FRISCO, Texas – Nelly Korda shot a uniform 72 in the opening round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Thursday, three days after the world’s top-ranked athletes exacerbated a neck injury during the practice round.
Korda said he didn’t feel any pain, but the two-time major champion said he had pain “only a spin” in his neck, and it was difficult to sleep comfortably at night.
“Yeah, that’s good. Getting better every day, that’s good,” she said. “Whenever I get injured in my neck just because I’m injured last year, it takes a little longer than usual. This year I tweaked it before the round with Aliya (Jutanugaan) in Vegas.
It was April that Korda skipped two tournaments due to a neck injury during the LPGA Asian swing late last year, losing to Jutanugaan in match play. “Korda said earlier this week that her neck was in a complete spasm after skipping that night’s Champions dinner at the Fields Ranch East Course practice round held at PGA Frisco on Monday.”
In the first round of the third major of the season, Korda had two birdies and two bogeys. She was four shots from Jeeno Thitikul, the world’s second-largest player in the same group and tournament leader with a 4-under 68.
“Overall, even Parr is starting out in the majors…it was a little more windy in the morning than I thought. So it was a little tough. Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with the first round on the conditions,” Korda said. “It was pretty windy. It was hot. The heat in Texas definitely needed a blow. I’m very pleased with my position. To be honest, I’ve never really seen a leaderboard.”
Korda opened with seven consecutive pars, including a 317-yard par-4 seventh hole. Her first pitch from there bouncing off the green edge and rolling down the slope to where she was. Korda hit the next shot two feet, saving par.
Par 3 8th, Corda’s tee shot set up her first bogey over the green. After the par-5 approach went right and settled next to the temporary structure, she was free to receive relief and she pitched 3 1/2 feet to create a birdie putt.
“It’s great to rebound with birdies. I didn’t know where it was going to fall. The grass was like pavement. It was very solid. It was walking a lot,” Korda said. “It’s always good when you’re bouncing off a birdie and getting a fresh start on the next nine holes.”