HOUSTON — Nelly Korda leaned on her putter to save early pars and rolled them on her back nine at Memorial Park for a 7-under 65, her best start in four years to take a two-shot lead Thursday at the Chevron Championship.
Patty Tavatanakit, who won the championship as a rookie in 2021 while at the ANA Inspiration in the California desert, played a free 67 and was two shots behind Somi Lee, who bogeyed her last hole on the 3rd ninth.
Farah O’Keefe, a junior in Texas, missed a 5-foot par putt on her final hole to get back into the group with a 68.
“One day out of four – a lot can happen,” Korda said after his best opening round since age 64 at the 2022 Evian Championship. “I am very happy to be in this position and I hope to move forward.”
Korda has been on a roll in the first major of the LPGA season, playing in the final group in each of his four tournaments this year and winning the season opener.
He started at No. 10 and the American star was in full flight after a turn on a rain-soaked fairway that received a slight roll on the fairway. He birdied three par 5s on the front nine and really shined on the tough par 3s — a 6-iron to 4 feet on No.
Equally important was keeping the 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.
“I made a really long putt on my first hole that probably started the day with a bogey and I didn’t. I made a really solid putt,” he said. “Even on the second hole I had a 5 foot par. I made a good par.”
She also hit par 5s, which she often does when competing in majors (she was 21 under on 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 (his 10th) in two because of a drive that veered to the right. And when he hit a drive with the wind at his back on the par-5 third, he had a 6-iron to the green that came off the green with the back pin.
“It’s hard,” Korda said. “But I hit both of them, so we’re good.”
But it was the incoming par 3s that stood out, especially No. 2. Korda hit a 6-iron from a little high over the bunker complex to 4 feet, which he considered his best shot of the day.
He prefers to hit the draw, and the wind blowing to the left made that difficult for him. He had to carry a large slope, and the pin was tied behind the right-hand cellar, a bad place that could not be missed.
“So I hit my goal … to the left of the pin the wind took it right and it landed near the hole,” he said. “One, he took it really well. The second, it came in perfect. So those shots where you’re like, ‘Oh, God, I love golf.’
“Then I hit a piece on the next hole.”
The easy laugh was another indication that Korda is in a happy place in golf and in life, coming off a winless season that included his engagement.
Also having a good time was O’Keefe, who didn’t get a Chevron invite until after the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. He birdied the par-4 fourth hole (thirteenth) to get to 5 under and his name on the leaderboard — right there with Korda — was short lived.
“It’s a dream,” O’Keefe said. “It’s something you always think about and hope for, but I feel like I’m trying to hold back. There’s still a lot of golf to be played. The job isn’t done and I’m going to keep doing what I’ve been doing because I can work.”
Chevron is at Memorial Park — which also hosted the Houston Open on the PGA Tour last month — for the first time in three years at Carlton Woods. The course is listed at just over 6,800 yards on the scorecard, although some tees have been moved up due to soft conditions from two days of rain.
Thirty-seven players in the field of 132 players broke the division. Jeeno Thitikul was not among them. The No. 1 player in women’s golf had four bogeys over her last eight holes and shot a 74. In his bid to win his first major, he started nine shots behind Korda for his first cut.
Minjee Lee, the PGA Women’s champion trying to win five LPGA majors, also opened with a 74.
