Nelly Korda 2024 Open Championship Round 1

the T from the USA Nelly cter expectations just getting clarification from Jason herad in terms of aim Point here yeah just hit it in that massive area 139 yds worth good thing though when you get a Fairways like this it is very important to have that focal point because you can get carried away someone that can hit that right to left shot sorry we just uh go to Iona on for a five for nelli beautiful smooth rhythm in that gold swing I think she's up for the challenge today that she is that is a fabulous start from NY cor who doesn't waste time Trish when she's got her time to play no actually this is a really quick group and unfortunately well they probably going to be waiting most of the time because all three of them are pretty quick players but that's a confident start from the world number one it is a little bit like shelling peas for at the moment after a performance which was magic in Paris we go down to Nelly cter now and an excellent chance at her opening Hall as well slippery little one for Nelly Here down the slope With the Wind from right to left yeah I think it's very important for Nelly to get off to a good start with the putter today I've no doubt she'll play well Tia green but the putter has been the club that's been the Nemesis for the last two to three months especially short putts and that's not easy such a game lyx golf for interpretation nothing to interpret about the year of Nelly cter though it's been good maybe an underst it's been good it's been amazing talk about hard task master that wind is just I like that cut this t- shot here just slightly left of good I would say but keeps it out of that Fairway bunker that we think Lil more Pace there good good mess for Nelly corded down the left hand side ball lying okay in the first C 148 [Applause] yep lovely approach shot hit cracker into the first and another really good iron shot into now are two on the two a three on the two rather is a very good score and this is makeable she can be aggressive into the wind up the hill a little bit of break go on yeah it's almost reminiscent of this time of the year last year uh Nelly Corda always just such an incredible consistent ball Striker and just it's driver also for Nelly quarter yeah with the big dog once again you can be aggressive in these opening few holes and you can see she's aiming down the left hand side there are bunkers down the right that you must avoid and the wind's pushing everything over here [Music] it's always daring to say it's good until it stops rolling but I think we can now so nice to see a a lot of young girls one of those that kind of dots the eyes crosses the te's all the way through a game it's almost the entire alphabet for a nelly quarter and in a good way this for birdie it's the wind that's going to move this more than anything else quite a flat p but the wind has to touch it from the [Music] left and that's just uh that's how the story's been going all all day and and the same with this this tournament the AIG Women's Open Championship uh from last year at Walton Heath so hopefully we can break that spell coming up on the next hole for Miz Corda yeah but that's okay level par par puts you know not tap in puts from an inch or two for pars on this particular day that's okay don't don't have to worry about I know it could be Del quarter getting ready to take Aim here with the driver at the fourth and like Jamie said the wind has died down it's not consistent it's inconsistent still buffeting on and off from the left and hurting the 14th TV tower you can see in the distance to the left that's the perfect line off this te to let the wind bring it back looks like Nelly staring this one down might be a little on the dangerous side easily avoids that gor though just right of the Fairway there so she should be just fine Christina when you good looks a little different today well the ball's going to be way above the feet here for Nelly cord 135 is the number but often you'd Club up cuz you're gripping so far down further left you take this shot the more you're hitting back into the breeze probably a seven iron smooth one on off follow [Music] through yeah very very good shot there as you said I own a ball well above her feet that's back toback holes that she's had a club to twirl going on after impact and you can see she's very satisfied with where it finished one of the best club TS in the game isn't it laa very good it's important to have a good well if you do want to uh join us still a couple of tickets available if you want to uh come out you can scan that QR code on the bottom left of screen you get a couple join us for the weekend perhaps got Tom grenan playing uh a concert on Saturday night as well some loads on offer here at s Andrews this week it's going to be a great atmosphere at the weekend Ali live musical festival of golf Happening Here in s Andrews Nord up huge Ridge to navigate here and the way from the left enhancing that another Valiant effort from Nelly there knock down shot or or something off the left as hard as that I just I just used to take extra Club really and back of the stance and almost hit it easy and let let the strike keep it down and and if you if you flushed it you could go very long but I just found it way easier to control the flight another drive for Nell you're looking to get up the left half if you can everything kind of kicks from left to right that's in a good spot on the fifth Fairway I was just hanging on to it hope she might have gone the driver her off the deck on this little up slope but with that wind coming from left to right probably not the right call often do hit the cut with the driver off the deck so it's the three-wood she's going to