After one round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Minneapolis, world No. 1 Nelly Korda is seven strokes back of the lead.
While Korda faces a large deficit to come back from, she was in solid form during the first round of the third major of the year. Korda shot a -2 70 to stay within striking distance if she has a good second round before the weekend.
Korda made an early birdie, but was looking elite throughout much of the middle of her round. Korda made five birdies between holes six and 15 with no dropped shots to get to -4 and looked prime to stay in firm contention. While her driver didn’t look up to the quality we are used to seeing, she was hitting solid approaches and putting well.
It all fell apart on the par 4 16th, where Korda made a double bogey to drop her back to -2. It was costly, as those two strokes would come in handy considering Ina Yoon’s excellent -9 63 is setting the pace. Korda made pars on the final two holes to wrap up a good, but unspectacular opening round.
Korda has won the first two major championships of the season, and has looked largely unstoppable, adding two other wins to her resumé this season. A win this week would give her the necessary points to reach the LPGA Hall of Fame, so there is a lot to play for in addition to keeping her hopes at the season super slam alive.
While Korda fell behind here, that isn’t out of the ordinary for her this season. Korda struggled mightily in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open and didn’t really get into contention until the third round. That being said, she probably needs some help from Yoon if she wants a chance come Sunday.
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