Irish interest hangs on Stephanie Meadow at the midpoint of the Chevron Championship as Leona Maguire crashes out at Texas’ Carlton Woods.
Having started the day inside the top 16 on a course that was playing firm and fast, Meadow went around with an offsetting two birdies and two bogeys to post -1 overall, six behind world number one Nelly Korda who is seeking to become the first woman since Annika Sorenstam to win five consecutive LPGA Tour events.
Korda recovered from a double-bogey six on the opening hole to cover the final 11 holes in four-under – the second day in succession that she’s overcome a poor start to finish strong – and she hit the front early, only to be overtaken late in the day by Thai Atthaya Thitikul.
Maguire’s hopes of a maiden major title faced an uphill task after she bogeyed two of her opening five holes and from there, she’d bogey four more, with two birdies far from enough to see her book a weekend tee time with the cut moving to +2.
“I actually didn’t feel bad at all,” said Korda after being asked about her double-bogey start. “Sometimes when you start to make mistakes you just don’t really feel confident or you don’t feel that great.
“But I just kind of, you know, told myself that it’s the first hole of the tournament today. Even though I may have made a double, I wanted to save a bogey. There is still so much golf to be played and there is still a good bit of gettable par-5s.
“So that’s usually what I think about, is just the opportunities that I have ahead.”
Despite standing on the cusp of history, Korda is literally taking it one day at time.
“I’m just at the halfway point right now,” she said. “The amount of golf that I’ve played, I still have that to go. There is still a lot of golf left and anything can happen.
“Just going to stick to my process and vibe with it is what my coach says.”
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul emerged as the primary challenger to Korda’s crown, shooting a highly impressive five-under 67 to take a one stroke lead into the third round alongside Korean Jin Hee Im. The duo lead by a single stroke from Korda with Korean Hae Ran Ryu one further adrift at -6 and Swedish Solheim Cup star Maja Stark among the quartet a shot further back at -5.
Leave a comment