Nelly Korda Gets Off To Nightmare Start At U.S. Women's Open Reminding The World She's Still A Human After All

Nelly Korda entered this week's U.S. Women's Open as the hottest golfer on the planet, having already won six times in 2024. The level of dominance she's shown on the LPGA Tour makes Scottie Scheffler's consistency over on the men's side look like child's play.

But, seeing as how golf is the most fickle sport in the world, all good things must come to an end, and Korda is in the midst of that disappointing reality setting in at Lancaster Country Club.

Korda, the No. 1 player in the world, began Thursday's opening round with a bogey on the Par 4 10th before settling in with a par on the Par 4 11th, and then came the 161-yard Par 3 12th. This is where the wheels didn't fall off, they exploded off the vehicle.

Korda took dead aim at the flag, but carried her tee shot long and into the back bunker. With the green sloping back to front towards a front flag, the back bunker was not a good spot to be, and Korda quickly found that out as she hit her second shot into the water short of the green. From there, things got worse. 

READ: Nelly Korda, Already A Six-Time Winner, Could Nearly Double Her Season Earnings With U.S. Women's Open Victory

After taking her drop on the far side of the water hazard, she caught what was her fourth shot a bit fat and found the same hazard again. She tossed another ball down for what was her sixth shot, and did the exact same thing, finding the drink yet again.

Another drop, a safe chip, and a couple of putts later, and Korda walked away with a 10.

What's interesting about Korda living out a real-life nightmare on the 12th hole is that she spoke earlier in the week about how diabolical the short hole could play throughout the tournament.

"From the tee box you can’t see how sloped of a green that is, but then once you get onto that green you’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you’re coming in with a 6-iron,'" Korda said on Tuesday. "If you’re long, in a sense, you’re kind of screwed. If you’re short, you’re screwed, too. So making sure you’re just hitting the greens out here this week, because they’re so small and so undulated, is going to be key."

Korda carded two more bogeys on the back nine, her opening nine holes, en route to a 10-over 45 putting her in last place among every player that had teed off in the morning wave.