THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Nelly Korda collected her fifth straight LPGA Tour victory on Sunday at The Chevron Championship at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas in dominant fashion, winning by two shots over Maja Stark.
Korda finished the last seven holes of her third round on Sunday morning, parring in to post a 3-under 69 and sit in a tie for second alongside Brooke Henderson, one shot back of 54-hole leader Haeran Ryu.
Starting her final round just a couple of hours later, Korda parred the first two holes while her groupmates faltered, picking up a pair of back-to-back birdies on holes three and four to lead by two shots over 2024 LPGA Tour rookie Jin Hee Im at 12-under. The 25-year-old grabbed another birdie on the par-5 8th hole to get to 13-under overall, parring the ninth hole to turn in 33 with a three-shot advantage.
Korda made another birdie on the par-4 10th hole to move to 14-under overall before making her first bogey of the round on 11 to drop back to 13-under, the first shot Korda had given back to the field since she bogeyed the 7th hole on Friday.
Meanwhile, Lauren Coughlin was charging up the leaderboard, making birdies on holes 10 and 11 ahead of Korda to get within two shots of the lead. But she gave Korda a little breathing room after making bogeys on 16 and 17, and with just a handful of holes to play, Korda held a four-shot lead.
But the 12-time LPGA Tour winner stumbled again with a bogey on the par-5 15th hole, and after Coughlin made a bounce-back birdie on the par-5 18th hole to post at 10-under total, Korda held a two-shot lead with three holes to play at The Club at Carlton Woods.
After parring the 16th hole, Korda nearly dunked her tee shot on the par-3 17th hole for an ace, ultimately two-putting for par to lead by two shots with just 18 standing between her and the Dinah Shore Trophy.
But Stark wasn’t going to go quietly. After sitting at 9-under and pretty much out of the conversation for majority of the back nine, the Swede birdied the 17th hole and nearly pitched in for eagle on the par-5 18th hole, tapping in for birdie to post at 11-under, now just one shot back of Korda with one hole to play.
Korda wasn’t fazed though, piping her drive down the middle of the fairway and then putting her second shot on the back fringe, sitting within 30 feet of the hole for eagle. She ran her eagle try by just a couple of feet, handily making the nervy come backer for birdie to win her second major title and first since the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a four-day total of 13-under.
“It's just been a crazy, crazy, crazy couple of weeks, with some really solid golf. I can finally breathe,” said a shivering Korda in her winning press conference, still damp from her leap into the lake by 18.“I was really nervous on that back nine. I really, really wanted this win. It feels amazing to get it.
“My first-ever major, competing in a major, was at the U.S. Women's Open at Sebonack, and that was when I dreamt of winning major championships. To have two under my belt now is a dream come true.”
With her 13th career victory, Korda is now the 31st different American to earn 13 or more wins on the LPGA Tour and is the 52nd player ever to win two or more major titles, becoming the ninth player in LPGA Tour history to win at least both the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and The Chevron Championship.
She joins Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only other player since 1978 to win five consecutive titles and will have a chance to top that pair next week as Korda is currently scheduled to play in the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro.
But that’s a tomorrow Nelly concern. For now, she’s just going to soak in this moment, one for which she’s waited quite some time, and finally take a deep breath as her history is finally made.
“I'm going to enjoy this right now, and then I'll think about that,” smiled Korda. “It's been an amazing time. Hopefully, I’ll keep the streak alive. But I've been so grateful to compete week in and week out and get the five in a row.”
