Major championships are going to play harder than your average week on tour. It's not surprising to see players at the U.S. Women's Open missing more fairways and greens at Riviera, the ultimate strategic design. But there's something interesting in Nelly Korda's stats through three rounds that shows a player can miss a lot of greens, while still hitting it great.
Korda is the best ball-striker on the LPGA Tour and has averaged 77 percent greens in regulation during the 2026 season. At the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera C.C., Korda hit 56 percent of greens during the first round, 61 percent in the second round and 56 percent again in the third round. But the greens in regulation stat doesn't tell the entire story.
Strokes gained shows that though she's hit about the same amount of greens during each round, her ball-striking has improved significantly since Thursday. In that first round, Korda lost .65 strokes to the field in approach shots, ranking 101st in the field. The frustration was clear. She talked about a swing issue she'd been working on, where she was having trouble releasing the club, which was resulting in the ball flying off to the right. She went to the range and ultimately her sister, Jessica, told her to strengthen her grip.
The following round, she hit about the same number of greens, but her strokes gained stat changed considerably. In the second round, she gained 1.27 strokes on the field in approach, ranking 35th in the field. In the third round, she missed eight greens again but gained 2.62 strokes on the field, ranking third in strokes gained approach. She finished birdie-birdie-birdie to enter the final round with a share of the lead.
The greens in regulation stats show she's missing greens, but the strokes gained stats in her second and third rounds reveal that she's not missing by much, and she's missing in great places.