Nelly Korda (-13) has done it again. She has won again. That’s five victories in 2024. Five in a row. And the latest one was today in a Major, the first of the season, the Chevron Championship. What this player is doing is already against common sense and logic. It’s an absolute outrage. She’s breaking records like someone popping pimples off their face.
Korda was not the leader of the Chevron after any of the first three rounds, but when it came to the crunch she said here I am and put her rivals in the rearview mirror. Her start to the final round was imperial. She made two birdies in the first four holes to take the lead in very difficult playing conditions, with a lot of wind and cold at The Woodlands in Houston.
It was the most difficult golf day of the week and that’s where she put some distance between her and the rest. While the others were struggling to survive, Korda was widening the gap. To the initial two birdies she added another two on the 8th and 10th. The tournament seemed decided, although she herself wanted to add some excitement.
Two bogeys on holes 11 and 15, probably caused more by a momentary lack of concentration seeing the victory in her hand than anything else, tightened the leaderboard a bit and made her go to the 18th hole with a two-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin (-10), who was already in the clubhouse, and over Maja Stark (-11), who was playing precisely the 18th hole, a par 5 where you can take strokes off the course, even with an eagle.
Jumping into the history books with a cannon ball 💣@NellyKorda | @Chevron_Golf pic.twitter.com/xcEIQ9FLWD
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 21, 2024
Before that, she was about to make a hole in one on the 17th to cause the absolute end. She hit a great shot, straight to the flag, the ball hit the mast and left a birdie putt of about two meters that she didn’t manage to hole. Really, the excitement was all her own, although it wasn’t enough to really endanger her victory. Korda ended the excitement with a great second shot on the 18th. She put it on the edge of the green to finish the job with two putts for birdie.
The absolute and resounding World Number One has won the thirteenth victory of her career. Not even bad luck can beat such a powerful form and confidence. She is the third golfer since 1978 to achieve five consecutive victories. She joins the club of Nancy López and Annika Sorenstam. She is also the fastest golfer in history to reach two million dollars in earnings. Extraordinary.
Five in a row. Whew 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/jXOTNCQbjA
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 21, 2024
Carlota Ciganda’s eleventh top 10 in Majors
For her part, Carlota Ciganda (-8) has had an exceptional week. She finished in sixth position alone, adding the eleventh top 10 of her career in the Majors and the third in the Chevron. In addition, she has now had three consecutive seasons finishing at least once in the top ten in the Majors. She keeps getting closer, she keeps hovering around it and will end up knocking that door down sooner or later.
The Navarrese, after a roller coaster with six birdies and four bogeys, finished with a round of 70 strokes, signing off on the great comeback of the tournament. None of the players who finished in the top 10 started Thursday as far from the lead as she did, after handing in a card of 75 strokes. Her reaction has been fabulous and it’s inevitable to think what could have happened had she not had that first day. Certainly, she would have been fighting with Korda shoulder to shoulder for the victory.
