04/23/26 07:58:00
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04/23 19:56 CDT Nelly Korda off to a fast start with a 65 to lead by 2 in The
Chevron Championship
Nelly Korda off to a fast start with a 65 to lead by 2 in The Chevron
Championship
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
HOUSTON (AP) --- Nelly Korda leaned on her putter to save pars early and then
poured it on her back nine of Memorial Park for a 7-under 65, her best start to
a major in four years to take a two-shot lead Thursday in The Chevron
Championship.
Patty Tavatanakit, who won this major as a rookie in 2021 when it was the ANA
Inspiration in the California desert, played bogey-free for a 67 and was two
shots back along with Somi Lee, who bogeyed her final hole on the par-3 ninth.
Farah O'Keefe, the junior at Texas, missed a 5-foot par putt on her last hole
to fall back into the group of players at 68.
"Just day one out of four --- a lot can happen," Korda said after her best
opening round in a major since a 64 in the 2022 Evian Championship. "So happy
to be in this position and hoping to move forward."
Korda has been building toward the first major of the LPGA season, playing in
the final group in each of her four tournaments this year and winning the
season opener.
She started on No. 10 and the American star was in full flight after making the
turn on a rain-soaked course that got little roll in the fairway. She made
birdie on the three par 5s on the front nine and really shined on the tough par
3s --- a 6-iron to 4 feet on No. 2, a 5-iron to 5 feet on No. 7.
Equally important was keeping bogeys off her card --- her first bogey-free
round in a major since the second round of the 2024 Women's British Open ---
especially on the front nine.
"Made a really long one on my first hole which could have started out the day
with a bogey and I didn't. I made a really solid putt," she said. "Even on the
second hole where I saved a 5-footer for par. Made some good saves for par."
She also took advantage of the par 5s, which she often does when contending in
majors (she was 21 under on the par 5s in her major wins at The Chevron in 2024
and the KPMG Women's PGA in 2021). They didn't always go as planned.
Korda couldn't get to the par-5 first hole (her 10th) in two because of a drive
that strayed to the right. And when she hammered a drive with the wind at her
back on the par-5 third, she had 6-iron to the green that came up short of a
green with a back pin.
"Chunked it," Korda said. "But I birdied both, so we're good."
But it was the par 3s coming in that stood out, especially No. 2. Korda hit
6-iron from a slightly elevated tee over the bunker complex to 4 feet, a shot
she considered her best of the day.
She prefers to hit a draw, and the wind gusting off the left made that
uncomfortable for her. She had to carry a big slope, and the pin was tucked
behind a bunker on the right, a bad place to miss.
"So really dialed into my target ... just left of the pin and the wind took it
nicely and it dropped right next to the hole," she said. "One, it took really
nice. Two, it landed absolutely the perfect number. So those are the shot that
you're like, ?Oh, God, I love golf.'
"And then I hit a chunk on the next hole."
The easy laugh was another indication Korda is in a happy place in golf and in
life, coming off a winless season that also included her getting engaged.
Also having a great time was O'Keefe, who didn't get an invitation to The
Chevron until after the Augusta National Women's Amateur. She chipped in for
birdie on the par-4 fourth hole (her 13th) to reach 5 under and her name on the
leaderboard --- right up there with Korda --- was quite a moment.
"It's a dream," O'Keefe said. "It's something that you think about every once
in a while and hope for, but I feel like I'm trying to stay composed. There is
a lot more golf left to be played. The job is not done and I'm just going to
keep doing what I have been doing because it just happens to be working."
The Chevron is at Memorial Park --- also site of the Houston Open on the PGA
Tour last month --- for the first time after three years at Carlton Woods. The
course is listed at just over 6,800 yards on the scorecard, though some tees
were moved up because of soft conditions from two days of rain.
Thirty-seven players in the 132-player field broke par. Jeeno Thitikul was not
among them. The No. 1 player in women's golf had four bogeys over her last
eight holes and shot 74. In her quest to win her first major, she started out
nine shots behind Korda with her first goal to make the cut.
Minjee Lee, the Women's PGA champion trying to win her fourth of the LPGA's
five majors, also opened with a 74.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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