LPGA: Nelly Korda close to Evian Championship minimize line; play suspended

World No. 1 Nelly Korda is flirting with one other main championship disappointment.

After profitable the Chevron Championship and 5 different LPGA occasions this season, Korda has missed the minimize in her final two main championship begins. On the U.S. Girls’s Open, Korda carded a ten on the par-3 twelfth gap at Lancaster Nation Membership—her third gap of the championship, ending her possibilities. She couldn’t discover her swing throughout the second spherical of the KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship at Sahalee, posting a 9-over 81 to overlook one other minimize.

So this week, on the Amundi Evian Championship on the shores of picturesque Lake Geneva in France, Korda opened with a 2-under 69 to sit down 5 photographs off the tempo. However as soon as once more, on Friday, the now two-time main champion struggled to seek out the shape she had earlier within the season. She received off to a poor begin, bogeying the par-4 2nd gap, which dropped her again to 1-under for the event. One other bogey on the difficult par-3 eighth adopted, however Korda bounced again with a birdie on the par-5 ninth to exit in 1-over 36.

Photograph by Matthew Lewis/Getty Photos

She then made 5 straight pars earlier than event officers suspended play for the day. Korda is now at 1-under total via 14 holes—one shot above the minimize line.

Ingrid Lindblad, Gemma Drybaugh, and Patty Tavatanakit held the first-round lead at 7-under par, however Japan’s Ayaka Furue, who has had a wonderful 2024 season, raced them by.

Furue sits at 12-under-par and nonetheless has 5 holes left to play in her second spherical. She owns the solo lead by three strokes as her eyes are set on capturing her first main championship victory. Furue additionally has eight top-10 finishes this season, which features a T-6 at Lancaster Nation Membership.

The second spherical will resume on Saturday at 7:30 a.m. native time—six hours forward of Jap Commonplace Time. Sixty-six gamers nonetheless want to finish their spherical, whereas the highest 65 and ties will advance to the weekend after the conclusion of the second spherical.

Jack Milko is a golf workers author for SB Nation’s Taking part in By way of. Make sure you take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as properly.