THE WOODLANDS, Texas — If Nelly Korda goes on to win her fifth consecutive title this week at the Chevron Championship – joining Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as the only players to achieve the feat – she might look back on an apple, of all things, as a key to her success. The World No. 1 admitted to nerves at the start of Thursday’s round, which saw defending champion Lilia Vu bow out with injury before she even made it to the first tee. Vu, who was in Korda’s group for the first two rounds, was replaced in the field by Jennifer Song. Running on what she estimates to be a 70 percent batter ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Angel Yin withdrew from the Chevron Championship after carding a first-round 78. Yin, who was in a wheelchair earlier this season after breaking her left ankle in Austria, was in too much pain to carry on at the Club at Carlton Woods. Defending champion Lilia Vu didn’t even make it to the first tee on Thursday before she had to withdraw with pain back. The two players who squared off in a playoff here last year were too banged up to give it another go. Yin made her first start of the season two weeks at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas where she took a share of fifth ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — John Pond had just quit his job in fundraising at the University of Virginia to come travel with his wife, Lauren Coughlin, full-time on the LPGA when a new opportunity presented itself. Coughlin split with her longtime caddie after the spring Asian swing, and Pond begged her to give him the job. Coughlin said she’d give him three weeks. “I’ll know after three weeks if we can do it,” said Coughlin. “When I say we, I mean me.” The Chevron Championship marks their fourth week together, and Coughlin holds the clubhouse lead at the year’s first major after an opening 6-under ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu’s title defense of the Chevron Championship was over before it began. The world No. 2 had a nagging back injury flare up during warm-ups at the Club at Carlton Woods and withdrew from the event before her 1:10 p.m. CDT tee time, according to an LPGA official. Vu is expected to release a statement later in the afternoon. Earlier this season, Vu withdrew from two events during the Asian swing. The former UCLA standout said during a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday at the Chevron that she was 95 percent recovered. Apparently things turned for the worse qu ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – The merchandise tent at the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the year, features a number of high-quality products. Just be sure to bring your Texas-sized wallet. Baseball hats with “The Chev” scripted across the front are available for $50 and pin flags are $60. The kids’ clothes include a “Girls Rule” T-shirts and youth T-shirt hoodies. Small teddy bears are available (for $38) as are the ubiquitous autograph balls. There are some fantastic leather trophy driver head covers to choose from. One of those will set you back $180. A tournament-logoed valuable ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — All eyes are on World No. 1 Nelly Korda as the LPGA stages its first major of the season. Korda looks to become only third player in LPGA history to win five consecutive starts, joining Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2005). Korda’s streak began in her hometown at the LPGA Drive On event in Bradenton, Florida, and then, after a seven-week break from the tour, she won three events in the span of three weeks. The tour took last week off during the Masters Tournament. Korda was asked during a pre-tournament press conference at The Club at Carlton Woods how aware s ..read more

For years, Grant Boone and Beth Ann Nichols have chatted inside LPGA media centers, sharing insider tidbits about the top tier of women’s professional golf. Boone, who has been on-air for more than two decades and now handles LPGA play-by-play for NBC Sports and Golf Channel, has come to trust Nichols as a confidante, knowing he could bounce ideas off his friend when needed. And Nichols, the first female president of the Golf Writers Association of America and a longtime Golfweek senior writer who is the only full-time independent LPGA beat writer, has done the same. So, why not get two of th ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Rose Zhang told Golfweek that she has a new instructor ahead of the 2024 Chevron Championship. Todd Anderson, director of instruction at the PGA Tour’s Performance Center at TPC Sawgrass, has stepped in to help one of the LPGA’s hottest young stars. George Pinnell has guided Zhang for the better part of a decade, and the pair knew this day would eventually come once she got out on tour. Pinnell runs a successful academy in Rowland Heights, California, and that responsibility along with some health issues keeps him from being able to travel as much as Zhang might need. “G ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas – Nelly Korda comes into the LPGA’s first major of the season, the Chevron Championship, with the chance to do something that hasn’t been done in nearly 20 years. Annika Sorenstam was the last player to come into a major on the heels of four consecutive victories. Sorenstam’s feat stretched between the end of the 2004 season and the beginning of 2005. She won what was then known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship by eight strokes for her fifth consecutive title. Nancy Lopez is the only other player to win five consecutive starts during a magical 1978 rookie season whi ..read more

THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Lilia Vu didn’t see the menu for the Champions Dinner at the Chevron Championship until she sat down Monday evening. There was supposed to be a group phone call about it when Vu was playing in China, but a bad flareup with her back disrupted the plan, and she ended up conversing with renowned chef Thomas Keller via group chat. “I told Chef Keller, hey, really love steak, made it my personality trait,” said Vu, who won her first major championship title last year at The Club at Carlton Woods. “Then I also said that I’m Vietnamese, and I kind of want to do some Vietnamese ..read more