The Break: Nelly's Dilemma 

The US Women's Open is underway.

Grand Slam Dashed?

The dream may already be dashed for Nelly Korda -- at least the far-fetched one of a single-season Grand Slam. Korda's US Women's Open got off to a horrid start on Thursday morning at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania when she made a septuple-bogey 10 on the par-3 12th hole. 

Korda's tee shot found the back bunker on the 161-yard hole. She splashed out from there onto a green sharply sloping from back to front. The ball just never stopped, rolling into the front-guarding water hazard. From there, Nelly dropped on the other side of the hazard and attempted a bump-and-roll up the steep slope to the front pin. She tried and failed twice to hold the green, losing three balls in total before carding that 10.

Barring what seems like an inconceivable comeback, Korda is not going to win her seventh title this year and second major in a row. The shock on Korda's fan was undeniable, and she seemed on the verge of tears about something she probably never imagined happening this week. She'll be challenged to make the cut from here.

Golf is an unpredictable, interminably difficult sport. The strangest things can happen -- good and bad -- at unlikely moments, and the player's reaction to those breaks and outcomes is what determines their fate. For Nelly Korda, it looks like that will cost her a chance at the biggest tournament in women's golf. However, what she learns from a mortifying half-hour on the 12th hole could make her a stronger player in the long haul.

Meanwhile, a great tournament is really just getting started. Lancaster Country Club is a delightful William Flynn design, and the south central Pennsylvania community will offer tremendous support to the field.

In the Loop

Rory McIlroy says he wishes he hadn't gotten as involved in the PGA Tour-LIV Golf fight as he ultimately did.

The latest episode of The Road to French Lick is out! I catch you up on Harry Higgs' back-to-back wins, and Dennis Paulson is our guest.

The Korn Ferry Tour is remembering the life of Grayson Murray as they play his home course this week at the UNC Health Championship in Raleigh. 

All charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dropped stemming from that PGA Championship incident outside Valhalla Golf Club.

Lexi Thompson surprised the golf world in announcing her retirement from the LPGA Tour as a full-time competitor after the 2024 season.

The city of Lancaster and 2015 US Women's Open champion In Gee Chun have a fascinating relationship. (Golf Digest)

Now What

I saw a tweet earlier in the week from one of those accounts that tracks the tail numbers and flight patterns of private jets. One of those such accounts was retweeted into my timeline, and the person behind that account has been tracking AIR PGA TOUR -- that is, the whereabouts of Jay Monahan's plane. It was heading to Canada for the RBC Canadian Open. It felt like yet another bombshell was coming.

After all, this tournament was where, a year ago, the players were shocked to learn about the Framework Agreement between the PGA Tour, Saudi Public Investment Fund and the European Tour Group. (Before that, the tournament hadn't been played for two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.) Fortunately, at least so far, nothing has come out to upend this week for the PGA Tour's only Canadian event and one of the longest-running national opens. Still, it afforded me a chance to think about the year that has passed.

Obviously, nothing has been formally solved. If anything, it feels like men's professional golf is further from cohesion than this time last year -- just a few days before the agreement was shared. LIV Golf continues, toiling in relative anonymity. The PGA Tour seems divided about whether to embrace the Saudis or to turn to other capital sources and roll the dice that Yasir Al Rumayyan will stop writing nine-figure checks. Or maybe that the Saudis' Neom project will become too costly to keep spending billions on a golf league.

Most importantly, the fan hasn't gotten anything out of all of this. And some significant percentage have responded by walking away from men's pro golf, perhaps save for the majors.

It's not up to me, of course, but I don't see much reason for hope -- for a good outcome, for a better fan experience, for some sense of unity. I don't even know if I want the unity part. A protracted fight has not been great for men's professional golf, but whatever comes next may not be all that much better. Still, the inside-the-ropes part -- Scheffler, Nelly, Xander, Rory and others -- has been tremendous.