Nelly Korda implodes with career-worst rating, drops 72 spots to overlook lower at PGA 

Nelly Korda missed. Once more. And on Golf Channel, analyst Kay Cockerill laughed, in a shrug-your-shoulders, keep-the-golf-bag-in-the-closet kinda means.

Stated Cockerill: “Ohhhh noooo.” 

Stated announcer Grant Boone: “What number of edges in the present day, Kay? That’s a minimum of 5.” 

Stated Cockerill: “Effectively, what number of edges, what number of loopy bounces — I imply, it’s identical to {the golfing} gods are stacked and ganging up in opposition to her. I don’t know why.”

It was — one thing. On Friday at Sahalee Country Club, throughout the second spherical of the Women’s PGA, Korda:

— Bogeyed her first 4 holes 

— Bogeyed the par-5 sixth gap after hitting her second shot 85 ft and her third shot 103 yards 

— Shot a six-over 42 on the entrance 9 

— Hit out of bounds along with her second shot on the par-4 fifteenth and double-bogeyed 

— Shot three-over 39 on the again 9 

— Three-putted twice (holes 2 and 4) and missed putts inside 10 ft 4 occasions (holes 2, 4, 5 and 11) 

— Hit eight of 14 fairways and eight of 18 greens 

Added all collectively, Korda shot a nine-over 81, her worst rating as knowledgeable, in response to Golf Channel. It dropped her a whopping 72 spots on the leaderboard — she’d began the day in a tie for a second after a powerful opening-round 69, and he or she completed tied for 74th. 

However to make the lower, she wanted to complete a stroke higher — although she did birdie her last gap. The world No. 1 will miss weekend play — and it continues an unsettling development. After profitable the Chevron Championship earlier this yr for her second main title, she’s now missed three straight cuts, which, according to golf-stats guru Justin Ray, is a profession first for her.

Afterward, Korda didn’t have a press convention, however she told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols this:

“It’s simply golf not too long ago for me. No phrases for a way I’m enjoying proper now. … Quite a bit went my means firstly a part of the yr and simply giving it again.” 

Unquestionably, Korda leads a listing of unusual gamers to overlook the lower. Listed here are 5 extra:

— Megan Khang 

What she shot: 81, 76

Shocking as a result of: The world No. 16 completed runner-up in her final occasion. However a first-round 81 sunk her. 

— Alison Lee 

What she shot: 81, 78 

Shocking as a result of: The world No. 18 was enjoying higher than anybody on the finish of final yr. However she additionally shot a first-round 81. 

— Nasa Hataoka 

What she shot: 77, 74

Shocking as a result of: She’s missed simply two cuts this yr — and been DQ’d as soon as — and he or she missed one lower final yr. However eight bogeys and two double bogeys had been an excessive amount of to beat. 

— Jiyai Shin 

What she shot: 75, 78

Shocking as a result of: She’s a two-time main winner. However she made no birdies within the second spherical. 

— Carlota Ciganda 

What she shot: 78, 75 

Shocking as a result of: The Solheim Cup star made simply three birdies over two rounds. 

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Journal. In his position, he’s chargeable for enhancing, writing and growing tales throughout the golf house. And when he’s not writing about methods to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native might be enjoying the sport, hitting the ball left, proper and brief, and ingesting a chilly beer to clean away his rating. You possibly can attain out to him about any of those subjects — his tales, his recreation or his beers — at [email protected].