Nelly Korda’s hot putter is bad news for other U.S. Women’s Open contenders

ERIN, Wis. — Nelly Korda describes her relationship with the U.S. Women’s Open as “complicated.” And when looking at her history at this championship, it’s easy to see why. Despite being one of the most talented golfers on the planet (if not the most talented), Korda’s track record at her national open has been pedestrian at best — and outright putrid at worst.

Since making her first U.S. Women’s Open start in 2013, she has the same number of top 25s as rounds in the 80s (two). She’s twice finished inside the top 10, but she’s also missed the cut in three of the last four years — including a disastrous performance at Lancaster Country Club last summer that included a 10 on the scorecard. For a player of Korda’s caliber, the results just don’t match the talent level.

“Lots of ups and downs,” Korda said earlier this week. “It’s the biggest test in the game of golf. Definitely has tested me a lot.”

That test continued over the first 18 holes of this U.S. Women’s Open. Despite hitting the ball beautifully (she gained 3.26 strokes tee to green), Korda could only muster one birdie on the day on her way to an even-par 72. The culprit for her lackluster score? A balky putter that surrendered .77 strokes to the field, ranking outside the top 100 in Round 1.

In spite of it all, Korda was in good spirits as she faced the media late Thursday evening. In championships like this, posting an even-par score without your best stuff is nothing to scoff at.

“I was hitting my putts really good,” Korda said. “Wherever I was kind of looking, rolling it over my intermediate target, that’s where I was hitting it. I have no complaints. I will say I didn’t really hit a bad putt at all.”

This kind of positive self-talk can be common parlance among professional golfers. A certain level of delusion can do wonders for the mental game when things go poorly between the ropes. On Friday, though, Korda proved that her positivity after Round 1 wasn’t just lip service.

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Playing alongside Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson — this week’s “supergroup” — Korda came to life on the greens early Friday morning. As she continued to stuff her approaches in tight, those burned edges and lip outs that were common a day before turned into circles on the card Friday morning.

“Honestly, I was hitting really good putts yesterday. I was hitting it exactly where I wanted to and they just weren’t falling,” Korda said. “Today I did the same thing; I didn’t really try to do anything different, tried to roll it over an intermediate target.”

That simple recipe worked wonders as Korda carded seven birdies en route to a five-under 67 to vault herself into the top 5. While her putter was a liability on Thursday, in Round 2 it turned into a weapon as she holed over 100 feet of putts, gaining nearly a stroke on the greens in the process.

“I’m not riding the roller coaster like sometimes I do,” Korda said of her turnaround. “I’ve been just trying to be very level-headed and just know if I make a mistake that I can bounce back.”

Korda knows as well as anyone that major championships are not won with a single good round. But with her elite ball-striking numbers holding steady, it’s a safe bet her name will be near the top of the leaderboard come Sunday.

“I’m happy to be in the position I am heading into the weekend,” she said.

With the way she rolled the ball on Friday, it could spell bad news for the rest of the U.S. Women’s Open contenders over the next two rounds.