Nelly Korda Shrugs Off Missed Two-Foot Putt To Move Into US Women's Open Contention

After an even par 72 in the first round of the US Women’s Open at Erin Hills, Nelly Korda was four back of the lead heading into Friday’s play.

However, grouped with Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson, she had an early chance to move up the leaderboard as part of the morning wave, and she took full advantage, carding a five-under 67 to move into a tie for second, just three behind clubhouse leader Mao Saigo.

That means there will be no repeat of a rare failure at last year’s tournament, when she missed the cut at Lancaster Country Club, and she attributed her solid opening two rounds to her confidence on the greens.

"Yeah, definitely felt a little bit more confident on the putting green today," she explained. "Made some putts. Made two kind of silly bogeys. Other than that, felt really good out there.”

Even though Korda’s opening round was the more subdued of the two, with her one birdie not coming until the 18^th, she didn’t feel there was a lot wrong with the way she tackled the Wisconsin course’s putting surfaces a day earlier.

“Honestly, I was hitting really good putts yesterday,” she said. “I was hitting it exactly where I wanted to and they just weren't falling. It was one of those days. Today I did the same thing; I didn't really try to do anything different, tried to roll it over an intermediate target. My distance control has been really good on the putting green, so hopefully I can keep trending in the right direction heading into the weekend.”

While Korda’s second round included seven birdies, it would have been more but for coming unstuck at the 15^th. After her approach left her within a few feet of the hole,^, what looked like her easiest birdie putt of the day drifted left. To compound her agony, she then missed an even shorter putt coming back for par, which lipped out right.

However, she was philosophical, saying: “Yeah, it's not my first, and it definitely won't be my last. That's kind of the mindset that you have to have, that there are some opportunities out there, and I'm hitting it well off the tee, into the greens and putting. I think if I'm confident, then I know that I can bounce back.”

Korda is still looking for her first win of 2025, although a T5 in her previous outing, the Mizuho Americas Open, suggested it may not be far away. If she is to get the elusive victory with her maiden US Women’s Open title this week, she admitted she will need every aspect of the game to be firing to achieve it, not just her putting.

She said. “I mean, I would say that it's very demanding in every part of your game, off the tee, into the greens, on the green, too. You never can feel like you can take a deep breath like you can relax because something is always next. It's a very demanding shot.

“Same thing with mental. At the end of the day that's just Major championship golf. That's why we do what we do is to play these types of golf courses in this type of scenery where it just tests every part of your game.”