{"id":347797,"date":"2026-06-05T09:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347797\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:12:19","slug":"u-s-womens-open-no-1-kelly-norda-struggles-during-1st-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/347797\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Women’s Open: No. 1 Kelly Norda struggles during 1st round"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nelly Korda\u2019s bid for a U.S. Women\u2019s Open title began Thursday with a foot fault.<\/p>\n

The No. 1-ranked player opened her round at Riviera wearing a pair of golf shoes provided to her by LeBron James, Nike Victory Pro 4s with white uppers, gold swooshes, red-and-navy details and an American flag pin on the laces.<\/p>\n

Snazzy as they looked, the shoes were a little loose fitting for Korda, who swapped them for a more familiar pair after she played the first six holes at one over par. She never really found her groove and finished the opening round with a two-over-par 73.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust hit it really poorly off the tee,\u201d said Korda, who immediately headed to the practice range after meeting with the media following her round. \u201cFound myself in a lot of trouble on the wrong side of a lot of these pins. I just felt like I was kind of just grinding to make safe pars. It wasn\u2019t a great day. I hit it really good Monday through Wednesday, so I have honestly no idea where this came from.\u201d<\/p>\n

For others, Riviera \u2014 playing host to the major championship for the first time \u2014 was as comfortable as an old shoe.<\/p>\n

In the long shadows of the afternoon sun, Jennifer Kupcho finished her round of 66 to claim the first-round lead. Her round started with three consecutive birdies. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it marked the first time in her career she made birdie or better three consecutive holes.<\/p>\n

Korea\u2019s Sei Young Kim finished just behind Kupcho with a 67, making back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, then three in a row on Nos. 6, 7 and 8.<\/p>\n

\"Sei <\/p>\n

Sei Young Kim eyes her putting line on the ninth green during the first round of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open at Riviera Country Club on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Kim ended a personal streak of 43 consecutive major championship rounds shooting 70 or higher. Elias notes it was the longest active streak of its kind entering this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. Open is not regular \u2014 not the same as a regular tournament,\u201d Kim said. \u201cSo you need to be really patient instead of attacking the pin. So I really try to follow what my caddie says.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some caddies have an even closer relationship with their players. On the bag for Michelle Wie West is her husband, Jonnie West, son of late NBA legend Jerry West. Wie West retired three years ago after the Open at Pebble Beach, but came out of retirement to use her last year of exemption to play on this iconic course, celebrating its centennial.<\/p>\n

Wie West opened her round with a flourish, crushing her tee shot 293 yards down the left side. Although she missed the green on her approach, chipped up for a short birdie putt but missed it. She finished at four over in a tie for 106th.<\/p>\n

Wie West, once one of the biggest stars in the game, qualified for the USGA amateur championship at age 10, the youngest player to do so. She turned professional shortly before her 16th birthday and won five times on the LPGA Tour, with her only major victory coming at the U.S. Open in 2014.<\/p>\n

Now a mother of two, Wie West said part of her motivation to return for this tournament was so her daughter, Makenna, who turned 6 this week, will have memories of her playing.<\/p>\n

\"Michelle <\/p>\n

Michelle Wie West, right, and caddie Jonnie West, her husband, discuss an approach shot during a practic round Wednesday.<\/p>\n

(Harry How \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s everything,\u201d Wie West said of that inspiration. \u201cBeing able to share this with her \u2014 even the last couple of months, just practicing. We talk a lot before she goes to bed, and I tell her what I do when she\u2019s at school. \u2018I had a tough day at practice. This is what I overcame.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Makenna is almost a sounding board.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter is like the best sports psychologist I\u2019ve ever had, honestly. \u2026 I\u2019m going to try to live by the words I tell my daughter. I always tell her before a game or tournament, \u2018I don\u2019t care about the results. All I care about is a good attitude and that you try your hardest.\u2019 That\u2019s my No. 1 goal this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still in search of her first major victory is Gaby L\u00f3pez, whose 68 put her just behind the leaders. She grew up in Mexico City and said Riviera has a familiar and comfortable feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all high elevation [there] and flies way less here,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the same kikuyu [grass] and the ball sits up, and you just have to be ready to hit some flier shots off the fairway.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cThat rough, you can get lucky at times. \u2026 It\u2019s so sticky it\u2019s hard to get it out, especially when you\u2019re going to have no spin. So you just have to be very specific where you\u2019re going to miss it if you don\u2019t hit the fairway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez has started hot in the U.S. Open before, although she wasn\u2019t pleased with those results. She was four under through her first nine holes in 2017 before going two over in her second nine. She shot a 70 that day and was tied for 13th after the opening round, but wound up missing the cut.<\/p>\n

Her approach this year is simple and straightforward.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now let\u2019s be smart, let\u2019s be focused on what you want to achieve,\u201d she said, \u201cand at the end of the day, let\u2019s put yourself in a position that you can have a shot on the back nine on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez finished the round tied for third. Former UCLA player Patty Tavatanakit shot a 69.<\/p>\n

\"Gaby <\/p>\n

Gaby Lopez hits off the ninth fairway during the 81st U.S. Women\u2019s Open at Riviera Country Club on Thursday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nelly Korda\u2019s bid for a U.S. Women\u2019s Open title began Thursday with a foot fault. The No. 1-ranked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[142505,9342,12411,9831,53035,8356,48,52,51,47,50,49,1741,142502,142503,1045,142504,87614,141666,430,72],"class_list":["post-347797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-1-ranked-player","tag-daughter","tag-first-round","tag-first-time","tag-great-day","tag-hole","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lot","tag-michelle-wie-west","tag-nelly-korda","tag-open","tag-regular-tournament","tag-riviera","tag-u-s-women","tag-week","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}