Nelly Korda, an American pro golfer, is playing with so much control that even her misses land where she’s aiming. On Friday, she birdied her last two holes with beautiful iron shots for another 7 under 65.
At the Chevron Championship, this gives her a six-shot lead going into the weekend.
Through the 36 holes at Memorial Park, Korda has only made one bogey when she missed a 3-foot putt on the sixth hole. The two-time champion has been flawless apart from this hiccup on the sixth hole. It looks like she is playing a different course than the others.
Here is what she said about her game. “I’m comfortable with my game.”
“I think where I’m the most comfortable is definitely with my mindset of knowing when I mess up, I’ll figure it out. Sometimes I think you get stuck in wanting to play well and wanting to be at the top always, that you have this tension of not wanting to make a mistake.”
“I think there is a power in knowing it’s OK to make a mistake and just bounce back.”
Patty Tavatanakit had another bogey-free round with a 69. Ina Yook (68) and Ryan O’Toole (68) were one shot behind. Among the five amateurs to make the cut, Texas Junior Farah O’Keefe (69) was also there.
O’Keefe didn’t receive an invitation to this championship until after the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three weeks ago. She is making the most of this opportunity. In the second round, she played bogey-free. However, she could only manage one birdie on the Par 5s.
She wasn’t fazed by the impeccable performance by Korda.
“I compared it to Rory (McIlroy) at the Masters. You never know what can happen in golf,” O’Keefe said. She was referring to McIlroy losing a six-shot lead on the weekend at the Masters before winning it for the second time.
She further elaborated, “There is so much randomness out there that you can get a bad break and it’s just kind of that thing.”
“My dad and I called it that golf is a staring contest, and all you have to do is not blink first. So I’m just trying not to blink. Just trying to keep playing my game, and whatever that ends up at the end of the week is where it ends up.”
Korda is on a dream run as she won the season opener in a weather-shortened event. She has also played in the final in all four of her tournaments.
Korda looks calm and poised in this tournament as she began her closing stretch with a 3-wood into the wind from 221 yards that landed in the perfect spot to roll out 15 feet beyond the hole.
On par 5 16th, she missed an 8-foot birdie but then finished it easily.
It was the lowest 36-hole score in her career in the majors.
