Nelly Korda takes Women’s Open lead in dream three-ball match

What are the chances that the top three seeded players at the midpoint of a major tournament have all played together in the same three-ball tournament in the first two rounds? If the odds of that scenario were indeed high, the odds that Nelly Korda will convert a three-point advantage from here on out are understandably low.

After another windy day on the Old Course, the world number one is eight under par thanks to a second straight 68 that takes pride of place as one of only two bogey-free rounds so far in this windswept AIG Women’s Open.

Korda’s playing partners, England’s Charley Hull and defending champion Lilia Vu, are five under par after shooting 72 and 70 respectively. Their convergence at the top of the events is all the more remarkable given that while this group is 18 under par for the first 36 holes, the collective score of the other 141 golfers in the field is more than 600 strokes above.

Of course, everyone except those who believe in fairies in the garden – and perhaps the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger – knows that the organizers set the “draw” and bring together the big names, but the vagaries of golf, and especially links golf, almost never allow for such clear-cut scenarios to play out. Believe me, this was an isolated case. Just like Korda.

St Andrews has a history of crowning greats – Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods are just three of them from the men’s game, while Lorena Ochoa had her crowning moment in front of the R&A clubhouse 17 years ago – and at the end of a season in which she won six titles, including the first major of the year, Korda would be a more than fitting name on the Home of Golf’s wall of fame.

The 26-year-old has failed to replicate her ridiculous early-season form, finishing outside the top 20 at both the Olympics and the Evian Championship. But it is an improvement on that strange period following her heroics, when she missed the cut at the US Women’s Open and Women’s PGA Tour, bizarrely failing to break 80 in either round.

However, with a new putter and a fresh mindset in 40mph gusts that only allow her to focus on the next task at hand, Korda has been magnificent on these hallowed courts. As the daughter of Australian Open tennis champion Petr Korda, she knows that the ability to impose herself on all surfaces separates the legends from the average Grand Slam and Major winners and after just one top-10 finish at this tournament, that is her challenge this weekend.

“For sure,” Korda said. “I think this year I’ve won on so many different types of grass in different conditions that you always have to adapt. It’s the same in tennis, it’s the same in life. You always adapt to the situation, and I think that’s what’s so fun about links golf. I’m not a fade player, but I hit massive fades and it’s fun to hit those little low drivers too. I’m having fun and I really enjoy links golf. Every year that I play, I learn a little bit more.”

Korda looks imposing, but Hull insists she is not intimidated. The evening leader started her second round poorly, missing a two-foot putt on her first hole – the 10th – and losing two more strokes to three-putts and with Korda coming on strong, it would have been easy to let the day, and yes, the week, slip away from her. But Hull “dug deep” and played her last five holes in 3-under par and is ready to take on the leader.

“I feel like I played as well as Nelly. She just made a few more putts than me today,” Hull said. “Nelly made 30 putts and I made 36. So I lost six putts to her on the greens. I’m only three behind. That’s nothing going into the weekend, especially on this course.”

As a finalist last year, Hull won’t forget Vu anytime soon. “I think Lilia is also the one to watch because when it’s windy, she stays there,” Hull said. “She’s a good climber.”

China’s Ruoning Yin is fourth on four under par, while Lottie Woad, the 20-year-old from Farnham, is two under par after a 70 and set to battle for the low-par amateur owners with Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist, who shot a brilliant 67 – the only other bogey-free round – to move to three under par.

The emotion was palpable on the Swilcan Bridge as 2009 champion Catriona Matthew stopped to say goodbye to fans in her final major appearance. The Scot then birdied the final hole for a 74 and missed the cut at seven over par.