Nelly Korda Looking At Another Putter Switch After Shooting 77 in Chevron Championship

An almost tearful Nelly Korda was seen practising with a different putter after a bitterly disapointing first round at the Chevron Championship.

The defending champion and World No.1 made just one birdie and six bogeys in a five-over round of 77 at the first women’s Major of the year.

Korda finished the first round down in T118 at The Club at Carlton Woods – a full 12 shots off the lead and four off the early cut mark, with her title defence already over barring a miraculous recovery.

She hit eight fairways and 11 greens in regulation, but took 33 putts and headed straight to the practice putting green after her round – following a brief stop with reporters when she was visibly shaken and close to tears after her round.

“I’m going to go and practice and see where it takes me,” said Korda after her round. “I just have to work. I’m not hitting it well, so that’s about it.”

Thursday was the third time in the last 12 months that Korda has endured a high-scoring round in a Major, but her 77 wasn’t the worst.

Korda shot 80 in the opening round of last year’s US Women’s Open, when she scored a 10 on a par-3, and also threw in an 81 in the second round of the 2024 Women’s PGA Championship.

Outside of those Majors Korda was unstoppable last year, when she claimed the Chevron Championship as her incredible fifth straight tournament victory in a row.

She’s without a win in 2025 and had a new blade putter in the bag at last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship – the same style that she used for six of her seven wins last year.

nelly Korda at the AIG Women's Open — Korda put the mallet style putter in play at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open

However, after her dreadful start to the Chevron she was back using a mallet style flat stick on the practice green, with Golf Channel quoting a member of Korda’s team that she was “trying something different” in a bid to find a cure to her problems.

Having used a mallet since last summer, the blade was back in ther back last week but Korda had a number of three-putts with it – and she’s lost patience with it again after such a bad start in Texas.

Four consecutive front-nine bogeys seem to have derailed her title defence before it even really had a chance to get going.

The 15-time LPGA Tour winner now faces a battle just to make the weekend, and even more of an internal battle trying to get comfortable on the greens.