Nelly Korda stumbles early at Chevron Championship with opening 77
Nelly Korda stumbles early at Chevron Championship with opening 77
THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Nelly Korda struggled mightily in the opening round of Chevron Championship. The World No. 1 recorded only one birdie in a 7-over 77 that included four consecutive bogeys from Nos. 3-6.
Korda, who won her fifth of six consecutive starts last year at the Club at Carlton Woods, was obviously frustrated and on the verge of tears when she stopped to talk to a trio of reporters after the round.
'I just have to go work,' said Korda. 'I'm not hitting it well, so that's about it.'
When asked about the biggest challenge of the day, Korda gave a one-word reply that's relatable to anyone who's ever played the game: 'Golf.'
Winless so far in 2025, Korda changed putters at last week's JM Eagle LA Championship and said earlier this week at the Chevron that the main difference between last year and this year is that not as many putts are falling.
Korda hit 11 greens and eight fairways in her opening round on the Nicklaus Course and took 33 putts.
'I'm going to go and practice and see where it takes me,' she said, before heading over to sign autographs. Korda's instructor, Jamie Mulligan, is onsite this week and followed her throughout the round.
The 15-time winner has had several high rounds of late at the majors. She shot 80 in the opening round of the 2024 U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club after making a 10 on her third hole of the day. At the KPMG Women's PGA last year, she carded a second-round 81, tying her highest score on the LPGA, at Sahalee Country Club, to miss a second straight cut in the majors.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports
LPGA Hall of Famer calls for more to speak out against trans athletes in girls sports Betsy King grew up on 30 acres of land in Reading, Pennsylvania, where she honed a golf swing that would eventually land her in the LPGA and World Golf halls of fame. But golf wasn't her only passion. When older brother Lee left the house, mom often said, 'Take your sister.' And that's how King wound up playing baseball, basketball, hockey and, in elementary school, and tackle football with the neighborhood boys. Those memories come flooding back when King, a six-time major winner, sees biological males competing against females across the country. 'You know, when I was playing with the boys,' said King, 'I mean, it definitely helped my competitiveness to play then against other girls. But I was just trying to play well enough that that they would let me play. Obviously, even at that age, there was a physical difference.' Last week, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles made headlines when she called NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines a 'bully' and 'sore loser' for her criticism of biological boys competing in women's sports – in this particular instance, a high school state championship. Four days later, Biles apologized for her comments. 'In my mind, all I could think about is if a transgender woman started competing in what she (Biles) does, I think they could dominate,' said King, 'without a doubt.' Last December, the LPGA and U.S. Golf Association announced changes to their transgender policies that prohibit athletes who have experienced male puberty from competing in women's events. The move came as transgender golfer Hailey Davidson earned status on the LPGA's developmental Epson Tour. Sources say only a handful of LPGA players were in favor of allowing transgender athletes to compete. Even so, for King, the fight is far from over. Now she'd like to see a federal law put into place that would restrict the participation of biological males in female sports. In February, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that called on the government to "rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities." But that hasn't kept it from happening at high school competitions across the country. President Trump said last week that California would face large-scale fines after a transgender athlete won two medals in the state's track and field championship. 'I just feel badly for the high school girls that have to face it,' said King. 'You know, I've seen a couple of them on TV talking about it. And it really bothers me that the adults haven't stood up for these girls as much as they should.' As for the LPGA's new policy, King would like to see the tour return to a female-at-birth mandate, calling the trend of childhood transitions frightening. "I don't know that at 7 years old, if you really know what you are, who you are, or know what you want to do, to make a decision that will impact you the rest of your life," said King. "We don't listen to many 7-year-olds about a lot of things, right? That you would decide to listen to them about this is kind of frightening." A New York Times/Ipsos survey released in January 2025 found that 79 percent of Americans polled were against allowing biological males who identify as women to participate in women's sports. And yet, so few Hall of Fame-caliber female athletes have come out publicly against it. King, 69, posts frequently about the topic on social media and was especially disheartened recently when, during a floor debate on the Save Women's Sports Act, Pennsylvania state senator Lindsey Williams said, 'I want all girls to know that there are elected officials like me who believe female bodies are just as strong and fast and capable as male bodies.' King said she found Williams' comments to be ridiculous and went searching to confirm they weren't a parody. Five years ago, tennis icon Billie Jean King joined World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe, the WNBA's Candace Parker and nearly 200 athletes in supporting transgender youth participation in sports as part of a response to Idaho legislation that banned trans girls from competing in schools. 