From elegant to negligent: Nelly Korda blow-up leaves Women’s Open final day finely poised

Never mind Nelly the Elegant, this was more Nelly The Negligent. From seemingly having the AIG Women’s Open in her grasp, she dropped five shots in six holes here on the Old Course and is not even in the final group on Sunday.

Of course, on five under and only two behind pacesetter Jiyai Shin – the Korean who shot a 67 – the world No 1 is far from out of it. But Nelly Korda is at her best when she is calm and composed, with her mood resembling her smooth and beautifully simple swing. And despite a birdie on the 18th that corrected at least some of the damage, Korda was anything but unflustered.

The 26-year-old declined to talk to the written press and was clearly furious. She did consent to speak to TV – naturally – and did not sound overly optimistic. “It’s going to be a tough day. I think the winds are going to be high. There could be rain, as well. I’m going to keep a positive attitude. Take it one shot at a time. I played really well the first two days.”

In truth, Korda performed adeptly enough in the opening 11 holes on Saturday. She was caught by Charley Hull after three holes – the Englishwoman who proceeded to struggle in a 75 that leaves her five off the lead – but then steadied the ship and when she was three clear playing the 12th, nobody here would have believed that, at round’s end, the world No 1 would not be in the top two.

She sloppily bogeyed that par four and replicated the error on the 13th and then hit it out of bounds on the 16th, slicing her drive over. On the Road Hole 17th, she missed from three feet for par. Korda, looking for her seventh title of the season and her second major of 2024, is now playing catch-up because of this 75.

Her three on the 18th took some courage. She is obviously still close enough and we know she is good enough, but having appeared so inscrutable in the gusts, this was a rattling wobble and in Shin there is a campaigner who knows how to win this event.

Indeed, should the 36-year-old prevail, she will be the first to win a hat-trick of Women’s Open titles since it became a major. Furthermore, Vu is the defending champion and displayed plenty of guts in birdieing three of the last five to post a 71 and move to six under.

In a tie for fourth at four under, comes Olympic champion Lydia Ko (71) and another Korean, Jenny Shin (70), with former world No 1 Atthaya Thitikul part of a group on three under.

There follows Hull and her compatriot Lottie Woad, and although the former still has hopes of going one better than last year, her Saturday form did not not inspire confidence, particularly the double bogey on the fifth when she was obliged to splash out sideways from two fairway bunkers. However, Hull is the type to excel when she needs to be aggressive and that will definitely be the case on what should be a thrilling climax.

Whatever else Woad gets to take from this week – and the very least of the amateur’s ambition will be a top-10 – the 20-year-old from Surrey will always have the memory of her eagle at the most famous final hole in golf.

From 80 yards, Woad sent her pitch soaring across the Valley of Sin and watched in amazement as her ball took one hop before skidding and spinning into the cup. On a day when the Old Course re-emphasised its penchant for drama, Woad’s moment in front of the R&A clubhouse produced the biggest cheer.

“I was struggling all day – I didn’t really hole a putt or hit it that close really. I was just trying to get my first birdie of the day and then it went in,” Woad said after her 72. “I’ll remember that for the rest of my life. It went really loud and it made my afternoon a lot, lot better.”

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