Nelly Korda started her 2026 campaign with a win and then added two majors and one more regular event to her total victories this year. However, she was struggling during the opening round at the Amundi Evian Championship 2026. The stakes are much higher for her at the fourth major of the year. Besides the financial benefits and world ranking points, she has a chance to complete her career Grand Slam and also enter the LPGA Hall of Fame. But this added pressure appears to be derailing the World No. 1.

The TV coverage showed her performance only on two holes. And with no ShotLink or videos from her round, there aren’t many details available. She started on the back nine and had a decent start. She hit a birdie on the 12th and then ended with a bogey on the 18th. This left her on par at the end of her first nine holes.

But things changed on the front nine. On the par-4 1st hole, she hit a double bogey. Then, she added two more bogeys on the 4th and the 5th. A late birdie on the 9th helped her finish at three-over 74.

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It was Nelly Korda’s putting that was causing the problem. She hit the fairways 11/13 times, and her average driving distance was 276 yards. But for the greens in regulation, the statistic was only 13/18. It seems like she carried the putting struggles she had in the final two rounds at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship here.

During the third major of the season, the 27-year-old started with rounds of 70 and 68, and was well in contention. Her SG: Putting the first two rounds were 0.594 and 2.744, respectively. But it dropped to -1.170 and -1.592 in the third and fourth rounds. This took away her chances of winning the third major in a row, as she ended tied for 8th on the leaderboard. While her opening round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship could have been better, her strokes gained data was at least positive.

“You can’t win it on the first day, but you can definitely lose it,” she said during her post-round conference of the third major of the season.

This time, though, Nelly Korda didn’t even speak to the media. And it seems like what she said about losing an event on the first day has come true. After her opening round, she is tied for 100th place on the leaderboard.

Although a few golfers have yet to finish their rounds, she is currently 11 shots behind the leader, Aki Iwai, who shot an exceptional eight-under 63. At this point, she is completely out of contention, and it reflects on her betting profile, too. The bookmakers who gave her 4/1 odds of winning pre-tournament have now pushed her to 50/1.

She was already wary of the course, and it is already showing its true colors.

“Evian is special in itself, where … you hit some really good shots and they end up in the complete wrong areas, and that’s just kind of how it is. It’s all about patience this week.” she said during her pre-event press conference about the unique challenges of the event and the Evian Resort Golf Club.

While she pointed at the golf course, all the pressure may be catching up to her.

Nelly Korda denied it while performing her media duties yesterday by saying, “I think I just try to spin it, of yeah, some people may think it’s a lot of pressure, but I think I’m just really proud of myself for even putting myself into that position and it being talked about.”

However, being the World No. 1 and playing for the career Grand Slam and the two points that could get her into the LPGA Hall of Fame can be overwhelming.