Nelly Korda implodes with career-worst score, drops 72 spots to miss cut at PGA 

Nelly Korda missed. Again. And on Golf Channel, analyst Kay Cockerill laughed, in a shrug-your-shoulders, keep-the-golf-bag-in-the-closet kinda way.

Said Cockerill: “Ohhhh noooo.” 

Said announcer Grant Boone: “How many edges today, Kay? That’s at least five.” 

Said Cockerill: “Well, how many edges, how many crazy bounces — I mean, it’s just like the golfing gods are stacked and ganging up against her. I don’t know why.”

It was — something. On Friday at Sahalee Country Club, during the second round of the Women’s PGA, Korda:

— Bogeyed her first four holes 

— Bogeyed the par-5 sixth hole after hitting her second shot 85 feet and her third shot 103 yards 

— Shot a six-over 42 on the front nine 

— Hit out of bounds with her second shot on the par-4 15th and double-bogeyed 

— Shot three-over 39 on the back nine 

— Three-putted twice (holes 2 and 4) and missed putts inside 10 feet four times (holes 2, 4, 5 and 11) 

— Hit eight of 14 fairways and eight of 18 greens 

Added all together, Korda shot a nine-over 81, her worst score as a professional, according to Golf Channel. It dropped her a whopping 72 spots on the leaderboard — she’d started the day in a tie for a second after an impressive opening-round 69, and she finished tied for 74th. 

But to make the cut, she needed to finish a stroke better — though she did birdie her final hole. The world No. 1 will miss weekend play — and it continues an unsettling trend. After winning the Chevron Championship earlier this year for her second major title, she’s now missed three straight cuts, which, according to golf-stats guru Justin Ray, is a career first for her.

Afterward, Korda did not have a press conference, but she told Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols this:

“It’s just golf recently for me. No words for how I’m playing right now. … A lot went my way at the beginning part of the year and just giving it back.” 

Unquestionably, Korda leads a list of surprising players to miss the cut. Here are five more:

— Megan Khang 

What she shot: 81, 76

Surprising because: The world No. 16 finished runner-up in her last event. But a first-round 81 sunk her. 

— Alison Lee 

What she shot: 81, 78 

Surprising because: The world No. 18 was playing better than anyone at the end of last year. But she also shot a first-round 81. 

— Nasa Hataoka 

What she shot: 77, 74

Surprising because: She’s missed just two cuts this year — and been DQ’d once — and she missed one cut last year. But eight bogeys and two double bogeys were too much to overcome. 

— Jiyai Shin 

What she shot: 75, 78

Surprising because: She’s a two-time major winner. But she made no birdies in the second round. 

— Carlota Ciganda 

What she shot: 78, 75 

Surprising because: The Solheim Cup star made just three birdies over two rounds. 

Nick Piastowski

Golf.com Editor

Nick Piastowski is a Senior Editor at Golf.com and Golf Magazine. In his role, he is responsible for editing, writing and developing stories across the golf space. And when he’s not writing about ways to hit the golf ball farther and straighter, the Milwaukee native is probably playing the game, hitting the ball left, right and short, and drinking a cold beer to wash away his score. You can reach out to him about any of these topics — his stories, his game or his beers — at nick.piastowski@golf.com.