Coming off a disappointing opening round of even par 72, world No. 1 Nelly Korda was in top form Friday morning at Erin Hills, shooting a -5 67.
For the second day in a row, Korda was phenomenal in her ball striking, hitting 11 fairways and 15 greens while ranking No. 10 in strokes gained off the tee and No. 5 in strokes gained approach. The big difference was in her putting, where at the time of publishing, she ranked No. 39 in strokes gained after finishing No. 106 in the first round.
That didn’t mean the putting struggles were totally solved. Korda missed short putts on 15 and 2, showing what kind of round was really in the bag if not for some sloppy mistakes. If she plays cleaner this weekend, it is clear something about the look and design of Erin Hills is really suiting her.
Korda had the two tough bogeys, but played relatively clean outside of that, making seven birdies and the rest pars. It was a far cry from Thursday where Korda’s first and only birdie of the day came on the closing 18th. She made roughly 70 more feet of putts Friday, a sign of some good progress for the club that has cost her a couple tournament titles.
Korda is looking for her third major and first win of the season, but currently sits three shots back of Chevron Championship winner Mao Saigo who is at -8. Conditions may be windy, but there is seemingly no more rain in the forecast this weekend, so it has the potential to surrender some scores.