try and get this up over this hill just settled down there 230 is to get to the front where's this one off to it's gone well left giving herself a a lot of green to work with that's the good thing there's your angle very difficult just shows how hard it is for a great player like Nelly got that one all wrong kill it but there you go it's not lying great over there down the left hand side for Nell the wedge yeah good shot certainly was from out of position dirty look coming for Nelly caugh up could be a first of the day sh charliie H pass to here Shin turning in a 69 and after her first birdie of the day Nelly Corda she's ready at the the sixth and we say hello to Karen well good afternoon and nearly trying to keep one low into this wind there's a little bit of movement to the right on it as well it's got to hold on and we say happy anniversary thank you very much that was a very nice open thank you Morgan it's been all right we go to the sixth and the second for Nell is enough I mean it's mostly across but and it's it's it's what we want to do basically 32 to 35 where you like itting kind of just right that white hole yeah I was looking at like that hole sign back there you see that black hole sign in the middle of that bush yeah yeah see a little more L that's perfect trust your line n Nell's got a nine on out the actual yard is 124 so she's playing 10 of wind got to aim this one probably 10 yd left of that flag to get it to drift towards it flat lie on The Fairway which is a rarity here at St Andrews trying to let the Wind Drift it I couldn't see it yeah it is short up that big the wind as well had definitely some tough conditions it did become unplayable golf balls moving on the greens which they were worried could happen today and so far it has drivable ninth Nelly for part the sixth this was something that I would work on a lot coming into an event like this these 10-footers at a British Open relatively straight as well um you're going to have a back on the 7eventh with Nelly cter and with the wind off the left and into trying to keep this one down it's quite a wide Fairway this seventh yeah get over that Ridge then down into the Fairway and short of shell bunker which you can just see there out on this golf course of s Andrews you've got the wind on your back which makes it really even more difficult for right-handed players cuz it's so easy to lose the ball to the right and these shots you mean Nell's got a gap wedge here you really have to buy into the shot and and trust that you're going to put the right contact on it contact is everything strike is everything and you've almost got to give yourself a little bit of Grace and forgiveness if you don't quite get the yardage right it's just too so difficult to judge just to the right of Nelly's ball is a a ridge and then it falls down on the other side so she's okay she's going to have a a look back over to seven and Nelly cter for birdie and she's got a little bit of a bank behind her that will send the ball to the right back into the wind good try and dealing with the screens so there's Marquee group waiting at the par three eth as you turn back around hole number two just that uncomfortable length well a nice par save Karen at the sixth for Nelly after that birdie at 5 solid par at 7 and now at the eighth Nell's got a seven on out expect to see this be more of a a 3/4 swing look like that trying to keep it down a bit she elevated that a bit more than I was expecting with that practice swing and yet again just doesn't it's not going to stop down when the greens were softer the golf course in general seems a bit softer than when we last played here in 20 up a fraction short scoring average almost four shots over par par of 72 back when they played here in 2007 it was a par 73 they played the 17th as a par five back to the usual part of 72 in 2013 and Stacy Lewis hit one of the great shots you'll ever see led to her victory at the 17th hole of Birdie and now Nelly for birdie at the eighth little bit of a roller coaster this part for Nelly as she gets a massive wind gust just hit her on her left shoulder it's going to be downhill at first then uphill and then back downhill to the hole and the wind just really picked up that's why she backed off did you ever experiment Karen with anything other than a putter from on the Green in conditions like these not not so much um on the green but I used to change my grip if I needed to have a long part as opposed to a shorter part and I just got hit by that wind and slowed it up so quickly would you tighten your grip is that what you meant no I actually went to a normal grip like as if I was using a normal club for a normal downwind with that front slope kicking all the balls over the green Karen it's been a tough hole it really has and I think it's the the wind direction it's not being able to hold to the green it's the slope in the front and and then you get the wind on your back like Nelly did there H so so back to even and it has been the puts of that length here certainly Rings true oh Nelly can get it on the green here Karen yes she certainly could he's got to have the same kind of ball flight that Lily had and she has this one's riding the wind let's see where it finishes it's right there the green starts look at that it's going to go right into the group ahead yeah NASA with s Michael who passed away last year that was the Secretary of the RNA from 1983 to 1999 and was a a leading figure of the game not only over here but around the world and now Nelly working pretty hard on the line of this part and because it's so windy you do have to take the gust into consideration when you look at the line right so in the Fairway and now Nelly well and because those bunkers