Through one round at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, Nelly Korda and Lottie Woad look to be in good form in the new season.
Much of the first round was dominated by the two superstars, before late stumbles moved them away from the lead. Still, both players are in good position to contend over the weekend.
Woad looked so poised and in control early in the round, looking much more experienced than she did throughout much of her excellent rookie campaign. Woad had four birdies on the front nine to open up a lead, before settling into her back nine. Back-to-back impressive approaches led to birdies on 13 and 14, and a solo lead at -6.
After a few pars, Woad did stumble significantly on 18. After losing her tee shot right in the long fairway bunker, she advanced the ball, but remained in the sand for her third shot. A decent out led to a makable par putt, but it just slid out to finish off at -5.
Woad was particularly impressive throughout on her approach shots, hitting 15/18 greens and putting her shots in close proximity. She had a solid 29 putts on the day as well.
Korda on the other hand, got started super fast with birdies on her first two holes. She added another on seven before hitting a real hot streak on the back, with birdies on 12, 14 and 15.
The final holes were a struggle for Korda though, a long leave on her approach on 16 led to a three putt, and she bogeyed the 17th as well. She finished the round at -4, two back of the lead.
Korda, normally the best player off the tee on the LPGA Tour, hit only six fairways, an issue that crept up at times with little conversation in 2025, particularly at the Evian Championship. It mostly didn’t hurt Korda though, as she hit 15 greens and had close proximity throughout. She hit some really nice putts as well, which is an encouraging sign for the 15-time winner on Tour.
