Nelly Korda: what a player, what a star. That was a long, slow round for a player who loves to play fast. She had to wait ahead of so many shots, but despite feeling the nerves, never let them overwhelm her. The pack closed in on her and she briefly stuttered, only to regroup when it really mattered: nearly acing the 17th, then playing 18 with such calm authority. A major championship won in style, and every round in the 60s as well: 68-69-69-69. That’s some performance. Would you bet against her making it six in a row next time out? No, us neither. Thanks for reading this hole-by-hole report!
-13: Nelly Korda
-11: Maja Stark
-10: Lauren Coughlin, Brooke Henderson
-9: Ryu Hae-ran
-8: Carlota Ciganda
-7: Esther Henseleit
Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, and now Nelly Korda: the only players to win five consecutive LPGA Tour events in history! The new Chevron Championship champion speaks to NBC. “I can finally breathe now … that back nine felt like the longest back nine of my entire life … it was a little bit of a grind … I’m happy to get the win … the nerves set in, it’s a major, it’s everything I always wanted as a little girl … I was definitely nervous … I feel sick to my stomach! … I take it just a shot at a time … we stay in our own little bubble … it’s been working so far … golf can get over-complicated … there’s a key to the simplicity of it.”
Nelly Korda wins the 2024 Chevron Championship
The world number one finishes in style, stroking home her birdie putt! She clenches a celebratory fist, embraces her caddie, fellow competitors and friends, and that’s her second major title!
-12: Korda (F)
-11: Stark (F)
Updated
Ryu Hae-run does not chip in. But she goes pretty close to hitting the flag. Her ball sails ten feet past, though. Nelly Korda up next, and she’s got a left-to-right slider from the fringe at the back. She nearly drains the eagle putt, the ball dying to the right and trundling three feet past. That’s enough. She allows herself a small smile as she waits for Ryu to finish up. Two putts for the Korean and that’s a par and a 74. She ends the week fifth at -9.
Brooke Henderson nearly drains her long eagle putt. This one had enough juice, but it misses on the left. What an effort, though. Birdie, and a 72 that was always on the cards after the fiasco at the 4th. Her third-round 64 was the best of the week. She finishes the week in a tie for third at -10 … unless Ryu Hae-ran chips in from the swale at the back, in which case it’ll be a tie for fourth.
A huge reception from the Texas crowd as Nelly Korda, the champion-elect, walks around the lake and up to the green. It’s not over yet, of course … but it kind of is. This didn’t turn into the procession it briefly threatened to, but when the chasing pack got close, Korda stepped it up with that outrageous tee shot at 17 and her faultless drive and approach up the last.
Ryu up first. She sends a 4-hybrid over the back into Coughlin-Stark Country. Henderson next. A 5-iron only just clears the water and stuns on the bank … but instead of bouncing back, her ball squirts up onto the green. She’ll be putting. Then finally Nelly, who whips a 7-iron over the flag, her ball stopping on the fringe at the back. She’ll have three putts from there for the title!
Nelly Korda waits in the fairway as up on the green, Maja Stark attempts to chip in for eagle. She gives it a good go, her wedge landing on the green and rolling out to kick-in distance. Just needed a few joules more of energy. So close! Just a birdie, and a 69 that gives her the clubhouse lead. Korda now just one clear at the top!
-12: Korda (17)
-11: Stark (F)
-10: Coughlin (F)
-9: Henderson (17), Ryu (17)
Brooke Henderson sends her drive at 18 down the left-hand side of the fairway. Ryu Hae-ran follows her down there. Finally the leader, who is one hole away from her second major. Nelly Korda wastes no time in battering a monster drive down the middle. She swipes up her tee with satisfaction. What a time to stripe one!
Ryu Hae-ran can’t make her birdie putt. It dies to the right. Now both Henderson and Ryu have given Korda a read. Having gone to school on the putts, Nelly steps up and … her effort slips wide right as well. The tee shot deserved more. But she’s got a two-shot lead going up 18 … for now at least. Over to Stark!
