N. Korda off to quick begin, leads Chevron by 2

HOUSTON — Nelly Korda leaned on her putter to save lots of pars early after which poured it on her again 9 of Memorial Park for a 7-under 65, her greatest begin to a significant in 4 years to take a two-shot lead Thursday in The Chevron Championship.

Patty Tavatanakit, who gained this main as a rookie in 2021 when it was the ANA Inspiration within the California desert, performed bogey-free for a 67 and was two photographs again together with Somi Lee, who bogeyed her ultimate gap on the par-3 ninth.

Farah O’Keefe, the junior at Texas, missed a 5-foot par putt on her final gap to fall again into the group of gamers at 68.

“Simply day one out of 4 — so much can occur,” Korda stated after her greatest opening spherical in a significant since a 64 within the 2022 Evian Championship. “So completely satisfied to be on this place and hoping to maneuver ahead.”

Korda has been constructing towards the primary main of the LPGA season, enjoying within the ultimate group in every of her 4 tournaments this yr and profitable the season opener.

She began on No. 10 and the American star was in full flight after making the activate a rain-soaked course that received little roll within the fairway. She made birdie on the three par 5s on the entrance 9 and actually shined on the robust par 3s — a 6-iron to 4 toes on No. 2, a 5-iron to five toes on No. 7.

Equally necessary was protecting bogeys off her card — her first bogey-free spherical in a significant for the reason that second spherical of the 2024 Ladies’s British Open — particularly on the entrance 9.

“Made a extremely lengthy one on my first gap which may have began out the day with a bogey and I did not. I made a extremely strong putt,” she stated. “Even on the second gap the place I saved a 5-footer for par. Made some good saves for par.”

She additionally took benefit of the par 5s, which she typically does when contending in majors (she was 21 beneath on the par 5s in her main wins at The Chevron in 2024 and the KPMG Ladies’s PGA in 2021). They did not all the time go as deliberate.

Korda could not get to the par-5 first gap (her tenth) in two due to a drive that strayed to the correct. And when she hammered a drive with the wind at her again on the par-5 third, she had 6-iron to the inexperienced that got here up in need of a inexperienced with a again pin.

“Chunked it,” Korda stated. “However I birdied each, so we’re good.”

Nevertheless it was the par 3s coming in that stood out, particularly No. 2. Korda hit 6-iron from a barely elevated tee over the bunker complicated to 4 toes, a shot she thought of her better of the day.

She prefers to hit a draw, and the wind gusting off the left made that uncomfortable for her. She needed to carry a giant slope, and the pin was tucked behind a bunker on the correct, a nasty place to overlook.

“So actually dialed into my goal … simply left of the pin and the wind took it properly and it dropped proper subsequent to the outlet,” she stated. “One, it took very nice. Two, it landed completely the proper quantity. So these are the shot that you just’re like, ‘Oh, God, I really like golf.’

“After which I hit a piece on the following gap.”

The straightforward chortle was one other indication Korda is in a contented place in golf and in life, coming off a winless season that additionally included her getting engaged.

Additionally having a good time was O’Keefe, who did not get an invite to The Chevron till after the Augusta Nationwide Ladies’s Beginner. She chipped in for birdie on the par-4 fourth gap (her thirteenth) to succeed in 5 beneath and her title on the leaderboard — proper up there with Korda — was fairly a second.

“It is a dream,” O’Keefe stated. “It is one thing that you consider each now and again and hope for, however I really feel like I am making an attempt to remain composed. There’s much more golf left to be performed. The job will not be finished and I am simply going to maintain doing what I’ve been doing as a result of it simply occurs to be working.”

The Chevron is at Memorial Park — additionally website of the Houston Open on the PGA Tour final month — for the primary time after three years at Carlton Woods. The course is listed at simply over 6,800 yards on the scorecard, although some tees have been moved up due to gentle circumstances from two days of rain.

Thirty-seven gamers within the 132-player subject broke par. Jeeno Thitikul was not amongst them. The No. 1 participant in girls’s golf had 4 bogeys over her final eight holes and shot 74. In her quest to win her first main, she began out 9 photographs behind Korda along with her first objective to make the minimize.

Minjee Lee, the Ladies’s PGA champion making an attempt to win her fourth of the LPGA’s 5 majors, additionally opened with a 74.