Visibly shaken, Korda went to the 13th par 5 at 8 over, at the time the second highest total for players taking the start of the morning wave. The two-time major champion entered the week having won six of seven starts, believed to be the only player in women’s golf history to accumulate such a run.
Korda began his round on the back nine, making a bogey 5 at the 10th before disaster struck two holes later. His tee shot landed in a bunker behind the 161-yard hole, and his second failed to hold the green, rolling into the water guarding the front of the sloping putting surface.
Her next two shots past the obstacle also ended in the water and she fell to her knees with her head in her hands. Korda’s eighth shot finally landed on the green 10 feet from the cup. She missed that putt and became the latest victim of the evil No. 12, who at the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open generated 31 double bogeys, the most of any hole that year.
During the first few hours Thursday morning, the hole had produced eight double bogeys or worse, underscoring its difficulty, which had caught the attention of players during practice rounds earlier in the week.
“The par-3 over the water is so… from the tee box you can’t see how steep the green is, but then you get to this green, you say, ‘Oh my God, you’ “I’m coming with a 6-iron,” Korda said Tuesday afternoon. “If you’re long, in a sense, you’re kind of (in trouble). , you’re (in trouble) too, so making sure you hit the greens here this week, because they’re so small and undulating, will be key.
Only a handful of players were below average among those playing in the morning in cool conditions. Three players, American Megan Schofill, Japanese Yui Kawamoto and South Korean Min Byeol Kim, were below average after their first nine holes. Schofill was 2 under at nine, while Kawamato and Kim were both 1 under.
