World No. 1 Nelly Korda is flirting with another major championship disappointment.
After winning the Chevron Championship and five other LPGA events this season, Korda has missed the cut in her last two major championship starts. At the U.S. Women’s Open, Korda carded a 10 on the par-3 12th hole at Lancaster Country Club—her third hole of the championship, ending her chances. She could not find her swing during the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee, posting a 9-over 81 to miss another cut.
So this week, at the Amundi Evian Championship on the shores of picturesque Lake Geneva in France, Korda opened with a 2-under 69 to sit five shots off the pace. But once again, on Friday, the now two-time major champion struggled to find the form she had earlier in the season. She got off to a poor start, bogeying the par-4 2nd hole, which dropped her back to 1-under for the tournament. Another bogey at the tricky par-3 8th followed, but Korda bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 9th to go out in 1-over 36.
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She then made five straight pars before tournament officials suspended play for the day. Korda is now at 1-under overall through 14 holes—one shot above the cut line.
Ingrid Lindblad, Gemma Drybaugh, and Patty Tavatanakit held the first-round lead at 7-under par, but Japan’s Ayaka Furue, who has had a marvelous 2024 season, raced them by.
Furue sits at 12-under-par and still has five holes left to play in her second round. She owns the solo lead by three strokes as her eyes are set on capturing her first major championship victory. Furue also has eight top-10 finishes this season, which includes a T-6 at Lancaster Country Club.
The second round will resume on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. local time—six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. Sixty-six players still need to complete their round, while the top 65 and ties will advance to the weekend after the conclusion of the second round.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