down the right nearly has just a fairway wood out I don't even think I think this is a 3w I think it's less than that we got well 233 gets to the bunker on the right so this should keep it short that this is a well struck low [Applause] shot yeah you can't numbers one and two in the world Nelly number one longer than any other American 15 nine weeks 22 in a row she's going to stay at one on the par good score today let's go to 10 and it is on a day like this Karen about the contact isn't it it really is Nelly found herself on an up slope there well short just adds that extra bit of height gets eaten by the wind got to get the pace right let's go back to 10 how about this third for Nelly well she's in quite a deep Hollow then once get on the green it's downhill to the hole so looking pretty good anybody better in the game than Nelly well that's a different type of shot than we are used to seeing Nelly play this was quite low and really a bump and run bouncing back this is a par putt for Nelly cter with the lily looking on and a lot more straightforward right now cuz of the the very little wind at the moment on this screen we have not said that at all today have we very little wind no nice up and down for Nelly I can confirm it has not stopped blowing as I look behind me here on now Nelly well somewhere in between those two would be good I mean don't fig yeah this is a long time to wait to play this shot and on a green that is particularly difficult you've got trouble lurking everywhere you got bunkers at the front going over the back is not good this one's starting left trying to work to the [Applause] right and we mentioned it earlier it was to what Charlie just played this one is down wind we'll move to the right well good trve n will make her three and she will stay one under hasn't been to St Andrews since that championship at Kings bars mentioned Morgan back in 2017 when I I think one of the reasons that players can play is good yes exactly yeah the camp play into the rough is cuz it's it's quite sparse that it's it's not too damaging if you're in the rough here s Andrews Karen has the has the wind shifted a little bit more to the Southwest at all um I don't really I can't really tell I think it's the same as it has been just directly across certainly the same direction it was when I went down through uh seven and eight the forecast is for it to switch a little bit to switch a little a little bit more from the southwest which would then make these holes coming back towards the clubhouse Play Slightly more into the winds Nelly said almost word for word what you did Morgan that you can have a plan when you get here but once the Tournament begins the championship begins and the weather but still have to judge the wind correctly and here is uh Nelly Just off the Fairway she's one yard closer than Lilia and she's going with the 99 and it is a very user friendly hole location in that in that front Bowl it's one of those spots that you really feel like you have an opportunity to get close up short again just not judging that wind very well right now Morgan yeah that's a pretty big misjudge as well that's misjudged by what looks like 20 30 yards there was there a gust Karen another look so it's six and 10 and now 12 it looks like a good move there it looks like solid contact maybe just a little bit that they cut the flag down on that part because it it it's flat around the hole third for Nelly at 12 there a little sound slope in front of her she was hitting that shot there it's really well judged she said she liked being forced to be creative Lauren cogin told me that the conditions today were even worse than last week just because of how hard the wind blew from start to finish this morning she was out in the first game of the day this morning and she began on 10 Nelly she's hanging in there Karen she is and and she hasn't really had her best stuff hasn't given herself too many opportunities but she's doing what nly does she's hanging around it's a day to day to fight fight till the end just hang tough it's tough for everyone out there obviously she's playing with Lilia who is playing very well and now Nelly I think this is one of those t-shots you just have to commit to I think with this wind direction today you aim down the right side and give it a good rip and uh you end up exactly where Charlie went I mean the ultimate goal is just try and leave yourself as short a shot as you can into this Gren cuz it's quite tricky and she Nell's done great carried the bunker just ran through the Fairway oh but into the bunkers that pinch in there that is big mistake she'll be shocked that I I don't think she thought she get that far yeah 300 I mean the lip isn't going to be a problem for her she's only got 109 well all in all karen when you go in a fairway bunker at St Andre you can put it on the green that is a a win n think that was shy and night actually similar kind of part here gave that one plenty there was an eagle there for Cassandra Alexander who's a qualifier so that was pretty good right in front of Nelly overwhelmed with media obligations and different things like that because she was playing now quarter for par yeah it's so good you've got to pull those if you're going to win a major championship they're so key should talking earlier this week about keeping the hands warm Florida girl couple of weeks ago there in Paris All Right Nelly Corda one under at 14 and with the wind off the right the outer bounds which runs down the right side of the Fairway isn't quite as scary you got out of bounds and number of holes coming in Nowell he can breathe the that came in with some heat I was going to say she has a seven wood she has 233 210 to the front I think an ideal line