ST ANDREWS, Scotland — As the No. 1 player in the world, Nelly Korda has become used to wearing a target on her back. Heavy expectation necessitates a sudden fall and, so, when she followed a run of six wins in seven tournaments with three successive missed cuts, gravity introduced itself without a handshake.
Since that streak — which included victory at the Chevron Championship, her first major since 2021 — ended in May, criticism that Korda is a “dome golfer,” a player who looks in ideal conditions but struggles in the more arduous tests, has returned in some quarters.
St Andrews, with its sidewards rain and howling gales, looked like a course designed to bolster that assertion.
After these first two days at the Old Course, Korda has placed that characterization on notice, posting successive 4-under rounds to start this Women’s Open and give herself a three-shot cushion on her nearest rivals, Lilia Vu and Charley Hull.
The 26-year-old Korda was utterly flawless on Friday. To shoot a bogey-free, 4-under 68 with without even the slightest hint of trouble is no mean feat amid the elements. To do so while feeling mildly frustrated that another five gettable birdies were not converted is a different level of comfort than anyone in the field has been able to find so far.
She had good looks at birdie from inside 20 feet on Nos. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14 and 16 but missed by a cup or lipped out each time. It looked like her putting may hold her scoring back but she rolled in a 20-foot birdie at the infamously tricky Road Hole on 17 and sunk another testing putt on 18.
Golf is not the only sport that searches for the fabled all-rounder. The tennis world of her brother Sebastian Korda, ranked number 16, also does it.
Completing the grand slam set is viewed as the pinnacle because it displays that a competitor is not just formidable on a certain surface or event, they are the ultimate because their game can answer any challenge thrown at them.
“This year I’ve won on just so many different types of grasses in different types of conditions that you just kind of always have to adapt,” Korda said.
“That’s the same thing in tennis, same thing in life. You’re always adapting to your situations at hand, and I think that’s what’s so fun about links golf is you’re literally starting it 30 yards left of your target. I’m not a fade player but I’m hitting massive fades.
“I think it’s fun hitting these little low drivers, too. I’m having fun, and I enjoy links golf a lot. You have a lot of 30-footers that feel like 50-footers out here because you’re hitting it into the wind.
“Then also the one that I had on 8, which was like a 20-footer and I hit almost like a 40-footer. It’s all about distance control out here and kind of getting it within a certain range so you have an easy two-putt.
