NORTON, Mass. — Nelly Korda is already contending in her tournament debut at the FM Championship, opening with a 5-under 67 on Thursday at TPC Boston.

The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 2 got off to a bit of a slow start with a bogey on the par-4 10th hole, what was her first hole of the round, but the 15-time LPGA Tour winner recovered fairly quickly with a birdie on 13. She then ripped off three straight birdies on the par-4 15th, par-3 16th and par-4 17th holes to race up the leaderboard to 3-under.

Korda birdied the second hole after turning in 33 to climb to 4-under, giving that stroke back with a bogey on the par-4 4th hole. The two-time major winner then landed a one-two punch of birdies on the par-5 7th and par-3 8th holes to close out her opening round in Massachusetts, an early effort that has her sitting two shots behind a trio of 18-hole co-leaders that includes LPGA Tour winners Allisen Corpuz, Jodi Ewart Shadoff and Sei Young Kim.

“It was great. Had a great crowd following us too,” Korda said about day one at TPC Boston. “Obviously, with Brooke winning last week and Minjee playing so well this year, it was a lot of fun to play against them and play with them, especially with the caliber of golf they have been playing. It was overall a solid day. No complaints.”

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Korda has been incredibly consistent across the entirety of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, making every cut in her 14 tournaments ahead of the FM Championship. She has racked up six top-10 finishes, four of which have been top fives and one of which came in a major championship, as Korda tied for second at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisc.

Statistically, before teeing it up in Norton, Mass., the Olympic gold medalist was ranked inside the top five in strokes gained off the tee (2, +0.94), strokes gained total (3, +2.31) and strokes gained tee to green (4, +1.58), according to KPMG Performance Insights. She was also leading the LPGA in birdie percentage (25.16 percent), birdie or better percentage (25.49 percent), birdie or better average per round (4.59) and top-10 finishes without a victory (6).

It's the lack of tallies in her win column that’s been one of the hottest topics of conversation as it concerns Korda’s 2025 performance, particularly after a 2024 that saw the now 27-year-old rack up a whopping seven wins, five of which came in five consecutive starts in the early part of the year.

Korda has remained unfazed by the noise, however, patiently waiting for her moment to strike, which, after a strong start to the FM Championship, could finally come this week just outside of Bean Town. But with 54 holes remaining, she is going to have to keep the pedal down in pursuit of the top of the leaderboard, especially considering how many birdies TPC Boston gave up in the first round, something that Korda is more than ready to try and do with a new TaylorMade putter in her bag.

“It's kind of the head that I was putting with last year, but a TaylorMade,” said Korda, who was ranked 20th in strokes gained putting ahead of the FM Championship. “I knew I had so much success with that kind of putter and felt confident with it. Obviously, it's a different grip, too. It's a Super Stroke. I just picked it out of the group of putters that I had and that I liked, and kind of went with it. I just needed to feel something different.”

Nelly Korda In Top Five After Day One of FM Championship

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