Latest news with #Korda

1News
8 hours ago
- Sport
- 1News
Lydia Ko battles at Women's PGA Championship in Texas
Ko opened her round with an impressive birdie putt but that was the only one she'd manage, four bogeys leaving her with a three-over 75 start to the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Meanwhile, Nelly Korda shot an even-par 72 for her opening round of the third major of the year , three days after the world's top-ranked player reaggravated a neck injury during a practice round. While Korda said she doesn't feel pain hitting shots, the two-time major champion said she has pain "just with rotation" of her neck and that it is hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. "It's better, yeah. Getting better every day, which is nice," she said. "Just because I injured it last year, whenever I do injure my neck it takes a little bit longer than normal. I kind of tweaked it before my round with Ariya (Jutanugarn) in Vegas this year, during the night I couldn't move then, so thankfully it wasn't as bad as that day... Just takes me like a week to kind of recover when I tweak my neck now." Korda late last year skipped two tournaments during the LPGA's Asia swing because of a minor neck injury, and that loss to Jutanugarn in match play was in April. Korda said earlier this week that her neck "went into a full spasm," after hitting a shot out of the rough during a practice round at the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco on Monday, before skipping the champions dinner that night. ADVERTISEMENT Nelly Korda hits to the third green during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament. (Source: Associated Press) In the first round of the season's third major, Korda had two birdies and two bogeys. She was four shots behind Jeeno Thitikul, the world's No. 2-ranked player who was in the same group and the early leader at 4-under 68. "Overall I mean, even par to start the major... it was windier in the morning than I thought it would be. So played a little tougher. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with my first round in the conditions," Korda said. "It was pretty windy. It was hot. It definitely takes a toll on you, the Texas heat. So happy with my position. I haven't even really looked at the leader board, to be honest." Korda opened with seven consecutive pars, including at the 289m, par-4 seventh hole, where she hit a 268m drive into a valley just short of the green. Her initial pitch from there ricocheted off the edge of the green and rolled back down the slope to where she was. Korda hit her next shot to 2 feet and saved par. On the par-3 eighth, Korda's tee shot went over the green to set up her first bogey. She got free relief after her approach at the par-5 ninth went right and settled next to a temporary structure, and she pitched to 1m and made the birdie putt. "It's great to rebound with a birdie. Wasn't sure where to drop. The grass was like pavement. It was so firm, it's been walked on a lot," Korda said. "Whenever you get to bounce back with a birdie and you get to kind of have in a sense a fresh start for the next nine holes, that's always good." - Additional reporting by 1News

10 hours ago
- Sport
Jeeno Thitikul stays patient and goes on a birdie streak to take first-round lead at Women's PGA
FRISCO, Texas -- Jeeno Thitikul walked off the fifth green after a double bogey in the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship reminding herself to stay patient and that some missed shots are going to happen. 'Majors, you're going to miss anyway,' said Thitikul, who's No. 2 in the women's world ranking. 'A way to bounce back, it's more important.' Thitikul certainly found a way to do that on a hot and windy Thursday, finishing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke lead over Minjee Lee (69). Haeran Ryu, Rio Takeda and Somi Lee all shot 70. That only hole over par for Thitikul was followed by a par before she made five birdies in a six-hole stretch, with a 60-footer on the par-3 eighth hole in the middle of three in a row. 'My putter went really well," said the 22-year-old from Thailand, who is seeking her first major title. "In the front nine we had a lot of breeze going, and more than the back nine, but like (made) putts 7, 8, 9, which boosts the confidence up making the turn to the back nine.' Thitikul, who lives in the Dallas area, needed only 25 putts on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco. Her makes measured 199 1/2 feet. Only 15 of 156 players broke par, with no bogey-free rounds on a day when temperatures reached the mid-90s Fahrenheit and it felt even hotter. There were also the ever-present Texas winds on a more open layout after last year's Women's PGA at tree-lined Sahalee outside Seattle. Maja Stark, who three weeks ago won the U.S. Women's Open, shot a 3-over 75. Defending champion Amy Yang finished with a 76, and was one of the last players off the course on a day with six-hour rounds. Thitikul played with top-ranked Nelly Korda (72) and No. 3 Lydia Ko (75). Korda, who reaggravated a neck injury with a shot out of the rough during a practice round Monday, opened with seven consecutive pars in a round that had two birdies and two bogeys. Ko was the only in the group to make a birdie at the 513-yard, par-5 first hole, but didn't make another the rest of the day. While Korda said she doesn't feel pain hitting shots, the two-time major champion said she has pain 'just with rotation' of her neck and that it is hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. 'It's better, yeah. Getting better every day, which is nice,' she said. 'Just because I injured it last year, whenever I do injure my neck it takes a little bit longer than normal. ... Just takes me like a week to kind of recover when I tweak my neck now.' Korda opened with seven pars, including at the 317-yard, par-4 seventh hole, where she hit a 294-yard drive into a valley just short of the green. Her initial pitch from there ricocheted off the edge of the green and rolled back down the slope to where she was. Korda hit her next shot to 2 feet. That fifth hole for Thitkul started with a drive out of bounds and a penalty. Her birdie streak began with a nearly 18-footer at No. 7 before the long one at the eighth. She rolled in a 35-foot birdie at No. 17, and just missed making another one more than twice that long on the 434-yard, par-4 18th. Two-time major winner Lee, a 29-year-old Australian who also lives in North Texas, hasn't won since 2023. She opened Thursday with a bogey and finished with two bogeys over the last three holes. In between, she made seven birdies. 'I feel like they were pretty soft bogeys. ... Well, on 16, that was a bit soft and obviously the first hole is a par 5. I should be making birdie or par at the least,' Lee said. 'Obviously there will be bogeys, but I think for me, I just try to stay patient. If I make a bogey I just try it back it up with something better than that. Can't get ahead of yourself, especially in this kind of weather. I think it's more just the heat that's draining your focus.' Lee bogeyed the 425-yard 12th hole, where she drove into thick rough to the right and from there went into the left rough. She saved par at the par-3 13th by blasting from a bunker to 5 1/2 feet and had consecutive birdies to get to 5 under — the lowest by anyone in the first round. Then came her late bogeys, missing a 7-foot par on the 16th and hitting her approach on the 18th into a bunker.


