Connect with us

Sports

Flawless Nelly Korda shows at Women's Open she can dominate in any conditions

Published

on

Flawless Nelly Korda shows at Women's Open she can dominate in any conditions

ST ANDREWS, Scotland — As the No. 1 player in the world, Nelly Korda has become used to wearing a target on her back. Heavy expectation necessitates a sudden fall and, so, when she followed a run of six wins in seven tournaments with three successive missed cuts, gravity introduced itself without a handshake.

Since that streak — which included victory at the Chevron Championship, her first major since 2021 — ended in May, criticism that Korda is a “dome golfer,” a player who looks in ideal conditions but struggles in the more arduous tests, has returned in some quarters.

St Andrews, with its sidewards rain and howling gales, looked like a course designed to bolster that assertion.

After these first two days at the Old Course, Korda has placed that characterization on notice, posting successive 4-under rounds to start this Women’s Open and give herself a three-shot cushion on her nearest rivals, Lilia Vu and Charley Hull.

The 26-year-old Korda was utterly flawless on Friday. To shoot a bogey-free, 4-under 68 with without even the slightest hint of trouble is no mean feat amid the elements. To do so while feeling mildly frustrated that another five gettable birdies were not converted is a different level of comfort than anyone in the field has been able to find so far.

Advertisement

She had good looks at birdie from inside 20 feet on Nos. 4, 7, 10, 12, 14 and 16 but missed by a cup or lipped out each time. It looked like her putting may hold her scoring back but she rolled in a 20-foot birdie at the infamously tricky Road Hole on 17 and sunk another testing putt on 18.

Korda’s finishes at the Women’s Open have been respectable placing T9, T14, T13, T41 and T11 since 2019 but links golf was not supposed to be a style of golf that she could conquer with the lower ball flight, right-to-left action off the tee and creative chip shots required all outside of her supposed comfort zone.

Golf is not the only sport that searches for the fabled all-rounder. The tennis world of her brother Sebastian Korda, ranked number 16, also does it.

Completing the grand slam set is viewed as the pinnacle because it displays that a competitor is not just formidable on a certain surface or event, they are the ultimate because their game can answer any challenge thrown at them.

“This year I’ve won on just so many different types of grasses in different types of conditions that you just kind of always have to adapt,” Korda said.

“That’s the same thing in tennis, same thing in life. You’re always adapting to your situations at hand, and I think that’s what’s so fun about links golf is you’re literally starting it 30 yards left of your target. I’m not a fade player but I’m hitting massive fades.

Advertisement

“I think it’s fun hitting these little low drivers, too. I’m having fun, and I enjoy links golf a lot. You have a lot of 30-footers that feel like 50-footers out here because you’re hitting it into the wind.

“Then also the one that I had on 8, which was like a 20-footer and I hit almost like a 40-footer. It’s all about distance control out here and kind of getting it within a certain range so you have an easy two-putt.

GO DEEPER

‘Just do the best you can’: Exhaustion is part of it for the Women’s Open field

“I think I’m more adapted to the mindset of literally just taking it a shot at a time, not thinking ahead of myself and trusting my lines a lot. You’re literally hitting slingers in. I mean, I hit a hybrid 150 yards today on 2 and that’s my 200 (yards) club. It’s all about just trusting the process and trusting what you have in your hand.”

Advertisement

From tee to green, there was little to separate Korda and her playing partners, Vu and Hull. But her entire round contained not one miscontrol shot.

Vu had to escape a bunker on 10 and Hull found herself wide on a couple of awkward mounds but the divergence that led to a five-shot swing between Korda and overnight leader Hull was all down to the putter.

Korda has not been afraid of a putter change but she mixed things up before this tournament, moving to a TaylorMade Spider for the first time. She said she had previously been using a square-back mallet but felt like she needed something new to look at and is enjoying the roll she is getting from it.

In contrast, Hull three-putted on 2, 10 and 14. Even when Hull got her first birdie of the day on 5 (after smoking her second cigarette of the day), Korda responded immediately by sinking a 12-footer of her own, which felt like a reinstatement of her dominance.

“I left a lot of putts out there,” said Hull.

Advertisement

“Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36 putts. So that’s six shots that I’ve lost to her on the greens.

“Am I three shots behind Nelly? That’s nothing going into the weekend, especially on this golf course. I feel like I’m hitting it equally as good, she just holed a few more putts than me today.

“Lilia is the one to watch, as well, because when it gets windy she kind of just sticks in there. She’s a good scrambler.”


Hull, left, and Korda were two-thirds of a super group at the Women’s Open. (Andy Buchanan / AFP via Getty Images)

If the R&A were hoping to increase the profile of women’s golf this week then their creation of a super-group comprised of world number one Korda, top Brit Hull and the defending champion Vu — aiming to become the first player to retain the trophy since Yani Tseng in 2011 — was a smart way of going about it.

By the time the trio had made it to the fifth hole — the 14th of their round — the crowd following them was around 400 strong with lines three and four people deep.

