THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Nelly Korda was on the verge of tears when she walked out of the scoring tent after signing for a disappointing 5-over 77 to begin her title defense at the Chevron Championship.
“I just have to work,” Korda said, visibly frustrated after her round. “I’m not hitting it well.”
She was 12 off the lead but, more importantly, four off the early projected cut line.
Korda’s caddie, Jason McDede, and her swing coach, Jamie Mulligan, immediately went to the practice putting green at The Club at Carlton Woods following Korda’s morning round, in which she needed 33 putts. The world No. 1 joined her team 15 minutes later, but she didn’t practice with the blade putter that she put in play Thursday. Instead, she practiced with a mallet-style putter that looked similar to her former putter. A member of Korda’s team confirmed to GolfChannel.com that she was trying something “different.”
Korda put the blade putter back in her bag at last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship, where she endured multiple three-putts. She used that style putter for most of her historic 2024 season — for six of her seven tour wins. Korda switched to the mallet style at the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews — following some summer struggles — and used it through her first four starts in ’25 (earning one win, at the ’24 Annika).
The low point of Korda’s opening round Thursday came midway through her front nine when she made four consecutive bogeys on hole Nos. 3-6, and her eyes grew glassy.
“I’m going to go and practice,” Korda said as she walked away from the 18th green, and away from her difficult start to the season’s first major, “and see where it takes me.”
