– Slow start diesel for the Spanish players in the first Major of the women’s season. None of the five managed to finish inside the top twenty on the opening round of the Chevron Championship, in a demanding start for the Armada that also highlights many positive aspects and leaves room to dream of something big at Memorial Golf Park Course.
– Julia López (-1) has shone at times in her debut at the last Major she had yet to compete in. The Benahavís native rose to eighth with a cumulative four under par with six holes to play, but two bogeys, a birdie and a double bogey on her final hole cost the Spaniard ground. Julia always aims high, but this Friday she could record a mini Grand Slam by making the cut on her debut at each of the five Majors. It is no small detail and speaks highly of the solidity of the explosive game of the Armada player. She likes the big events and she has shown it again in this start in Texas.
– Carlota Ciganda (-1) carded an identical score to Julia several hours earlier. Well, identical in terms of result, but not in style. The Ulzama native is playing her 14th Chevron Championship and has shown great composure. Unlike Julia, Ciganda began with a very solid round with hardly any shocks: fifteen pars, two birdies and a bogey that stings for being on the final green of the day. Carlota is comfortably placed in that top 25 and will look for a Friday that allows her to look up the leaderboard rather than at the cut line.
– The ones who will go out with their knives between their teeth to fight for the weekend objective on their tournament debut are the two amateurs, Paula Martín (+2) and Andrea Revuelta (+4). Neither of the two Stanford players has been able to overcome Memorial Golf Course. Provisionally the cut stands at +1. Revuelta’s case has been paradoxical. It was her debut in a Major, to be fair, but after twelve very solid holes in which she was under par she followed with five bogeys in the last six holes and finished three shots off the weekend cut. With rounds of 73 and 76 they are aware that on Friday they will have to claw shots back from the course.
– The fifth Spanish entrant was Carla Tejedo (+7) and she suffered first-hand the opening round of her career in a Major. The Valencian posted a 79 in the first 18 holes she surely had not dreamed of closing like this, but which will undoubtedly be a great learning experience for the elder Tejedo. A triple bogey on the 7th hole hurt the Spaniard badly, who will need to post one of the rounds of the day to give herself a chance to make the cut in her first Major
– All this said, it’s time to talk about Nelly Korda (-7). The American produced the best card at the start of the Chevron Championship. Not surprising either, she hasn’t left the top two all season. Victory in the 2026 opener and three runner-up finishes thereafter. She put on a genuine exhibition at Memorial Park and looks set to fight for her third Major. Her record is undeniable for the 21-time LPGA winner, but a figure of her stature is beginning to claim a third Major for her trophy cabinet, to give her that tag of being something more than a generational player in golf. Nelly’s bogey-free round gives her a two-shot lead over the Thai Patty Tavatanakit (-5) and the Korean Somi Lee (-5). Honours for Farah O’Keefe (-4), the number four in the amateur world ranking has produced one of the rounds of the day and breaks into the top five to start
