Nelly Korda took four steps, then turned slightly back to glance at the heart of her rival. Ohhhh to know what she was thinking. Something ugly.
She took two more steps.
You could stop imagining.
A day earlier, during the U.S. Women’s Open’s first round, it’d been some scene on the par-3 12th at Lancaster Country Club. Korda, the unstoppable force, the world No. 1, the winner of six of her past seven tournaments. Versus the 161-yard immovable object, a hole that features all kinds of gadgets — tee shot atop a hill, water in front of the green, bunkers in back, back-to-front sloping green, false front.
Things were over fast. A tee shot to the sand. Shot into the water. Pitch shot that rolled back into the water. A second pitch shot that rolled back into the water. Korda took a 10. Septuple bogey. She finished with an 80.
Eight. Zero.
But you’re guaranteed at least two rounds. On Friday, Korda got some more swings.
Her first one nearly fell into the water.
Nearly. Somehow it stayed dry. Her 8-iron shot on the hole playing to 174 yards on Friday dropped just over the drink, trickled backward, then impossibly stopped, thanks to someone who might have forgotten to cut a blade of grass or two. Korda was safe.
Said announcer Dan Hicks on the USA Network broadcast: “Ohhhh.”
Said analyst Morgan Pressel: “Noooo.”
Said Hicks: “You got to be kidding me.”
Said Pressel: “Have the golf gods given something to Nelly here?”
Said Hicks: “They said enough is enough. That is just crazy how that ball stayed dry.”
But would Korda? She hit stroke two with her right foot on the rocks that guarded the back of the water. It looked dicey. She ended up OK — and her pitch was at best that. She was 20 feet out. Average.
Could she make par?
She did. She’d given her putt a good look. Stood over it for 13 seconds. The ball rolled for three seconds. At two seconds, Korda started walking.
In. Par. Three.
Ohhhh to know what she was thinking.
But to those who’ve also lost three balls on one hole and who’ve carded a 10 and who’ve nearly lost another ball, they already knew.
Korda grabbed the ball from the hole.
She took the four steps, as noted at the start of this article.
She took the two additional steps.
She then mouthed, “F**k you,” shrugged her arms and laughed.
Said Pressel: “I absolutely love this reaction. You knew it was there.”
In the end, Korda missed the cut. She managed a second-round 70 when she needed a 68. She won’t play the weekend.
Of course, that means this:
On 12, she had the final word.
Two of them actually.
