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Nelly Korda grabs historic 5th straight win, 2nd major title with victory at Chevron Championship

Nelly Korda posted a final-round 69 on Sunday to grab a two-shot win outside of Houston

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·5 min read
36

Nelly Korda did it again.

Actually, she has done it for a fifth consecutive time.

Korda, after needing to play 25 holes on Sunday to make up for a weather delay in the third round, held on late to win the Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. It marked her 13th career win on the LPGA Tour and the second major championship of her career.

Korda is the third player in Tour history to win in five straight starts. Annika Sorenstam pulled that off most recently during the 2004-05 season. Sorenstam’s fifth win was an eight-stroke victory at the same major championship.

The win earned Korda $1.2 million, which nearly doubled what she has earned this season.

“I don’t know, but I can finally breathe now,” Korda said on NBC when asked how she pulled off her fifth consecutive win. “That back nine felt like the longest back nine of my entire life.

"It was a little bit of a grind on the back nine, but I’m happy to get the win … The nerves setting in, it's a major. It's everything that I've always wanted as a little girl to lift that major trophy. As I said, I can finally breathe now and enjoy the moment because I was definitely really nervous. I feel sick to my stomach."

This is the second time in history the reigning top-ranked player in the world on the men’s and women’s side won a major championship title in consecutive weeks. Scottie Scheffler won his second Masters title last week on the men’s side. Tiger Woods and Lorena Ochoa pulled that feat off first in 2007, one year after the Rolex Rankings started, at the PGA Championship and the Women’s British Open.

Korda’s first win during this historic stretch came at the LPGA Drive On Championship in January. She then went on a three-week run in late March and early April, where she won the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, the Ford Championship and the T-Mobile Match Play. All three of those wins came in poor weather conditions.

“Last week I was so tired,” Korda said on Tuesday. “I don't think I've ever been that tired. I would wake up and I was ready to go back to bed but I couldn't. It's almost to the point where you just can't sleep, you're just overly tired.”

That week off was enough for her to reset. Korda was a single shot back when play was called due to weather on Saturday afternoon at The Club at Carlton Woods. Korda then wrapped up her third round on Sunday morning, making pars the rest of the way, which kept her at 10-under on the week.

Korda then took a three-shot lead over Brooke Henderson and Hae Ran Ryu at the turn of her final round after making three birdies on her front nine. She then immediately pushed her lead to four shots at the 10th after a perfect chip-in.

From there, the tournament was essentially over. Korda held on to grab her two-shot win despite making two bogeys the rest of the way. She posted a 3-under 69 in her final round with a birdie at the last hole to seal the deal. Korda nearly aced the par-3 17th after a perfect tee shot rolled just past the cup.

Maja Stark birdied the final hole to finish alone in second at 10-under on the week. Lauren Coughlin posted a 4-under 68 on Sunday to finish tied for third, which marked her best finish on the Tour and in a major championship. Henderson matched Coughlin at 10-under with a birdie at the 18th, which brought her back to even par on the day.

Korda will compete next week at the JM Eagle LA Championship. If she can pull off a win there, she'd break the record for most consecutive wins in LPGA Tour history.

While all eyes in the golf world have been on Scheffler, who is dominating on the PGA Tour and is eyeing a second straight win this week in South Carolina, he isn’t keeping up with Korda’s pace. Though he has three Tour wins this season and is leading in a fourth, it’s not even close.

“I don't think anyone can ever say anything bad about Scottie," Korda said before the tournament. "I love his morals, I love his attitude out there. I just love the way he goes about his business. He inspires so many around him, including myself.

"So yeah, obviously, as he even said, he wants to win every tournament he tees it up in. That's every girl that's out here competing, too. I think that you just have to go about your business. You can get lost in the articles, lost in the expectations, but I think if you just stick to your true self, I feel like you can live in your own bubble and enjoy it a lot more."

Clearly, she took her own advice this week in Texas. The duo are running the golf world right now, and nobody seems able to stop them.