World No. 1 Nelly Korda struggled to find her form at the U.S. Women’s Open after a disastrous opening-day 80, missing the eight-shot cut by two shots.
An even-par 70 in the second round wasn’t enough to save the American, who was the clear favorite going into the major at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, having won six of her past seven starts.
Korda got a little revenge on the par-3 12th, where she fell into the water three times Thursday and shot a career-worst 10 on her way to an 80. This time, her tee shot was caught in a patch of grass, and Korda hit it 20 feet away and holed her putt for par.
She hit three consecutive birdies before the end of the front nine holes and got into the qualifying range, but her tee shot was poor and she only had four birdie opportunities on the back nine holes, ultimately missing the cut by two strokes.
“When I made three birdies in a row, I wanted to make the cut,” Korda said.
“I know I was kind of hovering there and I just couldn’t get anywhere. There weren’t a lot of low scores and I was pretty far behind.
“I gave it my all. I did that every round. I had nothing to lose, so that was my mentality. Just go for it.”
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai made four straight birdies in her opening four holes on Friday and tied her low score of the week with a three-under 67 to lead by two shots heading into the weekend.
The 31-year-old had never finished outside the top 10 in her previous 20 Grand Slam appearances. She is currently ranked 158th in the world and has never won a title in the United States.

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Meechai steadied himself over the final six holes, making two birdies to finish at four under, two shots ahead of Andrea Lee, with the other two players all under.
“To be honest, I was very nervous before kick-off. I just spoke to my manager and it felt like my hands were shaking and my brain was shutting down,” said Michai.
“But just try to play this game well. I know it’s a tough game; just go with the flow. That’s my point, just have fun.”
Also failing to advance were Rose Zhang, Lydia Ko, Brooke Henderson and defending Women’s Open champion Alison Corpuz.
Asterisk Talley, 15, shot 15 pars in a 71 to be paired with U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill and make the cut.
Lee was in a bunker on the first hole, the 10th of the round, when her ball rolled right into the back flagpole and dropped for eagle.
She then made three consecutive birdies and suddenly led Meechai, who was in the group behind her, by two strokes, but then she failed to save par from a bunker on the par-3 eighth hole.
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