HOUSTON – Nelly Korda it’s been free and easy all week. With all aspects of her game, the world number 2 was split Memorial Park en route to a six-shot lead at the mark of the first major 36 holes of the year.
Korda’s lead grew to eight early Saturday, and it looked like a long shot at the Chevron championship was in store. But as is often the case in major championships, the heat rises — literally in Texas — and the pressure mounts as the gravity of the moment comes into focus. Korda made a clumsy bogey on the par-5 eighth and then missed short putts on 13 and 14 — one for birdie and one for par — that left her stewing as she marched to the 15th tee.
The World No. 2 placed her striped tee straight over the flag and smiled, but her longtime caddy, Jason McDede, was already in Korda’s ear as they walked to the green.
“He was just telling me to stay in it,” Korda said after her round. “I still have a lot of golf left to play.”
Repeat changed its mindset after a winless 2025. Her focus has been to stay positive and believe that no matter where she finds herself, her game will win the day. This is much easier to do early in the week when your lead is growing and your game feels unstoppable. But when the big pressure of the championship really hits the weekend, your lead is dwindling and your shot is failing you, it takes mental strength. Korda said she felt her focus waver as she mishit key shots on the back nine and had to recalibrate so it wouldn’t get into other parts of her game. Her lead had dwindled from eight to six to five, and the shots that had been ticketed to the center of the cup all week were diving left and right as they approached the cup.
“I’m learning so much about myself,” Korda said, noting that she just wanted to keep giving herself good looks even if they didn’t pan out. “I was still trying my best, and at the end of the day, that’s all I can control. I want to do my best and execute as well as I can. I can’t be disappointed with anything other than that.”
Nelly Korda understands what Sunday means. For all her world-class talent, Korda only has two major titles to her name. It’s an amazing number for someone who has been far and away the best player in women’s golf for the past few years. Korda won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2021 and added the Chevron in 2024. But her last significant memories, when she’s actually been competing, have left her scarred. She stumbled in the final round of the 2024 AIG Open Women and lost to Lydia Ko, and Maja Stark was unable to run at the US Women’s Open last year.
She is still waiting for number 3.
“That’s why we do it, isn’t it, to be in contention on Sunday for the grand championship?” Korda said Saturday after shooting a third-round 2-under 70.
The gravity of Sunday is clear for Nelly Korda. She spent 41 holes shredding this course while building a massive lead. This leaves him with only two possible outcomes.
Door no. 1 sees Nelly Korda put down the pedal and run across the finish line, announcing that, after a disappointing seasonshe is back as the ultimate assassin and the undisputed best player in the world. That would move him back to the no. 1 in the world and would start a spectacular train leading to the US Women’s Open at Riviera, the first that Korda holds above all. Door no. 2 has thwarted Nelly Korda on Sunday, seeing a massive lead evaporate in what would have been a crushing collapse.
“I’m just going to focus on myself, kind of work on my process, really get down to it, make sure I have tunnel vision and don’t really focus on the outside noise,” Korda said of how he’ll approach a massive Sunday.
The correlations between Korda’s Chevron week and Rory McIlroy’s Masters week have been obvious. Both fan favorites and tournament giants tied the tournament record by six strokes over 36 holes. McIlroy I watched it disappear from the 13th hole that Saturday at Augusta National. Then, he took to the range and hit balls, trying to fix what was holding back his swing. Korda said she didn’t see any of McIlroy’s Masters and how he let everyone else get back into it before he triumphed on Sunday. While her lead wasn’t shattered on Saturday like McIlroy’s, Korda kept her media session short on Saturday and went to do the same as the two-time Masters champion. She immediately took to the practice putting green and dropped three balls with McDede watching every shot. She moved around the cup, alternating from five feet to eight feet to 10 and longer. Every time she hit a layup, she would look back at McDede, who was crouched watching her putt and make contact, for feedback. A brief discussion about her movement ensued as several long range shots came up short. Korda then spun a few more into the center and called it a day.
“At the end of the day, it’s a clean test,” Korda said of Sunday. “I’m starting the day with zero.”
But on major championship Sundays, zero is miles from the goal – from elation or despair.
Nelly Korda has dominated this week in Houston. On Sunday, she will either become a three-time major champion or walk away with major championship trauma that won’t be easy to wash away.
All or destruction.
