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.”
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“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.
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.
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“That’s kind of the way we’ve been playing the past two days, not taking kind of stupid risks.”
After taking 24 putts in the first round, Korda needed only 27 on Friday. She had putting coach David Angelotti out this week and noted that they spent time working in the rain on Tuesday after the practice facilities opened back up.
“What we really work on is the simple stuff: reading the greens; starting it over my start target,” said Korda. “He’s finally someone that’s giving my putting practice a sense of structure. Everything I do is very structured with him. I feel like there is no gray area. It’s black and white. For me there is a calm in whatever we do together that I know it’s this and that.”
Nelly Korda of the United States looks on from the seventh green during the second round of The Chevron Championship 2026 at Memorial Park Golf Course on April 24, 2026 in Houston, Texas.
The relationship started late last year after Korda reached out to Phil Kenyon asking for help. Kenyon took a look at her putting at the Kroger Queen City Championship last September and told her that she needed to go back to a conventional grip. She tried it out that week.
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Kenyon was too busy to take on Korda as a student, so he recommended Angelotti, who began work with her last year before the Pelican.
A comfortable, confident Korda has praised her team all week and basked in the support of all the family onsite. When two-time Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis walked up to the mic after her farewell round on Friday, she noted that a “Nelly Korda special” was unfolding.
“This thing is a ball-strikers’ paradise,” said Lewis of Memorial Park, “[Korda] can just control her golf ball so well directionally. I feel like that that’s the most important thing, is if you can miss it on the right side of the holes, it’s relatively easy up and downs. I think she has so much control of her golf ball, more so than anybody else. She obviously loves the setup because it’s long.”
Korda hasn’t finished worse than runner-up in her four starts this season, winning once and losing only to Hyo Joo Kim (twice) and Lauren Coughlin. She’s enjoying herself more this year, focusing on an “I’ll figure it out” mindset when trouble arises.
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“Not like you look at something and, excuse my French, and say I’m f***ed,” said Korda.
“You know, there are times where I’ve had that and now I’m like, I’ll figure it out. So that’s my biggest takeaway from last year and the years before. I don’t want to have that mindset. I want to be like, okay, I’ll figure it out and not stress myself out too much.”
If history is any indicator, what’s unfolding this week falls right in line with two of the all-time greats. Since 1980, Korda is only the third player to begin a season with four or more top-2 finishes. The other two? Karrie Webb (2000) and Annika Sorenstam (2001). Both went on to win the first major of the year.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Chevron Championship 2026: LPGA major shaping up to be a ‘Nelly Korda special’
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