Fox Sports
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Jeeno Thitikul stays patient and goes on a birdie streak to take first-round lead at Women's PGA
Associated Press FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Jeeno Thitikul walked off the fifth green after a double bogey in the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship reminding herself to stay patient and that some missed shots are going to happen. 'Majors, you're going to miss anyway,' said Thitikul, who's No. 2 in the women's world ranking. 'A way to bounce back, it's more important.' Thitikul certainly found a way to do that on a hot and windy Thursday, finishing with a 4-under 68 for a one-stroke lead over Minjee Lee (69). Haeran Ryu, Rio Takeda and Somi Lee all shot 70. That only hole over par for Thitikul was followed by a par before she made five birdies in a six-hole stretch, with a 60-footer on the par-3 eighth hole in the middle of three in a row. 'My putter went really well," said the 22-year-old from Thailand, who is seeking her first major title. "In the front nine we had a lot of breeze going, and more than the back nine, but like (made) putts 7, 8, 9, which boosts the confidence up making the turn to the back nine.' Thitikul, who lives in the Dallas area, needed only 25 putts on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco. Her makes measured 199 1/2 feet. Only 15 of 156 players broke par, with no bogey-free rounds on a day when temperatures reached the mid-90s Fahrenheit and it felt even hotter. There were also the ever-present Texas winds on a more open layout after last year's Women's PGA at tree-lined Sahalee outside Seattle. Maja Stark, who three weeks ago won the U.S. Women's Open, shot a 3-over 75. Defending champion Amy Yang finished with a 76, and was one of the last players off the course on a day with six-hour rounds. Thitikul played with top-ranked Nelly Korda (72) and No. 3 Lydia Ko (75). Korda, who reaggravated a neck injury with a shot out of the rough during a practice round Monday, opened with seven consecutive pars in a round that had two birdies and two bogeys. Ko was the only in the group to make a birdie at the 513-yard, par-5 first hole, but didn't make another the rest of the day. While Korda said she doesn't feel pain hitting shots, the two-time major champion said she has pain 'just with rotation' of her neck and that it is hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. 'It's better, yeah. Getting better every day, which is nice,' she said. 'Just because I injured it last year, whenever I do injure my neck it takes a little bit longer than normal. ... Just takes me like a week to kind of recover when I tweak my neck now.' Korda opened with seven pars, including at the 317-yard, par-4 seventh hole, where she hit a 294-yard drive into a valley just short of the green. Her initial pitch from there ricocheted off the edge of the green and rolled back down the slope to where she was. Korda hit her next shot to 2 feet. That fifth hole for Thitkul started with a drive out of bounds and a penalty. Her birdie streak began with a nearly 18-footer at No. 7 before the long one at the eighth. She rolled in a 35-foot birdie at No. 17, and just missed making another one more than twice that long on the 434-yard, par-4 18th. Two-time major winner Lee, a 29-year-old Australian who also lives in North Texas, hasn't won since 2023. She opened Thursday with a bogey and finished with two bogeys over the last three holes. In between, she made seven birdies. 'I feel like they were pretty soft bogeys. ... Well, on 16, that was a bit soft and obviously the first hole is a par 5. I should be making birdie or par at the least,' Lee said. 'Obviously there will be bogeys, but I think for me, I just try to stay patient. If I make a bogey I just try it back it up with something better than that. Can't get ahead of yourself, especially in this kind of weather. I think it's more just the heat that's draining your focus.' Lee bogeyed the 425-yard 12th hole, where she drove into thick rough to the right and from there went into the left rough. She saved par at the par-3 13th by blasting from a bunker to 5 1/2 feet and had consecutive birdies to get to 5 under — the lowest by anyone in the first round. Then came her late bogeys, missing a 7-foot par on the 16th and hitting her approach on the 18th into a bunker. ___ AP golf:


