Home of Golf’s wall of fame.
The 26-year-old has recently failed to emulate her ridiculous form from the start of the campaign, finishing outside the top 20 at the Olympics and the Evian Championship. Yet that was an improvement on that strange spell after her record-breaking heroics as she missed cuts at both the US Women’s Open and the Women’s PGA, bizarrely failing to break 80 in rounds in each.
However, with a new putter and a fresh mindset in the 40mph gusts that is only permitting her to concentrate on the next task at hand, Korda has looked magnificent on these hallowed grounds. As the daughter of Petr Korda, who won tennis’s Australian Open. She knows that the ability to prevail on all surfaces sorts the legends out from the average Grand Slam and major winners and after just one top 10 in this tournament, that is her challenge this weekend.
“For sure,” Korda said. “I think just this year in general, I’ve won on just so many different types of grasses in different types of conditions that you just kind of always have to adapt. That’s the same thing in tennis, same thing in life. You’re always adapting to the situations, and I think that’s what’s so fun about links golf. I’m not a fade player but I’m hitting massive fades and it’s fun hitting these little low drivers, too. I’m having fun, and I enjoy links golf a lot. Every year that I get to play it, I learn a little bit more.”
Korda looks imposing, but Hull insists she is not intimidated. The overnight leader began her second round poorly, missing a two-footer on her opening hole – the 10th – and having dropped two more shots due to three-putts and with Korda coming on strong, it would have been easy to let the day, and, yes, the week get away from her. But Hull “dug deep” and played her last five holes in three-under and is ready to match up to the pacesetter.
“I feel like I’m equally hitting it as good as Nelly is – she just holed a few more putts than me today,” Hull said. “Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36. So that’s six putts I’ve lost to her on the greens. I’m only three behind. That’s nothing going into the weekend especially on this course.”
As someone who finished runner-up last year, Hull is also not about to forget about Vu. “I think Lilia is the one to watch, as well, because when it gets windy she kind of just sticks in there,” Hull said. “She’s a good scrambler.”
China’s Ruoning Yin is in fourth on four-under, while Lottie Woad, the 20-year-old from Farnham, is on two-under after a 70 and set to have a great fight for low amateur owners with Swede Louise Rydqvist, who fired a brilliant 67 – the only other bogeyless round – to leap to three-under.
There was emotion on the Swilcan Bridge as 2009 champion Catriona Matthew stopped and waved goodbye to the fans on what was her final major appearance. The Scot went on to birdie the last for a 74 to miss the cut on seven-over.