Korda leads the field going into this week’s first women’s major of the year after winning her last four events.
Respect to Scottie Scheffler, the winner of the most recent Masters, but this weekend’s competition is taking place just outside of Houston with the hottest player in golf, And after 36 holes, she stands a chance to win for the fifth time in a row.
On the PGA Tour, Scheffler is amazing, but Nelly Korda has won four straight LPGA events and no one else has defeated her. Despite not playing her best round, Korda managed to shoot a 3-under 69 on Friday at the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year. This put her at 7 under for the event and put her in a strong position going into the weekend: one stroke back.
“Winning requires a great deal of patience. Ultimately, the individual who commits the fewest errors or learns from them the best wins most of the time, she stated.
In fact, Korda started her second round with a double bogey that would give pause to any golfer who wasn’t already exuding absolute confidence. As could be expected, Korda was unmoved.
When asked about her opening double, she responded, “I actually didn’t feel bad at all.” Occasionally, you may not feel very confident or good when you start making blunders. However, I just sort of reminded myself that this is the opening hole of the competition. I wanted to save a bogey, even though I might have made a double. There is still plenty of golf still to be played, including many reachable par-5s, “So, I usually just think about the opportunities that lie ahead of me.
Korda recovered from her first stumble to make birdies on 2 and 4, then bogeyed 7 before making birdies on 8 and 9. Thanks in part to a fantastic par-saving maneuver on 14, when she drove the ball into dense grass just off the fairway, she drained a 12-footer that circled the rim 360 degrees before sinking, and she played bogey-free on the back nine.
Since Nancy Lopez won five straight LPGA events during her nine-win rookie season in 1978, Korda is the only American to win four straight.
Atthaya Thitikul and Jin Hee Im are tied for the lead after 36 holes at 8 under. Six under and in solo fourth place, Hae Ran Ryu sits two behind the lead and one behind Korda. Thitikul, who was named the 2022 Rookie of the Year and entered the week ranked No. 10 in the women’s world rankings, may be the most fearsome of that group.
For the time being, though, all eyes are on Korda as she pursues her 13th career title—her fifth consecutive and second major.
“I’m now only halfway done. Despite how much golf I’ve played, I still have more to play. Anything can happen in the remaining rounds of golf, she remarked.
My coach says, “Just going to stick to my process and vibe with it.”