Nelly Korda cards 10 on No. 12, shoots 80 at U.S. Women's Open - ESPN

LANCASTER, Pa. — Nelly Korda was not even three holes into the U.S. Women's Open when she dropped to a crouch and bowed her head in disbelief after her third straight shot — all of them from inside 70 feet away — tumbled into a stream.

She walked off the par-3 12th hole at Lancaster Country Club with a 10.

It didn't get much better from there.

«Making a 10 on a par 3 will definitely not do you any good at a U.S. Open,» Korda said when her nightmare start to the biggest championship in women's golf ended with an 80.

«Just a bad day in the office.»

Korda came into the U.S. Women's Open as an overwhelming favorite, with six victories in her last seven tournaments, including a major that tied an LPGA record for five wins in a row.

That's what made the most imperfect 10 so shocking.

It didn't help that two groups were on the tee at the 161-yard 12th hole — Korda had about a 25-minute wait — and she watched trouble unfold before she pulled a club. In the group ahead, Gaby Lopez came up short of the water. Ingrid Lindblad's tee shot rolled into the water.

Korda curiously chose 6-iron — most players not as long as her hit 7-iron — and it took a hard hop into a back bunker. And then the trouble began.

Korda said she had a leaf under her golf ball, and the bunker shot came out a little hot and rolled — and rolled — past the front pin, off the false front and disappeared into the stream.

«Couldn't really do anything about that,» she said. «Yeah, just hit some really bad chips, over and over again.»

She played a low pitch up the slope, but the it banged into the hill and rolled back down into the water. She took another penalty drop, played another low pitch that was only slightly better, still not nearly enough to avoid rolling