THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Nelly Korda is working to pick up her fifth consecutive victory on the LPGA Tour this week at The Chevron Championship and is off to a solid start in her pursuit of history so far at The Club at Carlton Woods, carding a 4-under 68 on Thursday in The Woodlands, Texas.
After starting her first round with a bogey on the par-4 10th hole, a misstep the 12-time LPGA Tour winner attributed to early nerves, Korda quickly recovered, picking up a birdie on 14 to get back to even par overall. She then nearly aced the par-3 17th hole, tapping in for another birdie to move to 1-under on the day with 10 holes to play.
Making the turn, the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 parred the first hole before slipping up again with another bogey on No. 2, but Korda again cleaned up her mistake with a birdie on the par-5 4th hole. She grabbed another birdie on the par-4 6th hole to move to 2-under overall and then struck again with a birdie on the par-5 8th hole to get to 3-under.
Korda ultimately snuck in one final birdie on the par-4 9th hole to finish with a 68, a round that currently has her sitting in a tie for second with Marina Alex and Minami Katsu and threatening Lauren Coughlin at the top of the leaderboard as she sits just two shots back of the 18-hole leader.
Surprise appearance from @Thejessicakorda on @GolfChannel 🤩🎤 pic.twitter.com/Cd4AyZ1UFw
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 18, 2024
“I started off with a bogey today, and honestly, I just hit two loose drives out there, which I think is the key to this golf course because, if you get in the rough and with the firmness of these greens, it's just impossible to stop,” said Korda, who hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens in the first round. “Overall, drove the ball really well and definitely capitalized on some shorter clubs into the greens on the back nine.
“I think the difficulty of this golf course compared to last year, I would say the firmness of the greens is by far the biggest difference because I know last year we got so much rain that it was actually really, really soft. They're definitely rolling out on the fairways, and they're really firm. They're not that fast, but they're just really firm.”
This is Korda’s ninth appearance in The Chevron Championship, and she’s been a world-beater in this major championship in recent years. She tied for second in the event in 2020 and then tied for third in 2021, both finishes that came at Mission Hills Country Club, the tournament’s old venue in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Last year, in the first Chevron Championship to be held just outside of Houston at The Club at Carlton Woods, Korda recorded a solo third finish, firing rounds of 68-70-70-71 en route to her season-best major result in 2023. But this year, Carlton Woods is playing much firmer than it did in its LPGA Tour debut, something to which Korda, just like the rest of the 132-player field, has had to adjust this week at The Chevron Championship.
“You hit and pray,” chuckled Korda when asked about her approach-shot strategy with greens this firm. “I had a wedge shot on the back nine, and honestly, I had like 80 yards, and it released 20 yards on me. I hit my highest-lofted club, a 58-degree, and it was downwind, so that doesn't help. You try your best to adjust to it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.”
It's hard not to think about what Korda is poised to accomplish if she continues to play like she did in the first round over the next 54 holes, especially when you consider that 37 of the last 40 LPGA Tour major winners have been tied for or within four of the lead after round one, according to KPMG Performance Insights.
But Korda, unlike the rest of us, refuses to look too far ahead. She’s instead focused on the next step, the next shot, the next putt, a present-moment mentality that’s served her well in recent weeks, one she’ll continue to employ over the three days upcoming at The Chevron Championship as she works to etch her name alongside some of the game’s greatest legends in the LPGA Tour record books.
Chasing her fifth straight win, @NellyKorda got off to a hot start at the @Chevron_Golf 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Q20FfOA628
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 18, 2024
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