THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS| Nelly Korda placed herself among the all-time greats of women’s professional golf Sunday with a two-shot victory in the Chevron Championship, her LPGA record-tying fifth consecutive title.
Short on final-round drama and long on accomplishments, Korda rallied from a one-shot deficit early Sunday at the Club at Carlton Woods’ Nicklaus Course, grabbed a three-shot lead after the fourth hole and never looked back.
“It just feels great,” she said after the traditional winner’s jump into the 18th-hole lake, executing a full cannonball. “I was so nervous on the back nine, because you don’t know what the girls are doing ahead of you. I really hit the ball solid and played some smart golf.”
Korda shot 3-under 69 to finish at 13-under-par 275 and earn the $1.2 million first prize from the $7.9 million purse. It was the 25-year-old American’s 13th career victory, including two major titles. She matched the mark for consecutive victories set by Nancy Lopez in 1978 and equaled by Annika Sõrenstam in 2004-05.
Sweden’s Maja Stark birdied the par-5 18th hole to finish solo second with a closing 69. American Lauren Coughlin and Canadian Brooke Henderson, who briefly shared the lead early Sunday, tied for third at 10-under 278.
“I really thought I played well today, but I didn’t know how well until I saw a scoreboard on hole 14,” Coughlin said of her best major-championship finish. “To know I can play with her [Korda] gives me a lot of confidence I’m going to take the rest of the year.”
All week, Korda did not seem very concerned about what the rest of the 132-player field was doing, calling to mind the proverb, “The lion does not concern himself on the opinion of the sheep.”
“My parents [former tennis professionals Petr and Regina] are in town, and I would like to spend some time with them,” Korda said after a second-round 69 Friday which left her one shot out of the lead shared by Jin Hee Im and Attahaya Thitikul. “I look forward to spending some time visiting and trying to find some really good coffee.”
The rest of the field would just settle for some way to slow down Korda, but it’s obviously not that easy.
She underwent surgery to remove a blood clot in her left arm in 2022 and also missed time in 2020 with back troubles, but said that tough times made her stronger.
“Those were some dark times,” she said, “and I listened to some outside voices who thought I would never come back.”
Korda didn’t wait long to make her move early in Sunday’s fourth round, or more exactly wait for her fellow competitors to implode while she took advantage.
Trailing Korean Hae Ran Ryu by one stroke at the start of the final round, Korda calmly watched as Ryu bogeyed the first two holes to lose the lead.
Henderson, who surged into contention with a third-round 64, briefly shared the lead with Korda before a double bogey on the par-5 fourth.
As she has done so many times in her remarkable run, Korda started with two steady pars, then pounced with birdies on Nos. 3 and 4, opening a three-shot lead. It marked a four-shot swing, and the air of inevitability began to hang over the course.
She added a birdie at the par-5 eighth and then chipped in from behind the green at the par-4 10th, briefly offering a tight smile.
On the way to the 11th tee, she slapped palms with four young girls lining the fairway ropes, drawing squeals of delight, but Korda otherwise was all business. The gallery’s cheers of “Let’s go, Nelly,” provided mere background music to another historic week.
Two back-nine bogeys added a slight bit of drama before she birdied the par-5 18th for the two-stroke margin of victory.
“I’m going to enjoy this for a while, but yeah, I want to keep the streak alive,” said Korda, who plans to play this week at the JM Eagle LA Championship with a chance to make modern history with a sixth straight victory. “It’s been an incredible run, and I want to keep it going.”
Art Stricklin