Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko make equipment changes after one round, vault up leaderboard

ORLANDO, Fla. – One day after Nelly Korda put a new driver in the bag, she took it out. The same is true for Lydia Ko and her "new" putter. The top two players in the world were better off for it, with Korda's 5-under 67 moving her into a share of third, and Ko's 67 moving her to a share of seventh at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

Korda put the TaylorMade Qi35 in play for the first time this week, but ultimately switched back to the Qi10 she used last season. Korda, of course, won six times in 2024 while Ko won four times, including Olympic gold.

"It was just some things that I need to dial in a little bit more," said Korda, "so just went back to my old trusty. ... I think if you're not confident in one part of your game it kind of leaks to everything else. Not saying that I'm not going to put it in for the rest of the year, but there is just a couple tweaks that I want to do to it before putting it in to actually play for my whole set to be confident."

In Ko's case, she'd put the putter she used in her terrific 2022 season back in play, a season in which she'd won LPGA Player of the Year. She quickly decided, however, that it was a mistake to switch from the putter that won her a major title at St. Andrews and Olympic gold last year. It helped that Ko, the defending champion this week, lives at Lake Nona and could send her mom back to the house to collect the Scotty Cameron prototype.

Ko said she actually took two putters with her to Europe last year and planned to switch after Paris but then naturally ended up sticking with the same one after she won.

"Technology and like golf equipment is just advancing, and I tried to go to more of a face-balanced style putter," said Ko. "Sometimes under pressure your stroke changes, and I was putting really good with the putter that I had used yesterday in my weeks leading up to this.

"I had no doubt that I was going to struggle and see some of the misses that I saw. I think when you are under pressure, and as much as you are still having a good time, it's different playing competitive rounds than just playing a round with some of my friends out here.

"I think the consensus was that sometimes when it's so forgiving or makes it easier, I think it takes the athleticism out a little bit. I know that sometimes I have pulled my putt or pushed it a little bit because of my gut feeling on how this putt is going to break. ... Obviously it's not the putter's fault. It's all the puttee's is fault."

South Korea's A Lim Kim once again paces the field at 10 under, three strokes ahead of Linn Grant. Kim, the 2020 U.S. Women's Open champion, said she recently began work on learning how to fade the ball. She's only a couple of weeks into the process.

"I'm good draw player, but (from) 130 inside, draw is very low percentage," said Kim, "just my opinion."

Former NHL players leads celebrities

Recently retired NHL player Joe Pavelski, a first-time participant at the HGV, leads the celebrity division with 69 points. Hally Leadbetter, daughter of renowned instructor David Leadbetter, trails by three. Leadbetter grew up at Lake Nona and used to live just off the 16th tee in a house that's now owned by Annika Sorenstam.

"This is where I learned the game," said Leadbetter. "Everything from a junior clinic with Annika (Sorenstam) to beating balls on the range next to Lou Holtz. This is where I broke 100 for the first time. It's a really special place to come back, and be where I'm at now in my career and getting the opportunity to play alongside the best in the world is just really special."

17-year-old leads amateur division

Asterisk Talley, a 15-year-old junior player, leads the amateur division with 71 points. Although Talley is playing from the same tees as the LPGA pros and most of the male celebrities, she's not eligible to win either tournament. Talley earned a spot in the field by virtue of winning the Hilton Grand Vacations Annika Invitational earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA 2025 season opener: Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko make equipment changes