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.

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.

Turning it on 🔥

A long birdie putt for @NellyKorda on the tough 17th Road hole and she follows it up with a birdie on 18.

She leads the AIG Women’s Open as she starts her second 9.

Follow her progress live on AIG Women’s Open Radio https://t.co/4PKMDcUsD1 pic.twitter.com/duuyLj5yJI

— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 23, 2024

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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.

“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.

“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.”

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.

“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.

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)

Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders had a tense exchange with a reporter during media day on Aug. 9. Sanders made it clear that he was not fond of some of Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler’s coverage of him and the Buffaloes football program in the past.

“You don’t like us, man. Why do you do this to yourself?” Sanders asked Keeler at one point during the press conference. “No, I’m serious. Why do you do this? Like you know you don’t. Like, why do you do this?”

Two weeks after the back and forth, Colorado announced that Keeler would no longer be permitted to direct questions at Sanders or anyone else involved with the football program. The university described some of Keeler’s past coverage as “personal attacks on the football program.”

“After a series of sustained, personal attacks on the football program and specifically Coach Prime, the CU Athletic Department in conjunction with the football program, have decided not to take questions from Denver Post columnist Sean Keeler at football-related events,” the athletic department said in a statement obtained by ESPN. 

DEION SANDERS’ COLORADO FOOTBALL TEAM RECEIVES ONE VOTE IN FIRST AP TOP 25 POLL OF SEASON

Colorado officials added that the reporter’s access to “football-related activities” remains intact, and his colleagues from the newspaper are free to direct questions to the Buffaloes’ head coach.

“Keeler is still permitted to attend football-related activities as a credentialed member of the media and other reporters from the Denver Post are welcome to ask questions of football program personnel made available to the media, including coaches, players and staff.”

Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes watches as his team plays their spring game at Folsom Field on April 27, 2024, in Boulder, Colorado.   (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

A Colorado athletic department spokesperson told the outlet that some of Keeler’s previous references to Sanders were an issue, including instances when the coach was referred to as “Deposition Deion,” the “Bruce Lee of B.S.,” and a “false prophet.” Certain phrases such as “Planet Prime,” “the Deion Kool-Aid” and “circus” also created points of contention, the unnamed Colorado athletic department media relations staffer said, per The Denver Post.

The exchange between Sanders and Keeler earlier this month went on for around 90 seconds, with the Pro Football Hall of Famer pushing Keeler for an answer to his question. Keeler did ask Sanders multiple times if he could ask a “football question.”

“It would be hard for me to really engage in someone I don’t like or someone I don’t like. I’m just asking why? Like why? What did I do?” Sanders repeated.

The columnist responded by telling the coach that he “didn’t do anything.”

“You’ve gotta pay bills, man. You didn’t do anything. It’s not about that. This is a football question,” he said.

The columnist then again tried to ask a question, but Sanders continued his line of questioning.

“But why? I’m asking you why? … You want me to answer you, so why? … You’re always under attack. Like what did we do to you?” Sanders said.

Sanders eventually agreed to discuss the matter with Keeler in a private setting at a later date.

“No, we’ll talk about that when we talk about that. I’ll talk about that with you,” Sanders said. 

Head Coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes speaks at the 2024 Big 12 Conference Football Media Day at Allegiant Stadium on July 10, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Louis Grasse/Getty Images)

Keeler published a column shortly after the exchange with Sanders, which said the coach was “a confident man who suddenly looked and acted and sounded … afraid.” 

The Denver Post said that Sanders’ contract states that he only has to talk to “mutually agreed-upon media.”

Denver Post sports editor Matt Schubert responded to Colorado’s move to ban Keeler from questioning Sanders. 

“It’s well within anyone’s right to not take questions from [Denver Post sports reporters and columnists]. The reasons listed here by CU, however, are entirely subjective. It would be more accurate to say, ‘We don’t like Sean Keeler’s critiques of our program,’” Schubert wrote in a post shared on social media.

Keeler is the latest reporter whom Sanders took issue with and ultimately banned. When he was the head coach at Jackson State in 2021, a reporter with the Mississippi Clarion Ledger was barred from covering the football program. The outlet posted a story that touched on a court filing about a top recruit who faced charges stemming from an alleged assault on a woman. The paper learned of the banning the day after the story was published.

Colorado finished the 2023 campaign with a 4-8 record. Sanders hopes to improve on that record this year. The Buffaloes will host North Dakota State on Aug. 31 to open the 2024 season.

The game will also mark Colorado’s debut as a member of the Big 12 Conference.

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Super Bowl-winning coaches Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll are potentially closer to Canton as the Pro Football Hall of Fame has revised its selection process, reducing the time a coach must wait to become eligible for enshrinement. But other changes to the process could raise the bar for enshrinement.

Coaches now will only have to wait a year for eligibility after retirement as opposed to the previous five-year period, the Hall of Fame announced Friday.

Although Belichick hasn’t officially retired from coaching after parting ways with the New England Patriots earlier this year, the changes could see him being fitted for a bust in 2026 should he decide to call it a career — the same with Carroll who parted ways with the Seattle Seahawks following the 2023 season.

The revisions also include another benefit for coaches as it separates them from the contributors category, meaning their candidacy will only be judged against other coaches. The change ensures that at least one coach and one contributor will be among the 20 finalists the Selection Committee will discuss and vote on when it meets ahead of the Super Bowl.

While Belichick in particular figures to breeze into the Hall the first time he’s eligible, the changes announced could narrow the path for coaches and contributors whose credentials are not as strong.

The new process will send three Senior candidates (players retired at least 25 years), one coach and one contributor to the finalist stage. Once those five are identified, selectors will cast ballots for three of them, with an 80 percent approval rate required for any candidate to earn selection. Vote splitting could make it more likely for only one or two of the maximum three to advance. The process will pit players against coaches and contributors, a setup that has in the past favored players.

The five slots available to modern-era candidates also could be harder to secure under the new format. In the past, selectors reduced from 15 finalists to 10 to five. Once the final five were identified, selectors voted “yes” or “no” on each of the final five, and any with 80 percent “yes” votes was enshrined. Under the new setup, selectors will reduce from 15 finalists to 10 to seven. At that point, voters will pick their final five, with only those candidates receiving 80 percent approval earning enshrinement. Vote splitting makes it more likely for candidates to miss the bar for enshrinement.

The revisions also call for the formation of two 11-person screening committees comprised of members not on the selection committee that will separately review the full list of nominees. They’re set to take effect beginning with the Class of 2025.

Which contributors could this benefit?

Among the contributors who could be near the front of the line based on past votes are Roone Arledge, Robert Kraft, Bucko Kilroy, Art Rooney Jr., Clark Shaughnessy, Lloyd Wells and John Wooten. But past votes aren’t always an indicator of future votes in sub-committee selections — Pompei

Kraft’s chances for becoming a finalist improved now that he doesn’t have to compete with coaches. However, the fact that he’ll have to compete with long-retired players and a coach for three spots makes it difficult to predict what might happen. — Sando

Required reading

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)