Leona Maguire faces an uphill battle to make the cut at the opening major championship of the season after she fell to an opening 76 at The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park.
Despite making a bright start to her round, a back nine of 40 proved costly and Maguire lies outside the top-100 on four-over-par with the halfway cut set to fall on plus one today.
The Cavan native has a career best finish of 18th here and it briefly looked like she might fancy something better after she birdied the third and fourth holes to burst into early contention.
Even two bogeys in three holes on the 5th and 7th did little to halt her as she bounced back into red figures with a birdie at the 10th. The wheels came tumbling off on her way home as she bogeyed five of her last seven holes.
At the top, it’s Nelly Korda who leads by two shots ahead of former champion Patty Tavatanakit and Somi Lee after a blistering seven-under 65.
Korda was steady on the front nine with two birdies on the 12th and 16th but she burst into life with three birdies in a row on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd while two birdies in her last three saw her reach the summit.
It was a superb putting performance from Korda who made some momentum saving pars early on on her way to her best start to a major championship in four years.
“Just day one out of four — a lot can happen,” Korda said after her best opening round in a major since a 64 in the 2022 Evian Championship. “So happy to be in this position and hoping to move forward.”
Equally important was keeping bogeys off her card — her first bogey-free round in a major since the second round of the 2024 Women’s British Open — especially on the front nine.
“Made a really long one on my first hole which could have started out the day with a bogey and I didn’t. I made a really solid putt,” she said. “Even on the second hole where I saved a 5-footer for par. Made some good saves for par.”
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