Korda warms up to Carnoustie
Top-ranked golfer shares lead at Women’s Open — Henderson four back
Nelly Korda decided against doing a pre-tournament news conference at the AIG Women’s Open in favour of spending time on the range and trying to get some extra rest.
That focus on herself paid off Thursday, as the world’s topranked female golfer grabbed a share of the lead after 18 holes.
Korda, who reached No. 1 when she won the Women’s PGA Championship in June, has three LPGA Tour victories this year, plus an Olympic gold medal. She made the game look easy Thursday, making eight birdies, including three in her first six holes, in the opening round of the season’s last major.
“I try to take the mindset of every day’s a new day. It doesn’t matter what my ranking is,” said Korda, who holds the firstround lead along with Madelene Sagström and Sei Young Kim. “Everyone’s going into this event prepared and wanting to win. That’s kind of like the mindset that I try to take into every event.”
There were plenty of red figures at Carnoustie, nicknamed “Car-nasty” as it has been historically difficult, because the wind wasn’t a factor Thursday. Korda, whose 68.89 scoring average leads the tour, said she was able to stay “pretty aggressive.”
“Over the years that I’ve kind of played links golf, I’ve learned that it’s just better to have longer clubs in, and it’s just a different style of golf, like my wedges release, like, 20 yards because it’s so firm,” the 23-year-old Korda said. “It wasn’t windy today, so you could take advantage a little bit of the softer greens.”
Korda said she was able to lean on past Women’s Open winner-turned-broadcaster Karen Stupples for some pre-tournament pointers. Stupples, who won the tournament in 2004, told Korda that taking irons off the tee could be more beneficial than trying to blast the driver and end up in one of Carnoustie’s 112-plus bunkers.
“You never know at (the Women’s Open) what kind of weather you’re going to get,” Korda said. “So. if you take advantage of these days and score lower, then I think it’s a good stepping stone to the next few days.”
Korda, who has a Canadian connection — her boyfriend is London, Ont., native Andreas Athanasiou, a forward with the Los Angeles Kings — has recorded two top-15 finishes in a row in the Women’s Open. She is looking to become the first American woman to win multiple majors in the same year since Juli Inkster in 1999.
Korda, Sagström and Kim lead a foursome of golfers at 4 under, including 2021 U.S. Women’s Open winner Yuka Saso, who played with Canadian Brooke Henderson on Thursday.
Henderson finished at 1 under and was tied for 22nd. The Smiths Falls, Ont., golfer has only been under par after 18 holes in three of her past eight events, including the Olympics.
The 10-time LPGA Tour winner will look to take advantage of calmer morning conditions in the second round. Most of the golfers near the top of the board, including two of the three leaders, teed off in the morning on Thursday.
Henderson, Saso, and American Lexi Thompson (3 under) will go at 8:09 a.m. Friday.
Regardless of where the chasers sit, it’s the unsurprising leader who is both comfortable and confident heading into the next three rounds in Scotland.
“I’m just going on like a little girl playing golf,” Korda said with a smile, “enjoying myself in this cold weather.”