Nelly Korda can retake No. 1 ranking with a victory in Portland, and she’s off to a strong start

Nelly Korda can once again move to No. 1 in the world. It will take a victory in her debut at the AmazingCre Portland Classic to do it, but No. 2-ranked Korda is off to a strong start, carding an eventful 5-under 67 that included a double-bogey on No. 6, immediately followed by eagle.

“It was a very colorful front nine,” said Korda. “Kind of up and down day, but ended on the good side. Overall, I played some solid golf. Maybe made a few stupid errors, but that’s golf.”

Ayako Uehara paces the field early at Columbia Edgewater after an opening 65. Hannah Green sits alone in second at 6 under.

Korda first rose to No. 1 in June of last year after winning the KPMG Women’s PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club. She has spent a total of 29 weeks at No. 1, trading back and forth with Jin Young Ko.

AmazingCre Portland Classic: Leaderboard

With Ko out until at least late October with a nagging wrist injury, there’s an open door for Korda to make a move. Korda posted seven birdies and an eagle in her opening round, hitting 11 fairways and 15 greens.

“I told myself it’s just the first day,” said Korda. “Can’t win it, but you can definitely lose it. So I just tried to stay pretty confident in what I was working on with my coach, Jamie Mulligan, the past week.”

Caroline Inglis, a member at Columbia Edgewater for seven years, holds a share of third at 5 under with Hinako Shibuno and Korda. Inglis is close friends with the club’s superintendent, Jim Myers.

“He was telling me because it’s pretty like soft for normal member play, you know, you can’t get the greens like crazy fast and firm,” said Inglis.

“And, like, I would say the greens definitely firmed up a lot since like Monday, Tuesday, which is great. I love that. They’re fast and they’re rolling so pure. They’re really good.”

Inglis played collegiate golf at Oregon and joined the tour in 2017. This could be a pivotal week for the 28-year-old, who is currently 120th in CME points. The top 100 players keep their cards for the 2023 season. Inglis began the year with conditional status and didn’t get her first start until April. After four straight missed cuts, she tied for 14th last week in Cincinnati.

“I’ve been trying to take the opportunities as they come and play my best,” said Inglis. “It was nice to like have a good week last week and see some of the hard work pay off.

“So feel like my game is in a good place, and I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully ride the momentum.”