Nelly Korda after her 72 in the final round of the 2024 AIG Women’s Open.
Ross Parker/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
World number one Nelly Korda was on the verge of capping a historic season with a second major victory on the legendary Old Course at St. Andrews, but it all came crashing down after just a few holes when a brutal finish on Sunday dashed her hopes.
Korda’s turbulent final day at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open followed a turbulent first three rounds and a rollercoaster season overall.
Korda began the year on an incredible run, winning six of seven LPGA events, including her second major at the Chevron Championship in April.
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After this stormy phase, Korda cooled off considerably and frequently missed cuts, including at the next two majors. Then a late push for Olympic gold in Paris was ruined by an untimely shot on the 15th hole in the final round.
But as the final major of the year began on the Old Course this week, it looked as though Korda, still ranked No. 1 in the world, would conquer her demons and return to the winner’s circle after all. In a relentless wind, she opened with back-to-back 68s to take the lead after 36 holes.
Korda’s Scottish rollercoaster then reached its first low point when she shot a three-over-par 75 in Round 3 to hand the lead to Jiyai Shin. But the drama was not over for the American star.
On Sunday, Korda made birdies at 5, 7, 9 and 10 to outpace everyone else and move into a two-shot lead, with fellow Americans Lydia Ko and Lilia Vu trailing behind and on the brink of elimination.
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Then disaster struck Korda on the par-5 14th hole. The hole should have been a great opportunity to add a fifth birdie to her scorecard and put her on a waltz into the winner’s circle. A layup attempt on her second shot landed in the tall grass, where she caught a flyer that sent her third shot over the green. Then Korda missed her chip, which rolled back off the green.
She successfully chipped her fifth shot to four feet, giving her a good chance of making a bogey that would have put her one point ahead. But Korda’s short bogey attempt went wide, giving her a devastating double bogey that put her in a shared lead.
“It was 58 degrees and the ball just shot at me. The wedge shot I had over the green kind of stayed in a little bit of a hole with some of the – whatever you call it, the ‘hay’ or whatever you call it – behind it,” Korda said on Sunday after her round, explaining her double bogey on hole 14. “I just couldn’t catch it cleanly and then obviously missed the putt for the bogey.”
Ko, who was ahead of her on the course, and Vu, who was behind her, both made birdies on the 14th hole. Although Ko gave up a stroke on the 15th hole, she made a crucial birdie putt on the 18th hole to give her a one-stroke lead at seven under par with Korda and Vu still on the course.
Shortly after Ko sank the putt, Korda could have had a chance to tie her with a birdie on the 18th hole, but the opportunity was to elude her.
At the Road Hole 17, Korda’s second shot landed in the dreaded front left bunker. She got a clean escape but had to play away from the hole. She then faced a mid-range putt for par. She missed the putt and fell to five under par, two shots behind clubhouse leader Ko.
Korda tried to explain what happened after her round on the 17th.
“I had to hit it to the right of it. I was a little too close to the back edge (of the bunker on hole 17), where I’ve had one of those shots before where you think you can make it, but you swing and miss and hit the top of the bunker,” Korda said. “Instead of doing that, I took my medicine and went a little bit to the right. I hit the putt really well, but just didn’t have enough speed.”
She would have had to hole out an eagle 18 to tie, but she only managed a par and finished tied for second at five under par.
Despite another disappointing finish to a major tournament, Korda was able to take some positives from the week.
“Look, this is golf. I’m going to mess up, and unfortunately I messed up twice over the weekend, which ended up costing me two penalties,” she said. “Theoretically, it cost me the tournament, but I played well. I played solid. I even fought afterward. I’ll take that into the next events.”
