Jessica Korda is finally back after going through an offseason no one would want to experience.
Korda set a course record Friday at Siam Country Club. She eagled the final hole of her round and walked off the 18th at Siam Country Club with a course record 62 — a whopping 10-under par. Add in the 66 she opened with on Thursday and she’s 16-under, four shots clear of fellow American Brittany Lincicome.
The real story is that Korda is back after undergoing extensive jaw surgery to correct an overbite that was causing facial cramping and intense headaches.
Last November in China, the entire right side of Korda’s face cramped up, making it difficult to see out of her right eye. The face cramp lingered until the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. That vicious cramp was the final straw.
The jaw surgery took place on Dec. 7 in Charlotte, N.C. It was scheduled to last 90 minutes but took more than three hours. They first broke her nose to get the tubing in place. Then her top jaw was broken in three places and her bottom jaw in two. She now has 27 screws holding her face and jaw together. While others spent their offseason practicing, Korda was simply recovering and learning how to eat without stabbing herself with a fork.
After Friday, it looks like things have turned for her as she starts her seventh season on tour.
“I struggle on this course every year, but this year I have a whole new outlook with everything I’m doing,” explained Korda after she shot 29 over her final nine holes. “It’s awesome. I was just trying to give myself a chance. It was pretty cool, a pretty cool round.”
First round co-leader Lexi Thompson, who won this event in 2016, made a flurry of birdies during the middle of her second round to stay close to Korda, but received a two-stroke penalty for moving a temporary immovable obstruction on the 15th hole and fell from 12-under to 10-under. She made six birdies during an eight-hole stretch to card a 4-under, 68. Meanwhile, Brittany Lincicome, an 8-time winner on Tour, turned in a 7-under, 65.to stand in second at 12-under. Lincicome won earlier at the season-opener in the Bahamas.
“It was great out there, me Jess (Korda) and Brooke (Henderson) were doing well and feeding off each other,” said Lincicome. “It’s nice to see the ball going straight and the ball going in since it’s only my second event of the year.”
Minjee Lee is alone at 11-under. Brooke Henderson is seven back, in a group at nine-under with Michelle Wie and Moriya Jutanugarn.
