The first round of the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the season being held at the prestigious The Woodlands, in Texas, has left three important headlines. The first, with American Lauren Coughlin (-6) as the protagonist, sole leader of the classification. The second, highlighting the great start of the tournament by Nelly Korda (-4), who is seeking a personal record. And the third, the poor performance of the Spanish players, who will have to fight hard tomorrow to make the cut.
Starting with the player who leads the table, her solidity, regularity and accuracy in the first 18 holes of the tournament, where she did not make a single mistake and sealed with six birdies and twelve pars, without bogeys, a card of 66 strokes to lead with a two-stroke margin. The golfer from Minneapolis raised in Virginia, a professional since 2017 and who after joining the tour a year later had to spend two seasons to recover the card, in 2019 and 2020, has not yet won on the LPGA and her presentation card only includes a couple of top 10s.
Scenes from your clubhouse leader @LCisHOOSgolfin🏌️♀️🎥 pic.twitter.com/oZoF1chTJN
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 18, 2024
At the age of 31, she surprised everyone this Thursday by presenting her candidacy for a Major in which the main favourite is none other than Nelly Korda. The younger of the Korda sisters, who is seeking her first major since the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship in 2021, is looking to join Nancy López (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004 and 2005) as the only three golfers in history to win five consecutive events on the LPGA. Her journey towards the record has started with a round of 67 strokes, two behind the leader, tied for second place.
Alongside the daughter of famous tennis player Petr Korda are also Marina Alex (-4) and Katsu Minami (-4), with a one-stroke margin over a large group of players among which Lydia Ko (-3) and Atthaya Thitikul (-3) stand out. The Spanish players are not there, who have struggled this Thursday at The Woodlands and will have work ahead to be able to continue playing the weekend. Carlota Ciganda (+3), with 75 strokes, is below the 80th place; while Azahara Muñoz (+4), is outside the top 100.
Ending on a birdie, @NellyKorda is just two shots back of the lead after Round 1 👀 💯 pic.twitter.com/sYkQNQhnKe
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 18, 2024
Both will need to redeem themselves tomorrow to try to get among the top 65 and tied if they want to continue having hopes of achieving a good result in this powerful Chevron Championship, which distributes 7.9 million dollars with a prize of 1.2 ‘kilos’ for the winner, figures rarely seen in women’s golf. Although worse luck than Carlota and Azahara has run the champion of last year, Lilia Vu, who has not been able to carry out her title defence having to withdraw before going out to play due to a back injury during the warm-up.
