Nelly Korda discusses putter change in the ongoing AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews
Nelly Korda, the reigning world number one, is leading the AIG Women's Open, the final major championship of the year. She's currently eight under par, holding a three-stroke advantage over her closest competitors heading into the final round.
It has not gone unnoticed that Korda has been using a different putter for the competition. In an interview with Sky Sports on Friday, Korda offered a brief explanation for this change.
"It's behaving really well, I put it in literally on Wednesday during my Pro-Am and it just felt really nice. I think I just needed a change-up, something new, and it felt really nice coming off the face and it's been working, so I'm very pleased." [0:01 - 0:22]
The switch to a new putter was a relatively spontaneous decision for Korda. Until the 2024 Paris Olympics, she had been using her trusted Scotty Cameron Special Select Squareback 2 Prototype. However, in the short period between the Olympics and the AIG Women's Open, TaylorMade sent her a custom Spider Tour X to try at St. Andrews. Korda had limited time to practice with the new putter, focusing on it during her days off in Prague and at the Home of Golf.
The change has proven beneficial. Korda is currently averaging an impressive 1.6 putts per hole and 30 putts per round through the first two rounds of the AIG Women's Open. Notably, she's achieved these outstanding numbers despite the challenging weather conditions that have persisted throughout the tournament at St. Andrews.
A look at Nelly Korda's performance over the first two rounds of the AIG Women's Open
Nelly Korda enjoyed a remarkable start to the season, winning six tournaments, including five consecutively. Among these victories was the Chevron Championship, her second major title.
However, the 26-year-old's last five starts (including the Olympics) have not yielded similar results. During this stretch, she missed three cuts, two of which were in major championships, and her best finish was a tie for 22nd at Le Golf National.
Nevertheless, Korda arrived at the Old Course in St. Andrews as one of the favorites to win the title. The world number one has more than justified that prediction, leading by three shots with two rounds to play.
Korda carded five birdies and one bogey in the first round to finish at T2, one stroke behind leader Charley Hull. The American repeated her performance in the second round, this time with four birdies and no bogeys.
With a score of 8 under, she is five shots ahead of the other two favorites, Hull and Lilia Vu. The three played the first two rounds together and if the leaderboard remains unchanged at the top, Korda will play with one of them on the so-called "moving day".