Jessica Korda Had a Bad Day at the Women's Open, But Revealed More About Herself by Blowing Off Media After the Round
MUIRFIELD, Scotland - Sporting a Muirfield hat because her sponsored headgear and other clothing was still sitting in a Zurich airport, for a while Jessica Korda seemed unbothered at the AIG Women’s Open.
Tied for the lead at 5 under on Friday when she birdied the par-4 8th hole, the 29-year-old appeared comfortable in strange clothing on Murifield's storied links.
That presumption was a mistake and Korda, the older sister of Nelly (2 over at the halfway point) made critical mistake after critical mistake during four consecutive bogeys to drop off the leaderboard. The Round 2 leader is South Korean I.G Chun at 8 under, one shot ahead of Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom and South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai.
Normally at this point I would offer up what happened to Korda, who shot a 3-over 74, and break down her four consecutive bogeys to not only fall out of the lead, but into a tie for 17th.
But Korda declined the interview request posed to her by the R&A and decided to leave you and me guessing.
I can say that after watching Korda she chipped poorly and left herself lengthy putts for par, which she obviously missed.
It’s also possible that Korda is not completely over her back issues that forced her to take two months off after the Chevron and not return until the beginning of June to play in the U.S. Women’s Open.
She mentioned on Thursday that with her bags still in Zurich Airport she was missing heating pads for her back.
With Thursday’s weather cool and rainy early and Friday’s windy, it’s possible that Korda’s back might have tightened up, but none of us know.
Jessica Korda shot a 3-over 74 on Friday at the Women's Open, then skipped a media session afterward.
Golffile
Oddly enough, the R&A and AIG raised the purse this year for the Women’ Open from $5.8 million to $7.3 million. And on Thursday HSBC signed on to sponsor both the men’s and women’s open, creating greater opportunities for purse increases.
When Martin Slumbers, the Chief Executive of the R&A, announced the purse increase in a press conference on Wednesday, he highlighted the need for broader engagement in women’s golf and outlined three points: passionate partners, great venues and broad and extensive coverage to create engagement and raise its profile.
On Friday Korda fell short of supporting the third tenant that Slumbers outlined. There is no free lunch in professional golf, men’s or women’s.
Professional golfers generally live a charmed life, and what they earn they deserve. But with that charmed life comes responsibilities, and facing the media is part of that.
On Thursday, I talked to different players about a story regarding the potential for Saudi Arabian involvement in women’s golf. Lizette Salas, after making a bogey at the 18th hole, took time after her round to discuss the issue. Stacy Lewis and Laura Davies both had long days but took the time after their rounds to talk about the issue.
They get it. They understand the need to help the media do their job, which ultimately benefits all of women’s golf.
Korda was unhappy and frustrated. We all get that, but we wanted to know more. Instead we learned something about Korda we didn’t expect, and it wasn’t positive.