Nelly Korda guns for gold: Everything you missed overnight at the Olympics

Hot (a): Having a high degree of heat. Ex.: Thursday at the Olympic women’s golf tournament.

If the action through a sweltering day 2 of the women’s Olympic golf tournament could be summarized in one word, it would be “hot.” As the temperature continued to play a significant factor throughout the course of play in the women’s tournament — with heat indices rising to as high as 106 degrees Fahrenheit — the cumulative temperature of the tournament took a sizzling shift on Thursday morning.

After a slow(er) start to play on Wednesday, a glut of players posted low scores in Thursday’s second round, helping to push the leader down to double-digits under par, with a healthy group nipping at her heels.

Below, read everything you need to know after a scalding second round at the Olympic women’s golf tournament.

3 things you missed overnight at the Olympics

1. The World No. 1 has arrived

Not even the heat was enough to cool down Nelly Korda on Thursday at the Olympics.

One might say the World No. 1 took a “scorched earth” approach to day 2 at the Games, firing a 9-under 62 en route to a four stroke lead heading into Friday’s third round (the tournament began on Wednesday and is scheduled to conclude on Saturday). But of course, a “scorched earth” approach would imply the earth was not already scorched, and the weather at Kasumigaseki C.C. seemed to indicate the opposite.

Temperatures pushed triple digits again in Japan’s Saitama prefecture and continued to threaten the possibility of completing a 72-hole strokeplay event in the women’s game. But all the while, Korda couldn’t have been any cooler. Her second round score of 62 was tied for the lowest round in Olympic history with only Maria Verchenova’s final-round 62 in 2016.

2. Heat plays a different kind of factor

It was once again blistering at Kasumigaseki Country Club’s east course, which once again seemed primed to see blisteringly low scores.

A shade over half the field is under par through round two, and it seemed the conditions brought about by the heat — steady winds and jumping distances — have contributed to some of the low scores we’ve seen to date. With inclement weather expected to blow in over the weekend, it will be interesting to see how the Olympic host fares against the game’s best.

3. Great Danes!

Behind Korda, the biggest surge up the leaderboard on Thursday came courtesy of … the country of Denmark. A pair of three-named Danes, Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Emily Kristine Pedersen, left Kasumigaseki tied for second on Thursday evening.

Both players fired sub-65 rounds (Pedersen notched an eight-under 63, while Madsen recorded a seven-under 64) in order to move to nine-under for the tournament and into a tie for second place. Both players are surprises at the top of the leaderboard — neither entered the Games ranked in the top 60 in the world by Rolex Ranking.

James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is an assistant editor at GOLF, contributing stories for the website and magazine on a broad range of topics. He writes the Hot Mic, GOLF’s weekly media column, and utilizes his broadcast experience across the brand’s social media and video platforms. A 2019 graduate of Syracuse University, James — and evidently, his golf game — is still defrosting from four years in the snow, during which time he cut his teeth at NFL Films, CBS News and Fox Sports. Prior to joining GOLF, James was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from.