Nelly Korda off to a fast start
with a 65 to lead by 2 in The Chevron Championship
[April 24, 2026]
By DOUG FERGUSON
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.
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Nelly Korda hits from the fourth tee during the first round of the
Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Thursday, April 23, 2026,
in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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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