Nelly Korda - "It Was Definitely Awkward, You Don’t Want To Win A Hole Like That."

Korda - "It Was Definitely Awkward, You Don’t Want To Win A Hole Like That."

Nelly Korda Incident
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nelly Korda and Madelene Sagstrom give their reaction following the controversial incident on the 13th hole.

Nelly Korda - "It Was Definitely Awkward, You Don’t Want To Win A Hole Like That."

The incident occurred on the 13th hole at the Inverness Club, with Nelly Korda's eagle putt finishing agonisingly over the hole.

With the American sinking to her knees, her opponent, Madelene Sagstrom, picked the ball up and threw it back to her with neither Korda, or her playing partner, Ally Ewing, mentioning a thing.

As play moved on, however, a rules official (Missy Jones) came over to the players and stated that Korda’s ball should have been given 10 seconds on the lip to see if it would drop.

Because of the infringement, Sagstrom had broken rule 13.3a, which says: “If your opponent in match play or another player in stroke play, deliberately lifts or moves the player’s ball overhanging the hole before the waiting time has ended, then in match play, the player’s ball is treated as holed with the previous stroke, and there is no penalty to the opponent.”

Nelly Korda Incident

Korda and Ewing celebrate with team USA after their victory. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The American pair would then go on to win the match 1-up, with the rules infringement the deciding factor in what was overall a good match.

Speaking after the game, Korda said: "It was definitely awkward, you don’t want to win a hole like that. By the time I got off the green, Missy had already come up to us and said 'they're reviewing everything,' and we honestly had no say in it, and it was all up to the rules committee.

Related: Check out the incident here

"Hopefully they’re OK with us. We didn’t want it to happen this way. It’s very unfortunate, but they played solid golf, we also played solid golf, and at the end of the day, hopefully we can put this behind each other and move forward."

Sagstrom, who had already endured a dramatic round when she was stung by a bee on the 5th hole, was visibly emotional as she was interviewed following her match.

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Speaking afterwards, the 28-year-old said: "I believe in integrity and honour of the game of golf and I would never pick up a putt that had a chance to go in."

It wasn't just Sagstrom who was emotional, with her playing partner, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, mentioning that after the rules incident on the 13th, they heard heckling from the pro-American crowd. "People were yelling terrible stuff," Madsen said.

Matt Cradock
Staff Writer

Matt joined Golf Monthly in February 2021 covering weekend news, before also transitioning to equipment and testing. After freelancing for Golf Monthly and The PGA for 18 months, he was offered a full-time position at the company in October 2022 and continues to cover weekend news and social media, as well as help look after Golf Monthly’s many buyers’ guides and equipment reviews.


Taking up the game when he was just seven years of age, Matt made it into his county squad just a year later and continues to play the game at a high standard, with a handicap of around 2-4. To date, his best round came in 2016, where he shot a six-under-par 66 having been seven-under through nine holes. He currently plays at Witney Lakes in Oxfordshire and his favourite player is Rory McIlroy, despite nearly being struck by his second shot at the 17th during the 2015 BMW PGA Championship.


Matt’s current What’s In The Bag?

Driver: Honma TW747, 8.75°

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade Rocketballz Stage 2, 15°, 19°

Hybrid: Adams Super Hybrid, 22°

Irons: Mizuno MP54, 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland 588 RTX 2.0 Tour Satin, 50°, 56°, 60°

Putter: Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin Cero

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x