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. (More Sports News)
It was a devastating start for the No. 1 player in women's golf at Lancasꦜter Country Club, a course that already was playin♐g 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 vi🔯deo crew kept the camera fixed on the walking scorer as “+1” was changed to a “+8" next to her name.
The 12th ho🍸le — 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, ther🎀e were two other groups on the tee w𝓀aiting 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 rol🐷led back into the water.
She took another 🐠penalty drop. He✅r 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 lande𝓀d just short of the green and rolled some 35 yards down a steep hill.
She was the o♑verwhelming 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 t𒅌he toughest test in golfཧ with its difficult setup.
