'Super happy' Nelly Korda opens big lead Friday at Chevron Championship
Nelly Korda has finished no worse than runner-up in her four starts this season. At the Chevron Championship, she's running away from the field.
HOUSTON – There’s an unmistakable ease about Nelly Korda. It was there even before she shot 65-65 to open up a seven-shot lead at the 2026 Chevron Championship. In her pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, Korda described herself as “super happy.
” “I have the greatest support system, and I get to do what I love every day,” she said. Korda’s 14-under 130 total at Memorial Park gives her the lowest 36-hole score in an LPGA major outside of the Amundi Evian Championship. She had eight birdies on the day.
A fantastic Friday showing from Nelly Korda 👏 8 birdies has her holding down the clubhouse lead at -14 pic. twitter. com/nsanVogIoZ — LPGA (@LPGA) April 24, 2026 Ryann O’Toole double-bogeyed her second hole of the day but rallied to shoot 4-under 68 and finish the second round at 7 under for the tournament in solo second.
“I'm just hitting it in the spots that I want to, missing it into the spots that I want to,” said Korda. “The communication between [caddie] Jay [McDede] and I is really good, where if there is a tucked pin and it's kind of stupid, I would rather give myself a longer lag putt and give myself the best opportunity for par. “That's kind of the way we've been playing the past two days, not taking kind of stupid risks.