Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda is off to a strong start in her tournament debut at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

The 15-time LPGA Tour winner rode the links-golf rollercoaster on Thursday in Ayrshire, Scotland, ultimately finishing with a 4-under 68 that saw her make three bogeys and seven birdies in the first round. Korda stumbled right out of the gate with a bogey on her first hole of the day, recovering quickly with a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-4 2nd and par-5 3rd holes to get herself into red numbers.

She landed another punch on the par-5 5th hole, now sitting at 2-under for the round, but Korda gave that stroke back with a bogey on seven. The 26-year-old then picked up two more birdies on the par-4 8th and 9th holes to finish off her front nine and turn in 33 at 3-under.

The back nine was much quieter for Korda, as the two-time major champion parred the first four holes before grabbing a birdie on the par-5 14th hole. She tripped up again with another bogey on 16, but Korda polished off her first-round effort with a birdie on the last hole at Dundonald Links and now currently sits just two behind 18-hole leader Charlotte Laffar in a tie for seventh at 4-under.

“Not bad. Capitalized on some really good holes,” Korda said when asked how she would rate her 68. “Played the par 5s really well today. The weather was beautiful in the morning and then progressively got a little windier, which I was expecting. But overall, very happy with my round.”

Korda is making her 12th start of the year this week and will continue searching for her first victory of 2025 in Scotland. But despite the fact she hasn’t found the winner’s circle since The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge last November, it’s been a strong season for the American superstar, who had much to follow after winning a whopping seven times in 2024.

She has made the cut in every event she has played thus far and has only finished outside the top 30 on one occasion, doing so in her last start at The Amundi Evian Championship. She has earned four top-10 finishes, the best of which is a solo second that Korda posted at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and the most notable of which is the tie for second she recorded at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Erin Hills.

Before this week’s tournament, she was leading the LPGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee (+1.10) and was second and third in strokes gained total (+2.47) and strokes gained tee to green (+1.90), respectively, according to KPMG Performance Insights data. Not to mention, Korda is also ranked in the top 10 of several other season-long metrics and is seventh in the Race to the CME Globe.

It's her ability to maintain a lengthy period of consistency that makes Korda a regular threat each week, and after another round in the 60s – what’s her 21st sub-70 score on the LPGA Tour this season – the Rolex Rankings No. 1 is once again one of the topics of conversation early at the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.

But Dundonald Links has yet to show its teeth after round one, giving up several low scores on Thursday in what were described by many as mild conditions. And with the golf course playing much softer than what is typically seen on links-style layouts, Korda knows that she will need to continue attacking this venue when and where she can in hopes of posting three more numbers deep in the red over the next few days in Ayrshire, Scotland, as she works to contend for her 16th career title on the LPGA Tour.

“It's softer compared to the links that I typically played,” Korda said. “But it gets windy out here. I played Monday where it was no wind. I played this morning where there was no wind, but all of a sudden, it's a flip of a switch, and it gets so windy out here and makes it very difficult.

“I wouldn't even say that golf course is a traditional links style. A lot of the greens are really elevated. You can tell that they have received a lot of water, so it's a little softer out here, which can make you a little bit more aggressive.”

Consistent Nelly Korda Cards 68 to Open ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open

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