ERIN, Wis. — Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda has climbed into contention after carding a 5-under 67 in the second round of the 80th U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally.

The 15-time LPGA Tour winner opened her week at Erin Hills Golf Course in Erin, Wis., with a steady, even-par 72, making one bogey, one birdie and 16 pars on Thursday at this venue, which hosted the men’s U.S. Open in 2017, an event that was won by Florida native Brooks Koepka. Korda picked up the pace substantially in the second round, making seven total birdies, the most she has recorded in one round at this major championship since she made seven birdies on day one of the 2019 U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston.

Starting on the par-4 10th hole, Korda collected her first round-two birdie on the par-4 12th hole and then picked up another on the par-5 14th to move to 2-under for the tournament. A three-putt on 15 dropped her back to 1-under overall, but the world No. 1 erased that mistake with a birdie on 17 before parring 18 to turn in 34 at 2-under overall.

Korda struck again with a birdie on the par-5 1st hole to get to 3-under and made her second bogey of the round on the second hole after another three-putt, dropping back to 2-under with seven holes remaining. The Olympic gold medalist then threw a one-two punch at the fourth and fifth holes at Erin Hills, carding back-to-back birdies to climb to 4-under for the tournament.

Korda made one final birdie on the par-5 7th hole to polish off her 5-under 67, what is her career-best score in this major championship, beating the 69 she has recorded twice at the U.S. Women’s Open in the first round in 2019 and 2022’s second round by two strokes.

“I definitely felt a little bit more confident on the putting green today,” Korda said. “Made some putts. Made two kind of silly bogeys. Other than that, felt really good out there.”

There were improvements in Korda’s putting metrics on Friday, as she made three more putts in the second round (30) than she did in round one (33). But while she credits her performance on the greens as the reason for this early-week strength that is showing at Erin Hills, it’s ultimately been an overall well-rounded effort from the Rolex Rankings that has put her in this position near the top of the leaderboard, with all parts of her game contributing to her success over the first 36 holes.

Korda’s ball striking has been excellent through the first two rounds of the second major championship of the season, as the Florida native has hit 23 of 28 fairways at Erin Hills and 29 of 36 greens in regulation, providing herself with plenty of birdie opportunities on which to capitalize. Minimizing mistakes is the name of the game at any major, even more so when the rough is an incredibly penalizing fescue and the greens are so severely undulating that they can send even the most well-struck approach shots racing into greenside bunkers or sailing yards away from their intended targets.

So, while she would certainly like to have the two shorties for par she missed on Friday back and erase those two frustrating three-putts, a 36-hole total of 5-under is as good as Korda could’ve asked for, leaving her with “no complaints” about her 67.

“I've been really focused on my starting and finishing targets this week, especially off the tees with some of the blind tee shots, and then same thing with my irons. Really just focusing in on my targets,” Korda said. “Thankfully, there are TV towers that you can pick during Monday through Wednesday practice rounds. Mainly, my starting targets are poles or TV towers. I feel really good. Hopefully, I can continue that on into the weekend.

“It's golf. Sometimes, you don't know what kind of player shows up. But I'm very focused on my process before my shots and my warmups.”

Heading into the weekend in Wisconsin, Korda is going to be a couple of shots back of the leaders and is well aware of the difficulty of the challenge that awaits her over the next 36 holes, as this is her 11th start in the U.S. Women’s Open. But playing the weekend at this major championship is a privilege that Korda relishes getting to have once again this week at Erin Hills, even though it’s going to be a hard one, and she is looking forward to contending for a third career major title and her first win of the 2025 LPGA Tour season on throughout the upcoming two days in Wisconsin.

“It just keeps getting tougher,” Korda said. “The pins get tougher. The golf course, if the weather allows, gets firmer. It tests you more, and also it gets a little bit more mentally demanding in a sense because it is playing a little harder out here. I'm just trying to stick to my process, do the same warmup I've been doing every single day and approach every shot the way I've been doing the past two days and not trying to think about anything other than that.”

Nelly Korda Climbs Into Contention on Day Two of U.S. Women’s Open

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