Nelly Korda’s change, Lexi’s charge, strange shoes, strange DQs | St. Andrews, Day 2

Our St. Andrews correspondent Sean Zak is at the AIG Women’s Open this week. Here he checks in with stateside colleague Dylan Dethier on Nelly Korda’s lead, Lexi Thompson’s rally, one rookie’s strange DQ and more.

Dylan Dethier, GOLF senior writer: Hey there, Sean. We’re back.

Sean Zak, also a GOLF senior writer: We’re back!

DD: Day 2 at St. Andrews and there’s a lot going on. Stars in the mix. Stars going home. Stars barely hanging on for some miraculous made cuts. Let’s get right to it.

SZ: Hit me.

DD: You were out there early with the high-powered grouping of Nelly Korda, Charley Hull and Lilia Vu. Those are also the top three names on the leaderboard! (Korda’s eight under, while Hull and Vu are T2 at five under.) I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that in a second round at a major. You wrote about Nelly’s round here, but tell me in one sentence: How has she built a three-shot lead?

SZ: To answer that, I think back to the final round of the Olympics. She walked from the driving range and a fan shouted out, “Hey Nelly, great day to be a ball-striker!” They were right. It was windy, the course was firm, it was tough as hell. And though it didn’t work out for her that day, it is working for her here. After that round, she pointed to some shaky ball-striking. This week? So far, her ball-striking has been fantastic.

That is who Nelly Korda is. Never getting into trouble. Hitting it to 30 feet when the shot demands it. Never three-putting. There’s a lot of attention paid to her putter right now, but I think her key to success is avoiding the pot bunkers and carving elegant iron shots into this constant cross-wind. A lot of ladies are uncomfortable out here, but she’s made it look smooth. That’s more than one sentence, but you get the idea.

DD: If one sentence is good then I guess more is better. Who’s the crowd favorite: Korda or Hull?

SZ: Can I pass? Only because I think it’s both. Lilia Vu is the defending champion and also in their group and it’s clear that most of the love is going to Nelly and Charley. If you’re demanding I choose, I think there’s a little more electricity to Hull, but Nelly has the lead and at some point the crowd will get down with an all-timer winning at an all-time place.

DD: Linn Grant had one of the best rounds of the afternoon going on Friday (she reached four under before making double at 17 and finishing with 71). Grant doesn’t just have one of the game’s best swings — she also broke out some high-tops and big white fuzzy earmuffs. Athletic chic meets, I dunno, winter EDM concert.

Are you in or out on this look?

SZ: I really like Linn Grant but I really don’t know about this. Today was better than yesterday, when she was rocking the hot pink sweater underneath, but when I see the high-tops I struggle to see anything except boxing shoes. In fairness, it’s a full-on bout with Mother Nature at this point, so if the Code Chaos grips are working for her, why not?

DD: I was here wondering if we’d be watching the final major championship round of Lexi Thompson’s retirement season. Then she started making birdies. Then she blocked one O.B. at No. 17. But then she rallied to make the cut. Any notable sights and sounds from Lexi this week? And how impressive was that evening rally?

SZ: I think a round like Lexi’s today is exactly why her retirement is will remain a bit puzzling for some time. She may be looking for more from life than just golf tournaments, but there’s something in there that still adds up to contention, as we have seen this summer. I walked with her for a good bit Thursday and she looks just like the Lexi we’ve long known. She has such power inside the ropes, beating so many of the best players in the world, and she has such power and grace outside the ropes, too, when she’s around fans. After making the cut, I’m curious if she’ll pause for any sort of wave on the Swilcan Bridge this weekend.

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DD: LPGA rookie Ana Pelaez Trivino was disqualified on Friday after her caddie used a distance-measuring device on both No 10 and No. 18. Sean, you’ve caddied a few rounds on the PGA Tour, where rangefinders aren’t allowed during competition. I know the LPGA uses rangefinders, but still — you can’t do that! How does this happen?! Are you sympathetic?

SZ: Sameness, maybe? Like rolling into every tournament and seeing some of the same notes from tournament officials and the same rules on the cork board and the same announcement on tee boxes. You get lulled into a sense of sameness, I guess? I’m really not sure how it happens, but my instinct is to come up with excuses for my fellow looper. We caddies stand together. You should know this.

DD: I stand with you. When one caddie screws up we all do. Finally: With 36 holes to play and the lead at eight under par, how far back is too far back?

SZ: I’m going to keep a lot more people in play for this than you’d think. The best player in the world is leading by three, but she’s had a very weird summer and hasn’t found trouble yet this week. So let’s say the lead is really just five under. I think five under could win this tournament, so anyone who shoots consecutive 69s from the one over par crowd gets into a playoff. Anyone worse than one over is out of the running.

DD: Good news for us: we’re still even par. Thanks mate. Happy Friday.