When the USGA decided to pair Nelly Korda, Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson together, they knew the possibilities were exciting. Three of the biggest stars on the Tour, all long hitters who make a lot of birdies, all in one group. The reality was a bit disappointing.
None of the three had a horrible day. Korda and Hull both shot even par and Thompson was +1. With the lead at -4 at the time of writing, in theory they are all in solid condition, especially since they seemingly will be on the correct side of the morning/afternoon draw. But on a day with near perfect scoring conditions, this left a lot to be desired.
Korda, the No. 1 player in the world had a solid U.S. Open type of day scoring wise. She rarely put herself in any type of trouble, she hit 12/14 fairways and 14/18 greens and was often in perfect position. That led to one early bogey, a tap in birdie on 18 and 16 pars. The issue here was the same issue all season, putting. Korda currently has lost -0.8 strokes on the greens against the field, which currently has her at No. 107 in the category. While her ball striking was typical Nelly brilliance, she won’t have a chance if the putting doesn’t improve.
Hull, while also shooting even par, did it very differently. Hull made four bogeys on the front nine and birdied only the two par 5s. She steadied out well on the easier back nine, adding two more birdies without a bogey. Hull actually is gaining strokes everywhere, but ranks in the top 50 in just one category which is putting, where she ranks 50. She hit only nine fairways and 11 greens but was below field average in total putts at 30.
Finally Thompson, who grinded out a pretty impressive +1 score all things considered. The round started with disaster, she was +3 through seven holes, but made just one more birdie on 17. Outside of that she had three birdies including an impressive putt on 18 to end her round. Thompson putted in a way that could lead to good things this week, as long as she starts striking the ball better.
These three are out in the morning Friday, and should miss the worst of the Wisconsin early-summer weather at Erin Hills. They will need to take advantage of that and score better in round two.