-12: Korda (17)
-10: Coughlin (F), Stark (17)
-9: Ryu (17), Henderson (17)
-8: Ciganda (F)
On 17, and not for the first time today, Brooke Henderson leaves her putt short. Meanwhile up on 18, Stark decides to go for it … and creams a stunning wood to the right of the drink, using the topography to gather her ball around to the left and just off the back of the green. She’ll have a delicate putt or chip up from the swale, from about 25 feet. You’d imagine she realistically has to hole out for eagle, but it’s a chance.
Maja Stark tries to carry the trees down the right of 18 with her drive but clips them instead. The ball drops into the semi-rough. Not yet sure whether she’ll be able to reach in two now; that may have taken the decision out of her hands.
Updated
Brooke Henderson over the flag and just off the back of the green at 17. Ryu Hae-ran up next; after changing her club at the last minute with the world swirling around, she lands her tee shot 15 feet past. A good birdie chance. Finally Nelly Korda, who also isn’t too sure what the wind is doing. She waits for a particularly troublesome gust to pass. Then she pulls the trigger … and sends a sensational gentle draw into the heart of the green, the ball scampering up and hitting the flagstick! It rolls six feet past. So close to an ace! What a story that would have been! What a shot, though. Some response with Coughlin and Stark closing in, the pressure having been cranked up.
Birdie for Maja Stark at 17! Her second of the day; everything else a par. The young Swede joins the clubhouse leader Lauren Coughlin at -10. A birdie or eagle at the last and things could suddenly get very interesting!
-12: Korda (16)
-10: Coughlin (F), Stark (17)
-9: Henderson (16), Ryu (16)
Updated
Korda sends her chip at 16 to six feet. That’s about as good as she could realistically expect from where she was. She’ll have an opportunity to save her par. Before she can try, Henderson’s birdie putt doesn’t reach the cup, unforgivable in these carpe-diem circumstances. Par. And it’s a par for Korda, who gently, carefully trickles her putt into the centre of the cup. She sighs in relief. One hole closer to her first Chevron Championship. Par for Ryu as well.
-12: Korda (16)
-10: Coughlin (F)
-9: Stark (16), Henderson (16), Ryu (16)
-7: Henseleit (F), Ciganda (17), Im (16)
Updated
Lauren Coughlin on 18. She’s left with an uphill ten-footer. Not much right-to-left movement. And she rattles it in! A final round of 68, and the 31-year-old from Minneapolis is guaranteed to post her best finish in a major, whatever happens now!
-12: Korda (15)
-10: Coughlin (F)
-9: Stark (16), Henderson (15), Ryu (15)
Coughlin chips up from the back of 18. There’s not a load of green to play with, and it slopes away. So she does pretty well to stop her ball ten feet past the hole. One putt to take it to -10. Meanwhile back on 16, Korda’s found a fairway bunker down the right. She doesn’t quite reach the green with her second, so this is threatening to bunch up again. Ryu finds the back of the green with an adventurous high second over trees, a remarkable effort. Meanwhile Henderson sends her second pin high and will have a look at birdie. A lot of potentially important action coming up!
Lauren Coughlin cracks her second at 18 over the pond … and over the back of the green as well. Her ball nestles by the stand. She’ll get a drop and there’s a good chance of getting up and down for a birdie that would ask a few questions of Nelly Korda … who has failed to find the fairway at 16. It’s fair to say the leader’s not playing at the same level she was on the front nine. Some major-championship nerves beginning to jingle and jangle.
Ryu makes her par putt and remains three off the lead. Meanwhile up on the par-five 18th, Coughlin whistles her drive down the left-hand side of the fairway, from where she’ll be able to reach the green in two over the water.
-12: Korda (15)
-9: Coughlin (17), Stark (15), Henderson (15), Ryu (15)
Brooke Henderson is this close to draining a 40-footer for birdie at 15. That looked in all the way, the ball thinking about dropping but skirting the right-hand edge of the cup. So unfortunate! That would have cranked up the pressure on Korda. A tap-in par. Ryu misreads her effort from similar distance, the ball sailing six feet wide right. That’s far from a gimme. Then Korda tries to salvage her par. Her putt is never dropping, always missing on the left, but she’s tickled it to the side of the cup and she tidies up to limit the damage to bogey. She’d have grabbed that outcome with both hands when she saw her tee shot sailing towards the briny.
