By: Max Bechtoldt
The old cliché was said many times during the morning broadcast of the Cognizant Founders Cup, “You can’t win a tournament on Thursday, but you can lose one.”
That is fitting for Nelly Korda, who certainly didn’t take herself out of contention with an opening-round -3 69. Her score is currently four back of leader Madelene Sagström, though the scores in the afternoon wave have been stronger so that lead may change.
Korda was playing a lot of stress free golf Thursday morning, with a lot of tap ins for par. She had four birdies and one bogey. All things considered, not a bad start in her bid to win a record sixth tournament in a row.
While she no doubt saw pressure in the Chevron Championship, her last start, it has to have jumped up. In the meantime, Korda has seemingly officially been crowned as the face of women’s golf, crossing over into mainstream sports discussion. After her appearance at the Met Gala, that seemed to accelerate even more.
Despite the less than ideal TV coverage this week, Korda will be playing with more attention on her than ever before. Her first round, may seem a bit like a disappointment, but it checks out for how her season has gone.
Even though her round one scoring has been solid this year, she has fought from behind on the weekend in all but one of her recent wins. There’s also bad weather in the forecast, which Korda has handled better than any player on the tour this season, as seen in Palos Verdes, Arizona, Las Vegas and Houston.
