Korda closes gap to 1 shot back through 36 holes
Nelly Korda, seeking to tie an LPGA Tour r ecord with h er f ifth straight win, shot a 3- under 69 on Friday in the second round of the Chevron Championship, leaving her one shot b ehind leaders Atthaya Thitikul and Jin Hee Im in the year’s first major.
Korda began the day two shots off the lead after opening with a 68 at Carlton Woods. She got out to a tough start Friday, making a double bogey on the first hole before making birdies on two of the next three. She finished with six birdies, one bogey and the double to post 7- under 137.
“Started o ut w ith a double. That was fun,” Korda joked. “I hit two shots out of the left fairway bunker. Just kind of didn’t catch it super clean and it didn’t actually hit the bunker lining, just the grass, and bumped back in. Then I bounced back with a birdie and made a birdie on the following par 5. Kind of all over the place on the front nine, but pretty c lean scorecard on the back with two birdies.”
The top- ranked Korda is seeking her second major after winning the Women’s PGA Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez ( 1978) and Annika Sorenstam ( 2004- 05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events.
She was asked if it felt inevitable that she’d tie the record after her recent run of success and strong play in the first two rounds.
“I’m just at the halfway point right now. The amount of golf that I’ve played, I still have that to go,” she said. “There i s still a lot of golf left and a nything can happen. Just going to stick to my process and vibe with ... what my coach says.”
With increased attention on this tournament because of Korda’s string of titles, what would the 25- year- old like people who might be seeing her first time this weekend to know about her?
“That I just never g ive up,” she said. “No matter what, no matter how much adversity is thrown y our way, t hey know that I never give up and I give it my all.”
Thitikul, a 21- year- old from Thailand w ho h as w on t wice on the LPGA Tour, missed the beginning of this season w ith a thumb injury. She made s ix birdies and one bogey Friday to shoot 67, matching Im at 136.
Im is in her first season on the LPGA Tour after playing the Korean LPGA since 2018. She had a bogey- free 67.
Lydia Ko, who won this tournament in 2016 at Mission Hills in the California desert, shot 71 and was part of a big group four shots back. Ko missed the cut last year in the Chevron’s first season in Texas.
First- round leader L auren Coughlin shot 73 t o fall t hree shots off the pace.
MORIKAWA PART OF 4- WAY T IE AT HILTON HEAD. » C ollin Morikawa had another solid round Friday in the RBC Heritage with a 5- under 66 and appears to be getting back to the reliable form that made him a two- time major champion.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler’s form never seems to change. Even after an emotionally taxing victory at Augusta National, a quick trip home to Dallas a nd o nly nine h oles of practice, the world’s No. 1 player is right in the mix.