Nelly Korda endured a mixed week at The Chevron Championship as the world number one finished in a tie for 14th in Texas.
Plenty of eyes were on Nelly Korda heading into the first major of the year. While she is yet to win on the LPGA Tour in 2025, she was returning to the sight of her second major victory at The Chevron Championship.
Unfortunately for the American, an opening round of 77 all but put paid to her hopes of retaining her title. Only a couple of players managed to make the cut after coming within a couple of shots of her first round score.
However, despite the fightback, Korda was unable to extend her run of four straight top 10s at the Chevron.
Nelly Korda says she will play event for the first time this year
Korda has looked a little rusty in the opening months of the year. Of course, she was always going to struggle to replicate her success in 2024. But few would have anticipated that she would reach this stage of the season without winning.
But it seems that Korda is not planning to change her current schedule. Speaking after her final round, the 26-year-old did confirm that one event will be appearing on her calendar for the first time.
“No. I’m just going to keep them [events already in the schedule]. Yeah, I’m playing Scottish for the first time ever this year, not playing anything before Evian, not playing Dow, and then I don’t know what’s before KPMG,” she said.
Korda makes admission after having to fight back from slow start at The Chevron Championship
Korda admitted that her preparation for the first major was not exactly ideal. She went into the tournament week off the back of finishing tied for 16th at the JM Eagle LA Championship.
And she conceded that she did not feel as ready as she would have liked by the time Thursday came around.
“It’s just really tough with a 6 p.m. finishing time in LA on the west coast and having to get to a major. It’s hard to be fresh on a Monday,” she said.
“So I just wish I maybe got 18 in, but we got rained out on Wednesday. Kind of tough. I was off early on Thursday.
“So wanted to prioritize my rest, but at the end of the day I mean, you just got to roll with the punches and continue learning.
“Yeah, I mean, I didn’t even — I just played the pro-am, the front nine, so didn’t get to chip, putt, see how the greens are releasing, since with this new pro-am protocol where we can’t chip and putt anymore.
“So not having that kind of sucked. At the end of the day, I mean, I did have the chance to play in the afternoon on Wednesday and I didn’t take it so it’s on me.”
It must not be forgotten that Korda has not finished outside the top 30 on the LPGA this year, with four top 20 finishes. That first win of the year is coming.
Korda will be hoping however, that she is not still awaiting that victory by the time the Scottish Open comes around.
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