Advertisement

This was the elite of women’s golf all together playing at the home of golf but its exposure was limited given that Sky Sports’ coverage of the event only starts at noon this week. Having teed off at 7:55am, just under 12 hours since they had finished a six-hour-plus round Thursday, they only had three holes remaining.

There is the unusual reprieve that the same trio are one, two and three on the leaderboard so will compete at close quarters again but it does little to help the absence of a superstar in women’s golf.

Korda seems reluctant to step into the silhouette herself but two more machine-like rounds at St Andrews and she may have to wear the suit.

(Top photo: Andy Buchanan / AFP via Getty Images)

Advertisement

Sports

‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

Published

on

‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.

As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Advertisement

The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.

The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.

Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.

JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.

The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.

Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.

As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.

Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.

Advertisement

Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

Published

on

Ryan Ward has a solid debut, but bullpen blows it again as Dodgers lose to Rockies

What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.

With a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champions lost back-to-back games for the first time this season. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead, letting the Rockies tee off for 15 hits.

Nor could the Dodgers keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park — though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning, when Shohei Ohtani led off with a ground-rule double and the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. Then the new guy, Ryan Ward, made the final out in his big league debut, robbed of a hit and a chance to keep chipping away by a diving Troy Johnston in right field.

Before that, the Rockies — who beat the Dodgers twice in 13 meetings all of last season — chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Díaz, who came on in the eighth and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs before being pulled with the Dodgers trailing 8-4.

Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki gave up three runs on seven hits in 4-2/3 innings Sunday against the Rockies in Denver.

Advertisement

(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.

“They both weren’t sharp,” said manager Dave Roberts, who had theories but not many answers — though he did have real concern, especially about Díaz, who recently had his right knee checked out by the medical staff.

Roberts said the closer wanted to pitch after nine days off, even though it wasn’t a save situation. But his velocity was slightly down (95.4 mph vs. 95.8) and so, “today was a tough evaluation,” the manager said.

Advertisement

“It really was,” Roberts said. “Because, you know, I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning, really.”

And losing for the second time to the Rockies, who are now 9-13? Being in danger of losing their four-game series, after arriving in Denver without having lost to a National League opponent, against a club that hasn’t made the postseason since 2018?

It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet debut.

Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning, lining a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0 and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.

“When I was on first base, I got to see them all jumping around up there,” Ward said. “That was a pretty special moment.”

Advertisement

He also singled in the sixth and swung on the first pitch in his first at-bat, a fly out in the third inning.

The Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead in the third. Alex Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim, and Shohei Ohtani doubled in Freeland — and extended his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers history.

Sasaki went 4-2/3 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up three runs on seven hits, striking out two and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the six-man rotation.

The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Mickey Moniak.

The result likely will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story years from now about getting the call after first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list.

Advertisement

The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 on-base-plus-slugging percentage for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers this year.

Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks and get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.

“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he’s done all that,” Roberts said. “He’s improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That’s easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn’t done that.”

If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.

“I used it to keep going. ‘OK, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’

Advertisement

“I used it as fire to keep working.”

That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.

In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Sports

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

Published

on

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith hears boos from WrestleMania 42 crowd

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Danhausen’s curse may be real after all – just ask Stephen A. Smith and the New York Mets.

While the latter dropped their 10th game in a row, Smith got his share of the curse on Saturday night during Night 1 of WrestleMania 42. Smith was in attendance for WWE’s premier event of the year and heard massive boos from the crowd.

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

Advertisement

Smith was sitting ringside to watch the action. The ESPN star appeared on the videoboard above the ring at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. He appeared to embrace the reaction and smiled through it.

The boos came after Danhausen appeared on “First Take” on Friday – much to the chagrin of the sports pundit. Smith appeared perplexed by Danhausen’s appearance. Smith said he heard about Danhausen and called him a “bad luck charm.”

Danhausen said Smith had been “rude” to him and put the dreaded “curse” on the commentator.

WWE STAR DANHAUSEN SAYS METS ‘CURSE’ ISN’T EXACTLY LIFTED AS TEAM DROPS NINTH STRAIGHT GAME

Stephen A. Smith attends WrestleMania 42: Night 1 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 18, 2026. (Andrew Timms/WWE)

Advertisement

Smith is far from the only one dealing with the effects of the “curse.”

Danhausen agreed to “un-curse” the Mets during their losing streak. However, he told Fox News Digital earlier this week that there was a reason why the curse’s removal didn’t take full effect.

“I did un-curse the Mets. But it didn’t work because, I believe it was Brian Gewirtz who did not pay Danhausen. He did not send me my money so it did not take full effect,” Danhausen said. “Once I have the money, perhaps it will actually work because right now it’s probably about a half of an un-cursing. It’s like a layaway situation.”

Danhausen enters the arena before his match against Kit Wilson during SmackDown at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on April 10, 2026. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Advertisement

On “Friday Night SmackDown,” WWE stars like The Miz and Kit Wilson were also targets of Danhausen’s curse.

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending