Nelly Korda’s surprising 10 on Thursday reverberated across the golf world, but in addition ended her bid for a second straight main championship.
Korda’s septuple bogey on the par-3 twelfth dropped her to 8-over par through 3 holes, which proved too massive of a deficit to beat. She went on to shoot a 10-over 80 on Thursday, then carded an even-par 70 on Friday to overlook the U.S. Girls’s Open minimize by two.
However in contrast to Thursday, the spotlight of Korda’s spherical on Friday got here on the now notorious twelfth gap. She made three birdies on the entrance 9, a formidable feat given the circumstances, however nothing may examine to the drama that unfolded on 12.
Korda hit her tee shot onto the entrance a part of the inexperienced, and her ball began to roll again down the slope, with nothing however the creek in its sights. But, Korda’s shot one way or the other discovered the one smidge of tough earlier than the water, which stopped her ball from discovering the stream once more.
“It’s undoubtedly not one in every of my favourite holes,” Korda stated after.
“I truly hit my iron shot actually dangerous. I hit it chunky, and fortunately it held up.”
Nelly Korda made a ten on a par 3 yesterday to shoot an 80 on the US Girls’s Open. At the moment she’s battling to make the minimize and simply got here this near hitting it within the drink once more on the identical gap!
Are {the golfing} gods looking for her at this time? pic.twitter.com/VrC9KeREdW
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) Might 31, 2024
Her second shot didn’t come out nice, however no less than it didn’t discover the water.
“I used to be form of in a extremely fluffy, bizarre, grassy lie,” Korda stated.
“It nearly felt like Bermuda fluffy, so I simply tried to jab at it realizing it was uphill.”
She then confronted an uphill putt from 25 ft to the back-left gap location.
“I truly thought I missed the putt, however the golf gods form of made it go to the left, and I made it,” Korda added.
“It was good to make a par. I wished to make a birdie to get my revenge on that gap, however par will do.”
After that putt dropped, Korda appeared to have muttered, “F*** you,” whereas cheekily flailing her arms. That summed up her emotions in regards to the twelfth gap completely.
Completely love this “tribute” to no. 12 by Korda after she saves par. I’ve been there. (Apart from ever making par.) pic.twitter.com/f9BU5uLsyV
— Shane Ryan (Reliable) (@ShaneRyanHere) Might 31, 2024
However sadly for Korda, she’s going to head dwelling early.
Korda final missed a minimize on the KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol one 12 months in the past, a formidable streak for the highest participant on this planet. Since then, Korda has rattled off six wins—together with a record-tying 5 straight—all of them coming in 2024. Her final victory got here two weeks in the past at Liberty Nationwide, the place she received the Mizuho Americas Open.
And but, if Korda even made a double bogey on the twelfth gap on Thursday, she would have made the weekend with room to spare.
Nonetheless, golf is a humorous sport, usually main many to explain it with the phrase Korda used on the twelfth inexperienced. That, in fact, summed up her 2024 U.S. Girls’s Open completely.
Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By means of. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.