A little adversity and a new putter have Nelly Korda looking a lot like the dominant player she was to start 2024

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The leaderboard has forever been a measure of a golf course’s quality. And this week the Old Course at St. Andrews is living up to its reputation as not only the game’s most storied venue, but also a test worthy of a major championship. It is a place where the cream tends to rise. And, sure enough, through 36 holes of the AIG Women’s Open, World No. 1 Nelly Korda is already on eight under par, three strokes clear of defending champion Lilia Vu and last year’s runner-up, Charley Hull. Another two shots back is Olympic gold medal winner Lydia Ko and 2022 champion at Muirfield Ashleigh Buhai.

Not too shabby.

“It's super cool,” was Ko’s verdict on the players she is chasing. “Obviously Nelly is playing amazing and there's just so many other big names that are playing great. I think it's exciting for golf when players from different countries are all in contention.”

Still, it is Korda who has shone brightest amongst that superior litany of stars looking down on the rest. Only once in her two rounds has the 26-year-old dropped a shot to par. Nine birdies dot her scorecards. In prevailing conditions—strong winds and heavy showers—that have done nothing for the case that Scotland really does have a summer, Korda’s creative shot-making and solid putting has been extraordinary indeed.

She certainly seemed pleased after closing with one last birdie on the drivable par-4 ninth (her 18th). Which is no surprise. In contrast with the performances that saw her win six times in seven LPGA events between late-January and mid-May, Korda’s more recent efforts are best described as “fruitless.” Three consecutive missed cuts—two in major championships—immediately followed those six victories, the nadir perhaps the ignominious 80 she shot on the opening day of the U.S. Women’s Open.

More recently, things have been steady, average more than awesome. A T-26 finish in another major, the Amundi Evian Championship, was followed by a T-22 at the recent Olympics in Paris. In contrast to that mediocrity, she has clearly found something in her game this week, quite apart from the new TaylorMade Spider putter that found its way into her bag on the eve of this event. Perhaps most impressively however, Korda has adapted to and fully accepted the changeable nature of the meteorological conditions that have dominated discussions so far.

“I warmed up in the rain this morning,” she said. “Yesterday it was just brutally windy. Then today rained until probably my second or third hole [she started on No. 10]. It was pretty calm the front nine, and then once we got to the 18th and the first it really started to get pumping. I didn't really take advantage of the calmer conditions on my front nine, the back nine. But I played some really solid golf and I'm happy with that.”

All of which is fine. But it is an assessment that does nothing to reveal the source of Korda’s rediscovered form.

“I think that's just life in general or, you know, sports,” was her pre-tournament explanation for any and all of the above. “You're never going to shoot straight up. You're going to go up. You're going to go down. I think the best part of the downs is that you learn so much about yourself. It’s always a learning opportunity, and I enjoy that. I always try to think of everything in a positive mindset. Compared to the start of the year, I've obviously had some finishes that weren't the best. But at the end of the day, I'm still learning and I'm still getting better from it.”

Two days on, Korda was justifiably giving herself a little more credit, pointing out the range of grasses, conditions and courses on which she has already won this year.

“You always have to adapt,” she said. “That's the same in life. You're always adapting to your situation at hand. I think that's what's so fun about links golf. I am literally starting shots 30 yards left of my target. I’m not a fade player but I'm hitting massive fades. I think it's fun hitting these little low drivers, too. I enjoy links golf a lot. Obviously, every year that I get to play it, I learn a little bit more about it, too.”

All of which is surely part of a winning formula. But so is putting. As Hull was quick to point out in the wake of the even-par 72 she shot in the company of Korda and Vu, she had used her putter 36 times in the second round, six times more than the leader.

“What am I, three shots behind Nelly?” asked the endearingly scatter-brained Englishwoman. “That's nothing going into the weekend especially on this golf course. I left a lot of putts out there. Nelly had 30 putts, and I had 36 putts. So that's six shots I've lost to her on the greens. I feel like I'm equally hitting it as good, she just holed a few more putts than me today. I think Lilia is the one to watch as well, because when it gets windy she kind of just sticks in there. She's a good scrambler.”

Indeed. But so is Korda, once again the player to beat.