Nelly Korda drops and chooses 7-iron, which she hits into a swirling wind. She takes one hand off the club on her follow-through. She looks concerned. There’s more water guarding the front of the green! But her ball sails over the flag and stops 30 feet past! She’ll have an outside chance of saving her par, having got away with an uncertain one there.
Nelly Korda is definitely in the water. She’ll drop and hit three. Now it’s the leader’s turn to go into damage-limitation mode. Can she escape with bogey, just as Brooke Henderson and Ryu Hae-ran did on 14 a few minutes earlier? Meanwhile bogey for Lauren Coughlin at the par-three 17th, news that gives Korda a little more wriggle room.
-13: Korda (14)
-9: Coughlin (17), Stark (15), Henderson (14), Ryu (14)
What a time for NBC to take a commercial break! More news of Nelly’s drive when we have it.
Nelly Korda hits her tee shot at 15 perilously close to the water down the left. It’s definitely in the penalty area; whether it’s been held up on the bank in the long grass or toppled in is yet to be established. This is not over.
Henderson putts from the fringe. She gives it a good rattle but it’s always dying to the right. She leaves herself a testing four-footer coming back for bogey. Ryu next up … and she teases in a downhill right-to-left 20-footer for bogey! That’s marvellous damage limitation, especially given the mess she made of her second and third shots. A two-putt par for Korda, and she’s one step closer to glory. Henderson tidies up for her bogey.
-13: Korda (14)
-10: Coughlin (16)
-9: Stark (14), Ryu (14), Henderson (14)
-8: Im (14)
Ryu doesn’t fancy flubbing her chip into the sand, so isn’t about to get too cute. She lands her chip into the middle of the green, hoping to make the 20-footer she leaves herself for bogey. The percentage play. Trouble also for Henderson, who is in that greenside bunker; just as she did on 4, she underhits her splash. At least the ball squeaks out this time, but it nestles in the fringe. Bogey looks likely now. Korda meanwhile will have a look at birdie from 30 feet.
Ryu’s challenge could soon be over. Left with a long bunker shot, she catches far too much sand and her ball lands apologetically short of the green. She’s now hitting her fourth over another bunker without too much green to work with. She’d grab an up and down for bogey with both hands now.
If Nelly Korda is nervous, she’s not showing it. She finds the centre of 14 in regulation; her partners Brooke Henderson and Ryu Hae-ran dunk their second shots into sand. Meanwhile up on 16, Lauren Coughlin pays for the mistake off the tee. She can’t make the long putt, and hands a shot back. The climate threatened to close in on Korda for a few minutes there; all of a sudden, things look a lot clearer for her again.
-13: Korda (13)
-10: Coughlin (16), Ryu (13), Henderson (13)
-9: Ryu (14)
-8: Im (14)
Trouble for Coughlin on 16. A wild tee shot behind trees down the right, and she can’t locate the green with her second. A weak chip into the green leaves a long putt to save par. Meanwhile bogey for Im at 14; she drops back to -8, her race surely run.
A killer stat courtesy of NBC: the upcoming run of tricky par-fours, 14, 15 and 16, have only yielded seven birdies so far in this fourth round. Lauren Coughlin made one of them; she very nearly made a second back there. How Nelly Korda could do with one of her own to settle the nerves. For a while this threatened to turn into a procession; Korda’s still in control, but it hasn’t quite worked out like that.
Nelly Korda chips crisply from the bottom of the swale at the side of 13. Her ball is gathered by the right-to-left tilt of the green and stops four feet past the flag. That’s a pretty good result from there. Ryu Hae-ran’s straight-looking birdie effort from 15 feet actually has a little bit of left-to-right curve and stays out. Par. Then Brooke Henderson has a look from ten feet. She tickles in a lovely right-to-left slider to return to -10. And then finally Nelly … who doesn’t commit to her short birdie chance, the ball dying to the right. The pressure of major-championship golf, right there. She’s not been quite the same since that bogey on 11.
