The last shall be the first?
Nelly Korda has put herself in position for her first win of the LPGA season, in the season finale. Korda shot 8-under 64 Friday at Tiburon Golf Club to post the clubhouse lead in the CME Group Tour Championship.
Coming off a seven-win season, Korda is 0-for-19 this year. She began this week with a 1-under 71, leaving her seven off the lead and frustrated with her putting.
“I just saw a lot of burned edges and kind of lip-outs,” Korda said of her opening 18 in Naples, Florida. She went to the practice putting green following the round, and after five minutes of seeing some putts drop, she left satisfied.
“Coming back out here this morning, you know, the conditions were great. The wind wasn’t really that strong. Was able to be really aggressive after a lot of these pins and rolled some putts in,” she said.
“It’s always nice to bounce back after a little bit of a frustrating round where you think you played better than you scored. It’s nice to score well the next day.”
Korda made nine birdies and one bogey in Round 2, moving to 9 under for the tournament. She was one clear of Jennifer Kupcho and Minjee Lee, who were both on the course when Korda finished.
It wasn’t just Korda’s putter – which she used only 26 times Friday – that led to her low scoring. She hit all 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation. She put new irons in her bag at last week’s Annika, in an effort to get more spin.
She also went 71-63 a week ago, before a 68-69 weekend left her tied for 15th. She’ll need to keep a better pace these final 36 holes to avoid a ’25 shutout.