'There is no place in any sport for discrimination of any kind,' Billie Jean King said in a Women's Sports Foundation release. 'I'm proud to support all transgender athletes who simply want the access and opportunity to compete in the sport they love. The global athletic community grows stronger when we welcome and champion all athletes – including LGBTQI+ athletes.' Another tennis icon, Martina Navratilova, however, sees it differently than Billie Jean and has been vocal about the subject for years. She's one of the few decorated female athletes to do so. Growing up, Betsy King didn't have the same opportunities as her brother to play organized sports. As a three-sport athlete at Furman, King recalled going to the president's office each year with other female athletes to ask for more money. Female athletes stood up more back then, she noted, out of necessity. Some in King's circle and beyond have commented that there are more pressing issues currently facing the country. Her response: It's possible to be concerned about more than one subject. For example, in September, she'll head back to Africa for the umpteenth time (26th or 27th, she's not sure) to check in on some schools her Arizona church funds in Tanzania. After winning 34 times on the LPGA, King launched her Golf Fore Africa foundation in 2007 and raised roughly $20 million for World Vision, enough to fund 400 wells, at least 50 mechanized water systems and eight maternity wings for local hospitals. Though her work with the foundation has come to an end, she's finding more ways to use her platform. 'You know, I have nothing to lose,' said King on the divisive gender topic. 'I don't have any sponsorships at this stage. I've always been kind of outspoken and strong about values that I think even if I were playing, I would speak up.' Her mother, Helen Szymkowicz King, graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1940 and was elected into the university's Athletic Hall of Fame as a three-sport athlete. King looks at how much the landscape has changed for women's sports in recent decades and views the transgender debate as a step backward. 'Many of us fought for places to compete when none existed,' King said. 'We cannot surrender our sports or our spaces.' Put another way by one of golf's most decorated American players: It's simply not fair.
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Patty Sheehan dishes on how she slayed the beast that is Oakmont in 1992
Patty Sheehan dishes on how she slayed the beast that is Oakmont in 1992 OAKMONT, Pa. — Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and Johnny Miller are all part of the legendary players who won at Oakmont Country Club. Count fellow World Golf Hall of Fame member Patty Sheehan among that exclusive club. After falling short in heartbreaking fashion multiple times at the U.S. Women's Open, including squandering a 12-stroke lead in 1990, Sheehan defeated another Hall of Famer, Juli Inkster, in an 18-hole playoff at Oakmont in 1992 to win the title she so desperately wanted. "It certainly was something that I'd always wanted to do is to win the U.S. Open, and it was always so difficult because it's the hardest golf course we play all year long," she told Golfweek. Inkster agrees with Scottie Scheffler's assessment of Oakmont as one of the toughest courses she's ever played. Tough, she said, but fair. "You know, you had to hit the ball in the right spots," said Inkster. "It's kind of a golf course where – usually you play to the front of the greens because then you have uphill chips. At Oakmont, you want to play from the pin beyond, because the back -- you're chipping back uphill. So I always thought it was kind of reverse of what we always played." Here's more from Sheehan on how she slayed the beast that is Oakmont. GWK: How did you solve the riddle that is Oakmont? PS: I'm not typically a very straight driver of the ball. I don't think I had the best short game, but I worked on it very hard a lot at home, and I would try to find the most difficult shots around the golf course and try to hit them. Tried to feel a little more comfortable with my short game, and it started getting better. It really was amazing how much better it got. Honestly, that's probably one of the reasons why I won at Oakmont because I was not hitting – it didn't seem like I was hitting a lot of greens in regulation and having easy pars. That just doesn't happen at Oakmont. So it came in handy. GWK: Did you have any other secret weapon that week? PS: When I got to Oakmont on that Monday of tournament week, my caddie, Carl Leib, had already been there for like two weeks trying to figure out the golf course and watching members play. He really did his