-13: Korda (13)
-11: Coughlin (15)
-10: Ryu (13), Henderson (13)
-9: Stark (13), Im (13)
-7: Henseleit (15), Ciganda (14)
Lauren Coughlin is this close to making it three birdies on the bounce. She finds the heart of 15 in regulation then looks to have drained a 40-footer for birdie, but the ball slides by the right-hand side of the cup by the width of a dimple. She remains two off at -11 and looks to be enjoying herself today very much.
Maya Stark breaks her run of pars with a first birdie of the day! The Swede rolls in a 30-foot right-to-left slider on 13 and moves to -9. Just a par for Im Jin-hee, who hasn’t got going since those early birdies at 4 and 5. When they get out of the road, Nelly Korda, who loves playing fast and has been waiting in the fairway for some time, cracks her second through the green and over the back. That’s not the worst miss with plenty of green to play with, and she’ll back herself to get up and down for birdie.
Another birdie for Lauren Coughlin! She curls in a right-to-left 20-foot putt on 14 and the 31-year-old from Minneapolis moves to within a couple of the lead … though Nelly Korda has just sent a peach of a drive down the middle of the par-five 13th. She’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t go on to make at least a birdie to reestablish her three-shot advantage.
-13: Korda (12)
-11: Coughlin (14)
All three players in the final group make their two-putt pars on 12. Nelly Korda will be the happiest, though, having judged a downhill putt from downtown almost to perfection, from 80 feet to a couple. Brooke Henderson and Ryu Hae-ran both left much more gettable birdie chances short. With holes running out, those are decent chances passed up carelessly.
-13: Korda (12)
-10: Coughlin (13), Ryu (12)
-9: Henderson (12), Im (12)
-8: Henseleit (13), Stark (12)
Jasmine Koo wins low amateur
Lottie Woad birdies the last, and settles for a final round of 74. She finishes her first major in red figures at -1. Throw in the Augusta National, and the young talent from Farnham, Surrey has had quite the fortnight. That confirms Jasmine Koo as this year’s low amateur!
Korda, Ryu and Henderson all find the green at the par-three 12th. The leader is by far the furthest from the flag, though, having pulled her tee shot a tad. For the first time today, there’s a slight look of concern on her face, having just come off the back of her first bogey in a couple of days.
Lauren Coughlin gets onto the par-five 13th in two, but faces a monster eagle putt. The best part of 100 feet. She pings it up to a couple of feet, though, just an exquisite touch. She moves into a share of second, and this new arrangement with her husband on the bag is going along very nicely, a mere four tournaments in. She’s in with a shout of her first major!
-13: Korda (11)
-10: Coughlin (13), Ryu (11)
Nelly Korda had gone 39 holes without a bogey. She can’t make it to 40. Two putts from 20 feet, and that’s her first dropped shot since 7 on Friday. All the fault of the tee shot. The lead just three now. Just!
-13: Korda (11)
-10: Ryu (11)
-9: Coughlin (12), Im (11), Henderson (11)
-8: Stark (11)
-7: Henseleit (12), Ciganda (12), Katsu (12)
If you’ve got shots, use them. Nelly Korda sends a wild tee shot behind trees down the right of 11. She doesn’t risk going over them to get to the green, and takes her medicine instead, chipping out sideways. She sends her third pin high and will have a decent chance of saving par. But even if she misses it, she’s taken a possible big number out of the equation. A course-management clinic.
Jasmine Koo finishes her round in some style! Having benefitted from that outrageous stroke of fortune, her approach staying dry thanks to Chevron’s floating advertisement and bounding over the green, she gets up and down for a closing birdie! She walks in a 25-foot putt, and puts her name to a final round of 71. She’s -3 and will be the low amateur unless Lottie Woad holes out for an albatross on the closing hole. Jasmine won the battle this time, but Lottie will always have Augusta.
More news of England’s finest. Charley Hull and Georgia Hall have both posted final rounds of 72. They both finish the week at -1.
