Nelly Korda leads star-studded pack at AIG Women’s Open

Nelly Korda is the woman to beat heading into a tantalising weekend at the AIG Women’s Open after setting a formidable halfway target at St Andrews. 

The world No.1 matched her opening 68 with a sublime bogey free second round in blustery morning conditions on the Old Course to top a star-studded leaderboard at minus eight.

Her playing partner Charley Hull, the overnight leader, wobbled with a series of three putts early in her round, but battled back with three birdies in her final five holes to stay in touch.

Lilia Vu, the defending champion and the third player in that impressive marquee group, is tied with Hull on five-under after all three players birdied their final hole.

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The Friday morning wave weren’t forced to endure the 40mph gusts that caused chaos on the opening day, but Korda still had her ball on a string as the wind whipped around the Home of Golf. Starting on the 10th, she birdied 17, 18 and the par-5 fifth before finishing with a flourish on the driveable ninth.

Korda, who credits her fine start to changing her putter on Wednesday, now has a golden chance to end an unforgettably dominant season with a second major.

But the 26-year-old Floridian isn’t looking too far ahead just yet.

“I’m just trying to stay very present and not think about anything other than one shot at a time, and whatever golf and links golf throws at me, I’m going to take it head on,” she said.

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Hull, meanwhile, blamed a cold putter for her slow start, but the box-office home favourite remained typically optimistic about her own weekend prospects.

“I actually I thought I hit it just as good as yesterday, I just missed four – I think three or four four-foot putts – but that was early on in my round,” she recalled.

“Am I three shots behind Nelly? Yeah, only three shots behind. That’s nothing going into the weekend especially on this golf course. Like I said, I left a lot of putts out there.

“I think Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36 putts. So that’s six putts that I’ve lost to her on the greens. I’m just going to go out there and do some pace putting this afternoon, but again, I felt like I hit the ball pretty well.”

The cavalry is well set behind Korda. Ruoning Yin, so fast out of the blocks on Thursday, is four-back and four under. Olympic champion Lydia Ko and the 2022 winner Ashleigh Buhai are a further shot behind.

Meanwhile, Lottie Woad, the world No.1 amateur who sealed glory at Augusta National earlier this year, sits at minus two and has the chance to do the double across golf’s two most venerable courses in a single season.

A fascinating weekend awaits.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.