FRISCO, Texas — Nelly Korda shot an even-par 72 within the opening spherical of the KPMG Girls’s PGA Championship on Thursday, three days after the world’s top-ranked participant aggravated a neck harm throughout a apply spherical.
Whereas Korda stated she does not really feel ache hitting photographs, the two-time main champion stated she has ache “simply with rotation” of her neck and that it’s arduous to get snug to sleep at night time.
“It is higher, yeah. Getting higher on daily basis, which is good,” she stated. “Simply because I injured it final yr, each time I do injure my neck it takes just a little bit longer than regular. I type of tweaked it earlier than my spherical with Ariya (Jutanugarn) in Vegas this yr, throughout the night time I could not transfer then, so fortunately it wasn’t as unhealthy as that day. … Simply takes me like every week to type of get better after I tweak my neck now.”
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Korda late final yr skipped two tournaments throughout the LPGA’s Asia swing due to a minor neck harm, and that loss to Jutanugarn in match play was in April. Korda stated earlier this week that her neck “went right into a full spasm” after hitting a shot out of the tough throughout a apply spherical on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco on Monday, earlier than skipping the champions dinner that night time.
Within the first spherical of the season’s third main, Korda had two birdies and two bogeys. She was 4 photographs behind Jeeno Thitikul, the world’s No. 2-ranked participant who was in the identical group and the match chief at 4-under 68.
“General I imply, even par to begin the key … it was windier within the morning than I assumed it will be. So performed just a little harder. Yeah, I am fairly proud of my first spherical within the situations,” Korda stated. “It was fairly windy. It was sizzling. It positively takes a toll on you, the Texas warmth. So proud of my place. I have never even actually regarded on the leaderboard, to be sincere.”
Korda opened with seven consecutive pars, together with on the 317-yard, par-4 seventh gap, the place she hit a 294-yard drive right into a valley simply wanting the inexperienced. Her preliminary pitch from there ricocheted off the sting of the inexperienced and rolled again down the slope to the place she was. Korda hit her subsequent shot to 2 toes and saved par.
On the par-3 eighth, Korda’s tee shot went over the inexperienced to arrange her first bogey. She bought free aid after her strategy on the par-5 ninth went proper and settled subsequent to a brief construction, and she or he pitched to three 1/2 toes and made the birdie putt.
“It is nice to rebound with a birdie. Wasn’t certain the place to drop. The grass was like pavement. It was so agency, it has been walked on rather a lot,” Korda stated. “Everytime you get to bounce again with a birdie and also you get to type of have in a way a contemporary begin for the following 9 holes, that is at all times good.”