Jasmine Koo is looking likely to end the week as low amateur. The 18-year-old – who had two eagles during her final round at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur a fortnight ago – heads up 18 at -2 overall. Her approach looks like dunking into the water down the left … only to bounce on Chevron’s floating sponsorship platform, and balloon across the remainder of the drink and over the back of the green! The golfing gods on her side. Her nearest amateur challenger, Surrey’s Lottie Woad, the winner of that aforementioned Augusta National title, is level par with just one hole left to play. More news when we have it.
Nelly Korda keeps the pedal to the floor! She may not have been able to hold the green at 10 with her approach, but no matter! She chips crisply from the rough at the back, landing her ball in the perfect spot, halfway there, the gentle left-to-right curl rolling out along its inevitable route to the cup. What a time to chip in! She raises her wedge high, then punches the air! That could be a killer blow, especially as Brooke Henderson fails to get up and down and drifts off in the other direction. The Canadian has the air of someone who knows the jig is up.
-14: Korda (10)
-10: Ryu (10)
-9: Coughlin (12), Im (10), Henderson (10)
-8: Stark (10)
None of the final group – Korda, Henderson and Ryu – are able to hold the rock-hard 10th green. Some big up-and-downs coming up. Meanwhile Atthaya Thitikul’s Sunday nightmare continues: she drops another shot, at 10, and is currently four over for her final round. Factor in the completion of her third round, and she’s made eight bogeys in 16 holes today.
Maja Stark finished tied for ninth at last year’s US Open, the 24-year-old Swede’s best performance in a major so far. She’s threatening another top-ten finish this week … but not threatening to make a run for the title. Ten holes today, ten pars, and she’s been stuck at -8 since the get-go. Meanwhile another dropped shot for Carlota Ciganda, at 10, and she’s -7.
Trouble for Im Jin-hee at 10. Her second threatens to topple into a greenside bunker but stays on its lip. Inhibited by an awkward stance, she elects to use the leading edge of her wedge to belly the chip onto the green. She seriously underhits it, and leaves herself a ten-footer for par. She can’t make it, coming up and out of it the nanosecond she putts. She’ll slip back to -9.
Brooke Henderson leaves her long birdie putt five feet short. But she strokes the par saver in calmly, and remains three off the lead, Nelly Korda having made a much less stressful two-putt par. It’s a big if, but if Korda stumbles coming home, she’ll bring quite a few players into title contention.
-13: Korda (9)
-10: Im (9), Ryu (9), Henderson (9)
-9: Coughlin (10)
-8: Henseleit (10), Ciganda (9), Stark (9)
[adopts Hank Kingsley voice] Hae now! Ryu Hae-ran most certainly isn’t finished yet! She rakes in a 50-footer from the fringe at the back of 9, and that’s a birdie-birdie finish to a front nine that started bogey-bogey. She’s turning in 37 strokes and joins Im Jin-hee and Brooke Henderson in a share of second at -9.
Henderson’s OK. A couple of yards further back, and she’d have been slap bang behind a tree, but she’s got a route in. She manages to find the green with her second but will face a long putt over a ridge. Korda meanwhile swings smoothly, holds her pose, and watches quietly as her ball drops 12 feet from the flag. A danger this could turn into a Scottie Scheffler-style procession. Like someone chasing a record-equalling five Tour wins in a row, plus her second major, will care one jot about theatre right now.
Morgan Pressel, who won this title in 2007, assesses Nelly Korda’s play on NBC: “She is playing exceptionally boring golf.” It’s meant as the highest of compliments. Fairways and greens found, putts made. No fuss. Korda’s in the zone all right, and on 9 she cracks her drive into practically perfect position, just down the left of the fairway, while Henderson’s leaks further left, taking a 90-degree kick off the shoulder of a bunker and heading towards some trees. She might be blocked out, she might not. We’ve yet to see.
Now then, this could be decisive. Henderson’s birdie putt at 8 is always staying high on the left side. Over to Korda, who tramlines one from similar distance. She walks it in, and suddenly the gap at the top is significant as she heads closer to the turn. Ryu Hae-ran nearly makes an eagle putt, meanwhile; the kick-in birdie means she’s not out of this yet despite that awful start.
