Nelly Korda faces mountain to climb after nightmare start at Evian Championship

Nelly Korda's quest to win a first Evian Championship suffered an early blow after the World No.1 stumbled to a disappointing three-over-par 74 in the opening round at Evian-les-Bains.

The 27-year-old American arrived in France chasing a fifth career major title and third this season following victories at the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women's Open. Instead, she finds herself with a mountain to climb after an error-filled opening day.

As it stands, Korda finds herself 11 shots behind early leader Aki Iwai of Japan, who produced a superb eight-under 63.

The World No.24, who owns one LPGA title, seized control of the leaderboard while Korda slipped towards the lower half of the field.

It looked a very different story in the early stages.

Starting on the 10th, Korda birdied the par-4 12th to move into red figures before her round unravelled around the turn. 

A bogey at the 18th was followed by a costly double bogey on the 1st, wiping out her strong start.

Further dropped shots at the 4th and 5th left Korda facing an uphill battle, although she managed to claw one back with a closing birdie at the par-5 9th to limit the damage.

Despite that late boost, Korda heads into the second round with plenty of work to do if she is to contend for the title — and she may first need to focus on securing her participation on the weekend.

A win this week would leave Korda just one major away from completing the career Grand Slam, with only the AIG Women's Open still missing from her collection. 

Her best finish at the Evian Championship remains a tie for eighth in 2022, while she recorded a runner-up finish at the AIG Women's Open in 2024. 

This year's AIG Women's Open, the final major of the season, takes place at Royal Lytham & St Annes later this month.

Korda arrived at Evian Resort in outstanding form, having won four LPGA titles this season, including two majors. 

Remarkably, her worst finish in nine starts before this week was a tie for eighth, underlining just how unusual Thursday's performance was.

Her round of 74 marked her second-worst score of the season. 

The bookmakers already think she's out the running for the tournament, with her price being pushed out from a pre-tournament 4/1 to a current 50/1. 

Few players have shown Korda's resilience over recent years, however, and it would be unwise to dismiss her chances of mounting a charge over the remaining three rounds.

The 19-time LPGA winner also sits just two points shy of securing the LPGA Hall of Fame qualification threshold, another milestone that appears increasingly inevitable.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Haeran Ryu opened with a five-under 66 to move into contention, while England's Lottie Woad enjoyed an impressive start with a four-under 67 to position herself firmly in the mix after the opening day.

Ryu is seeking her second major title having won last month's Women's PGA Championship, while Woad, who only turned pro last season, is going in pursuit of a first career major win. 

The first round remains in progress.

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