Inside Nelly Korda’s New Mindset That Helped Her Take Big Lead in LPGA's First Major

The world No. 2 leads the Chevron Championship by seven strokes through 36 holes at Memorial Park as she chases her third career major title.

Nelly Korda leads the LPGA's first major of the year through two rounds. | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Entering this season, Nelly Korda pinpointed the part of her game she wanted to change. 

Despite being the second-ranked player in the world and arguably the face of women’s golf, she is trying to avoid getting too down on herself when things go awry. 

“If I get into trouble, I’ll figure it out,” Korda said. “Not like you look at something and, excuse my French, and say, ‘I’m f---ed’”

So far this season, that mentality has worked. Following a winless 2025, she opened her season with a victory, although the event was shortened to 54 holes, and has finished runner-up in her only other three starts. Now, she’s running away with the year’s first major, the Chevron Championship, leading by seven through 36 holes. 

“I just feel really good,” said Korda, who sits at 14 under par following consecutive 65s at Memorial Park. “I’m just hitting it in the spots that I want to, missing it into the spots that I want to.”

Yes, it’s a double entendre, but the 27-year-old is playing conservatively aggressive this week. Meaning, on the par-3 15th, for example, she’s fine with a par. There’s a lot of green to work with and Korda knows she can lag a putt if she hits her tee shot safely on the green, instead of going pin hunting with a runoff on the left side. 

NELLY KORDA BIRDIE BARRAGE 🔥😤

Absolutely rolling with a SIX-SHOT @Chevron_Golf lead pic.twitter.com/zx0bNfZi0c

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 24, 2026

The par-5s, however, are where she keeps the pedal down. One of the LPGA’s longer hitters, Korda sees an opportunity to reach the greens in two, and so far, through two days, she has played those holes at 7 under. 

“At the end of the day, I mean, yeah, taking advantage of your length, but still having to hit those really good shots,” she said. “That’s what I love about major championships. You have to hit really good shots in to give yourself a look at birdie or eagle.”

And she’s sticking to her newfound game plan, with just one bogey in 36 holes (the par-4 6th in Round 2). One of the prime examples of that mindset came on the par-5 8th. Hitting her drive into the rough, Korda knew reaching the green was out of the question, so she laid up and made par. 

If Korda doesn’t drop shots over the weekend, those behind her on the leaderboard know it’ll be tough to track her down. 

“I mean, I think there will be a fine line between aggressive and patience,” said Ryann O’Toole, who sits T2, seven back of Korda. “See if [Korda] faults, see if—unless she keeps this up. If she’s going to run with it, she's going to run with it, and I can’t stop that. The only thing I can do is try to post a really good score, try to minimize the mistakes.”

Korda’s aware of the target on her back, jumping out to such a big advantage. But she hopes her laissez-faire attitude propels her to her third career major title. 

“Sometimes, I think you get stuck up in wanting to play well and wanting to be at the top always, that you have this sort of like tension of not wanting to make a mistake,” she said. “I think there is a power in knowing it’s okay to make a mistake and just bounce back.”

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