-13: Korda (8)
-10: Im (8), Henderson (8)
-9: Ryu (8), Coughlin (9)
-8: Henseleit (9), Ciganda (9), Stark (8)
A dropped shot for Carlota Ciganda at 9. A decent chip from the back to four feet, but she pulls the par putt. She turns in 34 and slips to -8.
Korda’s chip, from a bank to the side of the 8th, is uncharacteristically timid. She leaves it a good 12 feet short. Henderson, with one duffed bunker shot already today, isn’t minded to leave this one in the sand as well, and gives it a good old clack … but it’s gone 15 feet past. Here come a couple of important putts.
Im Jin-hee takes two putts for par on the 8th and clears the green. Nelly Korda and Brooke Henderson, coming behind, try to repopulate it from distance with their balls. Neither manages to find the dancefloor. Korda’s approach to the par-five drifts off to the left; Henderson’s stalls in a bunker on the right. Big attempts to get up and down for birdie coming up. This isn’t quite a matchplay situation – not at all, with Im, Coughlin, Ciganda et al hovering – but it doesn’t half feel like it.
Esther Henseleit doesn’t have much of a record in the majors. The 25-year-old German’s best finish is a tie for 14th at last year’s Evian; her best finish in this one is a tie for 51st in 2020. But she’s on course to better that by some distance this week. Along with Lauren Coughlin and Carlota Ciganda, she’s the hottest player out there today at three under for her round; she’s hit the turn in 33 after birdies at 3 and 8 plus eagle at 4, and she’s tied for sixth at -8.
Lauren Coughlin’s husband John recently gave up his job to caddie for her full time. This is their fourth tournament working this new arrangement, and the early signs that it’s going pretty well. Two missed cuts, but a top-ten finish at the Ford Championship, and now the 31-year-old American is in the hunt for her first major! Birdie at 9, her third in four holes, and she’s turning in 33. It moves her into a tie for fourth with Carlota Ciganda, who has just made her fourth birdie in six holes at the 8th. Meanwhile Henderson dead-eyes her par saver on 7 to remain a couple back.
-12: Korda (7)
-10: Im (7), Henderson (7)
-9: Coughlin (9), Ciganda (8)
Henderson’s tee shot into the par-three 7th lands a couple of feet short and snags in greenside rough. Korda makes it on, but having pulled her shot she’s a long way from the flag. Korda putts first, and lags up to three feet; Henderson then gets a bit of a flyer out of the rough and her chip trundles six feet past. You’d think she’s not got much wriggle room in terms of dropping any more shots; big putts coming up.
Another no-nonsense par for Im Jin-hee, still sitting just a couple off the lead on her major-championship debut. Real Ludvig-Åberg-at-the-Masters energy here. But Atthaya Thitikul isn’t bringing her Sunday best at all. Having completed her third round this morning with three bogeys, she’s made another three over the opening stretch of round four. Dropped strokes at 2, 3 and 5, with birdie at 4, and the young Thai sensation – who already has six top-ten finishes at the majors at the age of 21 – currently looks unlikely to better her tie for fourth here last year. Having started the day in the lead, she’s now back in the pack at -6.
Henderson was dialling in her wedges yesterday, taking advantage of the softer conditions to set up all those scoring opportunities. Rolling in some monsters too. She made six birdies and an eagle. She’s at it again here, sending her second at 6 to 12 feet. The 26-year-old Canadian already has two majors on her CV – the 2016 PGA, which she won as an 18-year-old, and the 2022 Evian – so knows how to get things done on Sunday. She’s clearly shaken off that double-bogey fiasco in short order, because she walks in the putt with absurd confidence. If that flat stick stays hot, watch out field. She’s now just two back, with Korda only able to make par.
-12: Korda (6)
-10: Im (6), Henderson (6)
-8: Henseleit (8), Ciganda (7), Stark (6), Ryu (6)
Updated
The closing trio of Henderson, Korda and Ryu take turns to belt their drives down the 6th fairway. Up on the green, a careful two-putt par from the fringe for Im, who at -10 remains a couple back from the leader Korda.
