Nelly Korda preaching patience as she seeks her first title of the year at US Women's Open

ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Nelly Korda says she has learned the value of patience during a season in which titles haven't come as easily as they did for her a year earlier. That trait is particularly important this week at the U.S. Women's Open, a tournament that hasn't been kind to the world's top-ranked player. Korda never has finished higher than a tie for eighth and has missed the cut three of the last five years. That history provides plenty of incentive for Korda as she heads into the U.S. Women's Open starting Thursday at Erin Hills. She is seeking her first title of the season. "I mean, it's the biggest test in golf," Korda said. "It definitely has tested me a lot. I love it. At the end of the day, this is why we do what we do, is to play these golf courses in these conditions, to test our games in every aspect." Korda, 26, understands that challenge all too well. Last year, she entered the U.S. Women's Open having won six of her last seven events, then fell out of contention early. She posted a 10 on her third hole of the tournament, carded an 80 in the opening round and missed the cut at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club. Her average score of 68.88 leads all LPGA competitors, but her lack of titles this year is notable after a spectacular 2024 season in which she won seven times in 16 starts. She won five straight events at one point last year, tying a record she now shares with Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. "It's been a very interesting year for me," Korda said. "I definitely have had a bit of good and a bit of bad. Kind of a mix in kind of every event that I've played in. I would say just patience is what I've learned, and kind of going back home and really locking in and practicing hard." Korda's lack of championships reflects the balance in women's golf this year, as the LPGA Tour hasn't had a single player win multiple titles through its first 12 events of the season. Korda will seek a breakthrough this week at Erin Hills, a 6,829-yard, par-72 course located less than 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee. Erin Hills' relative lack of trees can make the course particularly difficult on windy days. "Weather plays a pretty big role out here, especially with kind of no coverage, no trees to block it. It's kind of a very big open field," Korda said. "When it gets windy out here, it's really going to play with your golf ball. It's just kind of seeing what the day has in store and having a game plan for it." What's at stake The 80th U.S. Women's Open has a $12 million purse, with the winner earning $2.4 million. That makes it the most lucrative event of the women's golf season. Saso seeks third title Yuka Saso is the defending champion and the first person to win titles representing two countries. Saso represented the Philippines for her 2021 title and represented Japan last year. Her mother is Filipina and her dad is Japanese. Those U.S. Women's Open championships are Saso's only career LPGA Tour titles. She tried to explain this week why she plays her best on this stage. "I think it's so difficult that I have no time to relax, which I think makes me focus deeper," Saso said. "I think that helps." Watch out for wind Erin Hills was a rather forgiving course when the U.S. Open came here in 2017 and Brooks Koepka won at 16-under par to tie the tournament record. The relative lack of wind that week led to low scores. "Let's face it," said Shannon Rouillard, the United States Golf Association's senior director of championships. "The 2017 U.S. Open didn't play how we had hoped it to play because Mother Nature didn't show up." Rouillard believes this week should be different. "Will Mother Nature show up?" Rouillard said. "Right now she's telling us she's going to show up. That will play a major component into our overall setup plan." Ko's video scouting Lydia Ko took an unusual approach to preparing for Erin Hills. The world's third-ranked player went on YouTube to watch golf pros Wesley Bryan and George Bryan and YouTube content creator Grant Horvat tackle the course. The Bryan brothers put videos of themselves playing various courses on their Bryan Bros Golf YouTube channel. "I got into YouTube golf because of my husband, and I won't be shy to say I watch it on my own now," Ko said. "It's probably not the preparation that many of the other players did, but it was just a good way for me to kind of see the golf course."