04/18/24 08:06:00
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04/18 20:05 CDT Chasing 5th straight win, Nelly Korda is 2 shots back at
Chevron Championship after a first-round 68
Chasing 5th straight win, Nelly Korda is 2 shots back at Chevron Championship
after a first-round 68
By KRISTIE RIEKEN
AP Sports Writer
THE WOODLANDS, Texas (AP) --- Nelly Korda, who is looking to tie an LPGA Tour
record with her fifth straight win, shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday in the
opening round of the Chevron Championship, leaving her two shots behind leader
Lauren Coughlin in the year's first major.
Coughlin shot a bogey-free 66 in windy conditions at Carlton Woods, which is
hosting the event for the second time.
The top-ranked Korda is seeking her second major after winning the Women's PGA
Championship in 2021. She could join Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam
(2004-05) as the only players to win five consecutive LPGA events.
Korda said she was battling fatigue from recent tournaments at the beginning of
her round. She bogeyed her first hole, the par-4 10th.
"I (could) definitely still feel maybe a little bit of tiredness, so it took me
a while to get going," she said. "I felt the nerves definitely at the start of
the round. Once I made the turn, I was just playing free golf."
She made her first birdie on the par-4 14th hole, something she half-jokingly
credited to a snack.
"I actually had an apple on 13, and that gave me actually a nice boost," she
said. "I felt a lot better after that. Maybe I should have apples more often."
The 25-year-old finished with six birdies, including four in the final six
holes.
"Two of them were par 5s, so I got to take advantage of that with my length,"
she said. "Hit a really good tee shot, and then I was just on the front of the
green on 17, and the other one I was just on the fringe, too. I two-putted
pretty much for birdie on those. Then I had wedge shots in on the other two,
too. Taking advantage of my length and hitting good tee shots."
Marina Alex and Japan's Minami Katsu also shot 68. Lydia Ko was one of five
players at 69.
The 31-year-old Coughlin, who played in college at Virginia and has never won
on the LPGA Tour, made three birdies in a four-hole span from Nos. 2-5. She
believes her game has benefited from her recent decision to make husband John
Pond her full-time caddie.
"He's really good at talking through everything when I want to get really fast
and make a decision really quickly," Coughlin said. "He is really good at
putting all the work in, all the extra work, all the extra walking ... making
sure the strategy is really good and double checking everything. But ... he's
always been really good with how he talks to me and communicates what he thinks
I need to do and how I need to do it."
Defending champion and world No. 2 Lilia Vu withdrew because of a back injury.
She issued a statement on Instagram saying she had "severe discomfort" in her
back during warmups.
"I have been dealing with a back injury for a while now," Vu said in the
statement. "Some days are better than others, and today was unfortunately not a
good day. During my normal warmup routine, I had severe discomfort in my back
and I felt that I could not compete up to my standards and made the decision to
withdraw from the tournament ahead of my tee time."
She added that she was returning home to see her doctors and determine the next
steps.
Later in the day, last year's runner-up Angel Yin withdrew because of an injury
after shooting 78.
A win by Ko would put her in the LPGA Hall of Fame. She won the Hilton Grand
Vacations Tournament of Champions in January for her 20th LPGA title.
The 26-year-old New Zealander admitted that she still gets nervous before
tournaments despite all her experience and success.
"It doesn't matter what event we're playing or what circumstances, when you're
younger you want to get away from the nerves," Ko said. "To some extent as long
as you can control it the nerves are good for you and you're able to excel and
get the adrenaline to hit some shots that you may not be able to execute when
you're just practicing."
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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