Bounce-back birdie for Brooke Henderson! Her putter was super-hot during yesterday’s 64 – she had ten one-putts in a row at one point, taking just 23 putts in the entire round – and she’ll need something similar now after that disaster on 4. She rattles in a 25-footer and takes a step back up the leader board.
-12: Korda (5)
-10: Im (5)
-9: Henderson (5)
-8: Ciganda (6), Stark (5), Ryu (5)
Im Jin-hee is now Korda’s closest challenger at -10 after birdie at 5. This is the 25-year-old South Korean’s first full season on the LPGA Tour, on which she’s only made five starts previously. So this is very much uncharted territory for her. Meanwhile Ryu Hae-ran continues to head in the wrong direction, an overly aggressive bunker shot on 5 costing her a third bogey of the round.
A mini-meltdown for Brooke Henderson at 4. From the side of the par-five green, she thins what appears a simple chip through the green and into a bunker. Short-sided, she takes two splashes to get out, and two putts later walks off with a double-bogey seven. Watching on, Nelly Korda, who calmly clips her chip close, then makes the birdie putt. A huge three-shot swing in the blink of an eye, and this tournament is firmly in Korda’s control.
-12: Korda (4)
-9: Im (4), Ryu (4)
-8: Ciganda (5), Stark (5), Henderson (4)
Just behind those leaders: Carlota Ciganda. The 33-year-old Spaniard already has a couple of tied-fourth finishes in this competition, in 2013 and 2019, and ended last year’s edition just outside the top ten. She’s making a late run for glory this week: having opened her final round with a bogey, Ciganda has just birdied 3, 4 and 5 to haul herself up to -8, just three off the pace. How she’ll be ruing her opening round of 75, and specifically the first 12 holes, which she played on Thursday in five over par. Since then she’s been as good as anyone out there: 67, 68 and now today’s fast start. Ciganda in the hunt for her maiden major.
Here we go, then … and the early play has seen some significant movement at the top of the leader board. The third-round leader Ryu Hae-ran suffered the coldest of starts: a bogey-bogey opening that toppled the 23-year-old South Korean from the top. She’s been replaced there by the world number one Nelly Korda, moving in the right direction after birdie at 3. Brooke Henderson meanwhile has repaired the damage of bogey at 2 with a bounceback birdie at 3. So as the tale of the final round begins to unfold, here’s what the very top of the leader board looks like now …
-11: Korda (3)
-10: Henderson (3)
-9: Im (4), Ryu (3)
Preamble
If Nelly Korda wins the Chevron Championship today, she’ll become just the third player in history to win five consecutive titles on the LPGA Tour. She’d be in elite company if she does so, alongside two genuine legends of the sport in Nancy Lopez (who first completed the feat in 1978) and Annika Sörenstam (who matched it in 2005). History – plus the small matter of a second major on her resumé after the 2022 PGA – beckons for the current world number one.
She’s got a fair bit of competition in the first women’s major of the year, though, not least from Brooke Henderson, who carded a best-of-week 64 in the third round to shoot herself into serious contention. Korda and Henderson are both on the shoulder of Ryu Hae-ran, who is chasing her major breakthrough. Meanwhile Atthaya Thitikul – who led overnight after yesterday’s third round was suspended by lightning – made three consecutive bogeys when completing her round this morning to slip back into the pack. But all is not yet lost for the up-and-coming Thai star. Here’s what the top of leader board looked like after the completion of the third round …
-11: Ryu Hae-ran
-10: Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda
-8: Maja Stark, Im Jin-hee, Atthaya Thitikul
-7: Minami Katsu
-6: Carlota Ciganda, Nasa Hataoka, Lauren Coughlin
-5: Jiyai Shin, Esther Henseleit, Yealimi Noh, Lydia Ko, Weiwei Zhang
… and we’ll catch up on events when the fourth-round coverage from The Woodlands in Texas begins at 7pm BST. It’s on!
