The second round at the CME Group Tour Championship may have felt like an ominous one for the likes of Angel Yin, Hye-jin Choi and Narin An, with Nelly Korda flying up 40 places on the leaderboard.
Some may have wondered whether Nelly Korda‘s hopes of winning the CME Group Tour Championship for the very first time may have already been all but dashed after she posted an opening round of 72 in Florida.
That left Korda eight shots back of the lead on day one. But she was able to make the most of the more generous conditions during the second round to bring herself right back into contention.
Of course, Korda made a stunning eagle on the third, holing out from the right rough with an eight iron. And she would not drop a shot on Friday as she moved herself in a tie for fourth – four shots back of Yin at the halfway mark.
Brandel Chamblee suggests where Nelly Korda has suffered during her LPGA career
What will be particularly worrying for her rivals is Korda’s experience of winning after trailing deep into a tournament. And speaking on Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee suggested that Korda’s fast start on Friday was so important given how often she leaves herself with a mountain to climb.
“The predicament that she’s in, the little bit of malaise start is really nothing new. If you look at her 15 wins that she’s had in her relatively young career as an LPGA player, she’s only twice had the 18 hole lead, she’s only twice had the 36 hole lead, five times this year she’s had to come from behind on Sunday – most notably, last week when she made the turn she hardly had a chance to win. I think she has suffered – I’m not going to say plagued – but suffered by slow starts,” he said.
“And when you’re looking to turn things around, we talk about the importance of the final holes obviously, because that’s where you win championships; but in terms of importance, there is no more important holes than the first six holes of any round of golf. The data shows that the better you do on the first six holes, it carries you through with the momentum. It gives you a sense of this is my day.”
The ultimate competitor this season
Korda is not exactly someone who wins by record margins. Three of her wins across her career have come by a margin of three shots. And of course, one of those was at The ANNIKA last week where she appeared to be out of the running after two bogeys on the front nine.
Elsewhere, two of her victories in 2024 came in play-offs, while she won the Mizuho Americas Open by just one shot in May.
Her ability to start sluggishly can be a problem – she opened her US Women’s Open campaign with an 80, and she found herself three over during the first round at the Olympics – but clearly, Korda is like no-one else when it comes to fighting back.
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