is to sit try and watch the ball falling at about the left edge of the TV Tower and let it take the natural slope from the right to the green down to the hole ah she loves this club this seven wood it is one of her favorites in her bag what a shot to see where that ends up the taping Eagle she had at Atlanta Athletic Club far five that seven wood in route to Victory large hotel to the right doesn't move the ball quite as much to the left as you might think all right Nelly Corda at the 14th for eagle this should have a bit of left movement in it as it comes off the slope so she's going to birdie both of the par fives five and 14 and here is the wh number one Sublime at the beginning of the year back after the birdie at 14 Nelly at 15 Nelly with the driver there's some some trouble down the right can't quite tell exactly where that ended up ready won on the LPGA Tour she was us Amer champion and she was tied for low Amer Nelly Corda second at 15 late Club TL that's a great shot Nell here Jason that's a great shot Nelly kept her weight really well on her front foot with that severe upslope but that's where we this group teed off uh close to 130 120 or so so 5 hours to get to this point it's still three and a half holes to play trying to stay warm sun the end of the day she had have said sure but uh 77 for all of them Nelly for another birdie at 15 how about Nelly's day it's been okay she's only missed um a handful of green right there you can see how narrow it is there's no room for error up the right I can tell you that from experience sorry Morgan I was having a little chuckle there cuz I'm right there with you with that no room up the right it's one it's one of my Vivid memories one of my PO t-shots on this 16 pole Nell is looking to hit a big drawer here this one's really aiming down that right side in fact this one starting over the fence line needs a bit of wind help to pull it back in bounds anxious moments that's fine now and a good angle the left hole location flirting with a bit of Nelly with that line she took but you're right about this golf course that the more down the right you take it the better your angles into the flags often are only 84 for nelli oh did that Nick the stick oh no Beauty chance to get to three under just another really solid swing she works so hard with Jamie Mulligan her coach on trying to stay clean Brett letterer is out here this week he said they it is uh right at 7 p.m. local time we're going to finish this group it's a little bonus coverage here in addition to the seven hours we were scheduled to be on the air Nelly for her birdie to get to three and uh this will be a really solid one of those rewarding oh it's a shame you know when you take that with a t-shir you kind of want to walk away with that birdie that looks as it doesn't so SL leave it short as it gets even later in the day they're getting slower but I mean to Karen's point there you know from the time that these players teed off the scoring average has gone out of the tournament on the first round the those nerves and the pressure are gone Nelly lets it rip this is more down the right side but catching a little bit of a draw so really good spot now it's just when you can't see the Fairway the number of blind t- shots well it's uh easy to say that in the booth isn't it Karen rather than being out there it really is I mean the beautiful thing is that I remember my rain gear which is a huge Plus for me now Nelly from 184 she was on an UPS slope what a beautiful looking swing that was wonderful plane you could just see it's one of the things that she works on really trying to stay clean especially in the transition and that was nearly perfect from Nelly right there going have a great look at birdie play that 18th hole back over to Nelly for a birdie at 17 yes what a group this has been they have the momentum and they will hope that the rain isn't heavy when they start tomorrow morning at the forecast holds true with the breeze laying down early and then kicking up in the afternoon this was Nelly's approach it was just perfect M you just tell from her balance especially in the wind when the wind's trying to blow you over nothing was going to disturb her balance and that Perfection right there the second hardest hole on this golf course just making it look easy as she did for so much of the first third of this season yeah winning those off the birdie at 17 here is the world number one ell Corda I think she's going to bring the heat here give this one a good one let it ride the wind a little bit more off the right as you were saying Morgan there's still a hint of help in it though said bringing the heat Karen I wasn't quite sure where that was going to come from this up the right yep oh but it is just fine a lot of little Mogul there in this Fair way she'll have a good angle to the whole location pretty much in the center of the green today be able to attack the whole location with the wedge a lot of players were driving this green or up by the green with their t- shot earlier today when the and of course you add in the wind but it has been really slow in a long day for these players like Nelly who likes to play so fast certainly played pretty quickly there too she was ready to go giving Lilia a little bit more time to to get her Japanese major champion this year maybe Nelly for birdie she knows it's going to break left oh it breaks right in Nelly cter ties the lead and shoots 68 she birdies 17 and 18 the world world number one looking every bit of it here at the old course Jason told me at the Olympics he felt like it was really close that she was really feeling like she'd gotten a lot of that form back that we saw at the start of the season and it was on full display today