Scroll.in
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘The Phoenician Scheme' review: Benicio del Toro grounds the latest Wes Anderson whimsy
In the entry on Wes Anderson in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (2004), British critic David Thomson said about the American filmmaker: 'Watch this space. What does that mean? That he might be something someday.' This brutal, terse dismissal came after such well-regarded films as The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). The relentless whimsy, the meticulously designed and colour-coded sets that resemble dollhouses or model building kits, the grown-ups who behave like brilliant but emotionally stunted children, the gnomic humour – Anderson annoys some viewers but also has a loyal fan base. His latest film is equally divisive. The Phoenician Scheme is something of a return to form after the follies The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023). The new film isn't at the level of Anderson's superb The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), but at least it's grounded in something resembling the present. In the 1950s, the industrialist Anatole Korda (Benicio del Toro) decides to pass on his fortune to his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who is training to be a nun. Liesl does not cast aside her habit but nevertheless starts following her father as he tries to fund his ambitious Korda Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme. The project claims to bring immense wealth to an underexploited region. Like the buccaneers before him and the Silicon Valley bros after him, Korda promises more than he can deliver. Underfunded and overleveraged – it is debatable what remains for Liesl to inherit – Korda charms an array of investors while dodging assassination attempts by his rivals. Within the predictable quirkiness is a cautionary tale about Western conquerors setting off to conquer far-off lands about which they know little and care even less. The film ever-so glancingly addresses American-style expansionism, whose effects are ricocheting within the present-day boundaries of the place that Korda seeks to exploit. The 105-minute confection is written by Anderson and based on a story by him and Roman Coppola. The packaging is typically impeccable: gorgeous production design by Adam Stockhausen, precise camerawork by Bruno Delbonnel, a charming score by Alexander Desplat. Korda's up-down relationship with Liesl creates tension within the perfectly symmetrical sets, also giving the 105-minute film something of an emotional core, especially in its dying moments. The cast has a staggering number of cameos, from Tom Hanks and Riz Ahmed to Scarlett Johansson and Benedict Cumberbatch. Michael Cera creates an impression as Korda's mysterious secretary. The film belongs to a lovely Benicio del Toro, who has a solidity that weights Korda, a sense of enigma that makes him unpredictable and the sleekness that befits a man with nine lives. The deceitful but also remorseful Korda's wheeling-dealing pauses only to build bridges with his estranged daughter. Del Toro creates layers of depth in a film that gives the illusion of being something more than the sum of its neatly assembled parts. Play

13 hours ago
- Sport
Top-ranked Nelly Korda even par to start Women's PGA after reaggravating neck injury
FRISCO, Texas -- Nelly Korda shot an even-par 72 in the opening round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship on Thursday, three days after the world's top-ranked player reaggravated a neck injury during a practice round. While Korda said she doesn't feel pain hitting shots, the two-time major champion said she has pain 'just with rotation' of her neck and that it is hard to get comfortable to sleep at night. 'It's better, yeah. Getting better every day, which is nice,' she said. 'Just because I injured it last year, whenever I do injure my neck it takes a little bit longer than normal. I kind of tweaked it before my round with Ariya (Jutanugarn) in Vegas this year, during the night I couldn't move then, so thankfully it wasn't as bad as that day. ... Just takes me like a week to kind of recover when I tweak my neck now.' Korda late last year skipped two tournaments during the LPGA's Asia swing because of a minor neck injury, and that loss to Jutanugarn in match play was in April. Korda said earlier this week that her neck 'went into a full spasm' after hitting a shot out of the rough during a practice round at the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco on Monday, before skipping the champions dinner that night. In the first round of the season's third major, Korda had two birdies and two bogeys. She was four shots behind Jeeno Thitikul, the world's No. 2-ranked player who was in the same group and the early leader at 4-under 68. 'Overall I mean, even par to start the major ... it was windier in the morning than I thought it would be. So played a little tougher. Yeah, I'm pretty happy with my first round in the conditions,' Korda said. 'It was pretty windy. It was hot. It definitely takes a toll on you, the Texas heat. So happy with my position. I haven't even really looked at the leaderboard, to be honest.' Korda opened with seven consecutive pars, including at the 317-yard, par-4 seventh hole, where she hit a 294-yard drive into a valley just short of the green. Her initial pitch from there ricocheted off the edge of the green and rolled back down the slope to where she was. Korda hit her next shot to 2 feet and saved par. On the par-3 eighth, Korda's tee shot went over the green to set up her first bogey. She got free relief after her approach at the par-5 ninth went right and settled next to a temporary structure, and she pitched to 3 1/2 feet and made the birdie putt. 'It's great to rebound with a birdie. Wasn't sure where to drop. The grass was like pavement. It was so firm, it's been walked on a lot,' Korda said. 'Whenever you get to bounce back with a birdie and you get to kind of have in a sense a fresh start for the next nine holes, that's always good.'