Yahoo Sports Nelly Korda rides new putter to Old Course lead, with plenty of stars in pursuit at 2024 Women's British Open
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- When it comes to marquee groups, it's hard to imagine any delivering more on their promise than the dynamite trio of Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu and Charley Hull at the AIG Women's British Open.
World No. 1 Korda paces the field at 8 under after back-to-back 68s over the Old Course, one shot ahead of her playing competitors in the 7:55 a.m. tee time. Vu, the No. 2 player in the world, sits in position to win her second title of the season while Hull, the top-ranked British player, gave up a bit of ground after taking a one-shot lead following the opening round. Vu will be the first defending champion to make the cut at the AIG since Georgia Hall in 2019.
There's no doubt this all-star group got the better end of the draw, playing late on Thursday and early on Friday. There were 17 groups who finished under par in Round 1 and only four were from the morning wave.
Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko and 2022 AIG winner Ashleigh Buhai are among a group at 3 under, five shots back.
Here's how this group of fan favorites fared on Friday:
Nelly Korda, 8 under
Though she won six events this year with her trusty Scotty Cameron Squareback putter, Korda needed a change of scenery. While in Prague after the Paris Olympics, she started to dabble with a new putter, and on Wednesday, settled on a TaylorMade Spider and, so far, has no complaints.
It's the first time Korda has put a TaylorMade putter in play as a professional, though she did use one in junior golf.
"Honestly, it rolls really nicely," said Korda. "The greens being pretty slow due to the weather here. They're rolling about like a 9.4. ... I just needed something different to look at. Sometimes you just need to switch it up."
Korda took 30 putts in Round 2, once again making birdie on Nos. 17 and 18. The world No. 1 now has nine rounds in the 60s at the majors, the most of any player on tour.
Charley Hull, 5 under
Hull had a different story on the greens, missing a number of short putts on the front nine. The miscues began on her first hole (No. 10), when she missed a two-footer and then a three-putt from 10 feet followed on the par-5 14th. The popular Englishwoman Hull said she struggled with the pace on Friday, feeling the greens were a bit slower.
After taking 27 putts in the first round, Hull needed 36 in her second-round 72.
"Am I three shots behind Nelly?" Hull asked when asked about her position. "Yeah, only three shots behind. That's nothing going into the weekend, especially on this golf course. Like I said, I left a lot of putts out there. I think Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36 putts. So that's six putts that I've lost to her on the greens. I'm just going to go out there and do some pace putting this afternoon, but again, I felt like I hit the ball pretty well."
Lilia Vu, 5 under
Vu gave back the Women's British trophy earlier this week after one final celebration at the famous Dunvegan pub. A two-time major champion last season, Vu has one more weekend left to follow up that breakthrough season with a third major title.
"In dining, they've been kind of replaying last year's coverage," said Vu, "and it kind of seems surreal to me that I actually did that because I just thought it was so tough."
Vu carded two birdies in her last three holes to shoot 70 on Friday and stay within three of Korda. She's most pleased with how many birdie opportunities she's given herself in challenging conditions.
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In case you missed it
Last April, the clubhouse reopened after its most extensive renovation in 100 years, adding new women’s facilities among other upgrades. This week, LPGA players are actually utilizing the larger men’s locker room space as well as the new heritage lounge, where they can recover in comfort with compression boots and locally made protein bars and balls.
“Probably the nicest locker room we’ve had, ever,” said Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, adding, “They smell quite nice. Usually we get old lockers that smell like old feet and stuff.”
Jenny Shin called the stately locker room area “absolutely phenomenal,” giving a small group of scribes details on the toilet stalls, down to the look of the toilet paper holder and handles.
Check out this must-see inside look of the R&A Clubhouse at this week's Women's Open.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Nelly Korda rides new putter to Old Course lead, with plenty of stars in pursuit at 2024 Women's British Open