homework. It was one of those weeks where we had a lot of rain. A lot of rain at Oakmont makes it just miserable because you've got thick rough and now they can't get in there and mow it. It was getting harder day by day. He's like, 'OK, this is the deal. It's supposed to rain here this week, and we're going to hit a lot of 3-woods off the tees, try to stay in the fairway and try to hit as many greens as we can. This is a beast of a golf course.' So he really had it mapped out for me, and I was really impressed with his homework. It was a combination of working pretty hard on my short game for years and then getting Carl as my caddie and him doing all of his pregame work. It all came together that week. GWK: What did it mean to you to win the U.S. Women's Open that week? PS: I was pretty happy because two years before that, I lost the Open. I shouldn't have lost it, but I did. I got hypoglycemic on Sunday, and we were playing 36 holes in Atlanta. July is never fun. It's hot and humid and horrible. So I got pretty sick that Sunday. At one point, I was up by 12 shots, and I ended up losing. So it hurt quite a bit, and I learned a lot from that. So coming back a couple years later and being able to get it under my belt was probably the biggest turning point in getting to the Hall of Fame. I think the Hall of Fame is probably the pinnacle of my career, but winning the U.S. Open was definitely one of those turning points for me. I felt like after I got an Open under my belt that I could probably get into the Hall of Fame because at that point I'd had quite a few tournament wins. GWK: What did you learn about yourself that week? PS: I learned that I needed to pay attention to my nutrition. For some reason, I didn't pay much attention to my nutrition throughout my career until that point, and I know that I lost many tournaments because I was not eating properly or drinking enough on the golf course. I cleaned up my act quite a bit and started realizing that, oh, yeah, I can get through 18 holes without crashing at 13 or 14 or 15, which is basically what I would do almost every round. I never really gave it much thought. I just thought, well, shoot, I just need to work out more, I need to get in better shape. That wasn't it at all. I was in pretty good shape. Just didn't have the fuel on board to get through 18 holes.
USA Today
3 hours ago
- USA Today
After losing LPGA card, Maria Fassi learned how to look inward and stop self-sabotaging
After losing LPGA card, Maria Fassi learned how to look inward and stop self-sabotaging Maria Fassi hit rock bottom last year when she lost her LPGA card. Then came the hard conversations – with herself and her team. "I think I was sabotaging myself a lot," said Fassi ahead of the 2025 Meijer LPGA Classic. Six years ago, the powerful Mexican player was on top of the world. She didn't win the Augusta National Women's Amateur but became a fan favorite and overnight star after finishing runner-up to Jennifer Kupcho. A month later, she won the NCAA championship in front of a home crowd in Arkansas and kicked off a professional career that many thought might change the tour. Perhaps it's not surprisingly to learn then, that the now 27-year-old put a lot of pressure on herself. Fassi now finds herself in Grand Rapids, Michigan, playing on a sponsor exemption due in part to the actions of Brittany Lincicome. After the two-time major winner accepted a sponsor exemption of her own to the Meijer, she learned from her friend and former caddie Michelle Simpson that Fassi wasn't in the field. (Simpson now loops for Fassi.) Lincicome realized that she could get in the field using her status as a past champion and didn't need the exemption. She called the tour to make the change and offer a suggestion. "Her and my caddie are very good friends and they were just trying to help me out," said Fassi. "I know I needed a little more this year, the extra help, and it's nice to know that I don't only get it from sponsors, but from fellow competitors and players." The Meijer mark Fassi's fifth LPGA start to the season, and while the scores aren't yet where she'd like them, she's starting to regain some of her confidence. Fassi credited her team for helping to hold herself accountable. For example, when she'd practice last fall, she might be at the golf course for several hours, but wasn't putting in the work in the right places. Her team got right to the point: Stop wasting time. Identify what needs to improve and get to work. "Drills are very boring," Fassi said. "It was not what I wanted to do, but it was what I had to do. "You know, that's more on the golf side. On the mental side, just like stopped lying to myself about things that I was not doing and I was, again, lying to myself, saying that I did do them or something like that. Instead be like OK, you can't expect for something different if you're continuing to go down the same hole ... it was painful looking inward because there was a lot of things I didn't like to see, and I was very angry with myself." But the hard process was worth it, and on the other side, one of the most naturally talented athletes on tour found a way to enjoy the game again. "I'm just proud that I'm showing up for myself and showing up for my team in a positive way," said Fassi, "and not kind of shooting myself in the foot before I even start."
