LANCASTER, Pa. – Nelly Korda took a 10 on her third hole of the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday when she hit three short-game shots into the stream in front of the par-3 12th green.
It was a devastating start for the No. 1 player in women’s golf at Lancaster Country Club, a course that already was playing difficult enough that birdies were hard to find.
Korda walked off the green and removed her visor, placing her hand over her forehead for a few seconds before walking over to the next tee. A video crew kept the camera fixed on the walking scorer as “+1” was changed to a “+8″ next to her name.
The 12th hole — Korda started her round on No. 10 — had the markings of a problem. It measures 161 yards down the hill to a green that slopes from back to front and has a stream in front of it. The pin was at the front, where the green pitches more severely toward the water.
When Korda’s group reached the hole, there were two other groups on the tee waiting to play.
Her tee shot bounced over the green into a bunker. Korda splashed it out of the sand with too much pace, and it rolled past the pin and kept going down the slope into the water. She took a penalty drop on the other side of the stream and hit a low pitch that hit the bank and rolled back into the water.
She took another penalty drop. Her next pitch flew to the front of the green, and rolled back again into the water. Korda dropped into a crouch, stunned by a U.S. Women’s Open that was getting away from her just as she was getting started.
Korda dropped a third time, hit a pitch that flew to the hole and rolled about 8 feet by. She missed the putt and took a septuple-bogey 10.
Korda began her round with a bogey when she didn’t have enough club from 160 yards away. Her ball landed just short of the green and rolled some 35 yards down a steep hill.
She was the overwhelming favorite coming into the biggest event on the LPGA schedule, a winner in six of her last seven tournaments. That included the first major of the year in the Chevron Championship, where she tied an LPGA record with her fifth win in a row.
Korda has only two top 10s in the U.S. Women’s Open, known as being the toughest test in golf with its difficult setup.
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