Nelly Korda Shot Her Lowest Round of the Season at Evian Championship

With a driver switch and an early tee time, Korda catapulted into contention at the fourth major of the LPGA season.

Moving day at Evian Championship got underway bright and early in France on Saturday morning, as tee times were shifted up to 7:00 a.m. in anticipation of afternoon thunderstorms. But the schedule change didn’t stop players from going low—especially the world No. 2 Nelly Korda. 

Teeing off in just the second pairing of the day, Korda catapulted herself into contention with four birdies in her first seven holes.

She made three more birdies on her second nine to match the tournament low score, a 7-under 64. 

Korda hit eight out of 13 fairways and a stunning sixteen out of 18 greens on Saturday. The stellar ball-striking performance lead to a bogey-free scorecard and the lowest round that Korda has posted so far this season on the LPGA. 

The lowest round of the day belongs to @NellyKorda! 💪 pic.twitter.com/ToD8iPbMqw

— LPGA (@LPGA) July 29, 2023

“Honestly, relieving,” Korda said about her Saturday 64. “It was super nice to see all the hard work kind of pay off today. Obviously still have 18 more holes, anything can happen, but I made a push today on moving day, which I'm really happy about.”

Korda’s consistency off the tee was perhaps a product of an equipment change that she seemingly made between Friday and Saturday’s rounds at Evian Resort. 

Korda was spotted with the Taylormade Stealth 2 HD driver in her bag during Round 2 of the major championship. But on Saturday Korda appeared to be carrying the Titleist TSR1, which she starting using in October, just a few months before signing with Taylormade in January. 

Woah, Nelly Korda took out her Stealth driver and swapped back in the Titleist TSR1 for moving day at Evian.

Shot a cool 64😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/DmY2avEgFE

— Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) July 29, 2023

The 25-year-old has battled a lingering back injury this season, and her time away from competition resulted in a missed cut at the KPMG PGA Championship and a shaky performance at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. 

But things look to be turning around for Korda, who is coming off of a win at the Aramco Team Series London Event on the Ladies European Tour, where she won for the first time this season.  

“I've been practicing a lot on my swing. I think after the injury, it's funny, the game is just crazy—the game of golf is just crazy. It's like one day you're just like auto-ing top 10s and then the next day you don't know how to make a cut, make a putt,” Korda said of her recent form. “So you can have it and then you can lose it really fast.”

The low round put Korda five shots behind the tournament leader, Celine Boutier, who will look to be the first Frenchwoman to win the Evian Championship come Sunday.