Nelly Korda Makes It Five in a Row With LPGA Major Title at the Chevron

The world No. 1 won her second career major and joins Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam as winners of five straight events.
Apr 21, 2024; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Nelly Korda (USA) drives off the eighth tee during the
Apr 21, 2024; The Woodlands, Texas, USA; Nelly Korda (USA) drives off the eighth tee during the / Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports

Make it five in a row for Nelly Korda. With a major exclamation point.

The world No. 1 won the Chevron Championship with a final-round 69 at the Club at Carlton Woods, securing the first LPGA major of the year by two shots and extending the longest win streak in the sport.

Korda, 25, has won five consecutive starts on the LPGA Tour, a feat not achieved since Annika Sorenstam did it in 2004-05 and Nancy Lopez in 1978. And like Sorenstam, Korda bagged a major for win No. 5.

“I can finally breathe now,” she said, before taking the winner's traditional leap into a greenside pond. “That was like the longest back nine of my entire life.”

Korda plays fast but this major championship Sunday was far from it, and a four-shot lead at the start of the back nine eventually was whittled to one after Maja Stark, playing one group ahead, nearly eagled the par-5 18th but birdied to get to 11 under.

The winning margin was two after Korda poured in a birdie of her own.

“There’s a key in the simplicity I play … sometimes golf can get overcomplicated,” said Korda, whose lucky number is 13 and the Chevron title was her 13th on the LPGA Tour.

It’s been pretty simple for her since late January, when she won the LPGA Drive On Championship in Florida. Then, after sitting out the Tour’s three-event Asian swing, Korda won three times in three consecutive weeks in California, Arizona and Nevada, finally getting a week off last week. She said she didn’t leave her house for the first two days. 

But once back at work, she remained focused with the chance to add a second major to her resume. Korda won the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship and her best major finish since had been a third at last year's Chevron.

More rest will have to wait. She’s in the field for next week’s JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club, where a year ago she finished T6 and two shots out of a playoff. Now she’ll be looking for a record sixth straight win.


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John Schwarb
JOHN SCHWARB

John Schwarb is a senior editor for Sports Illustrated covering golf. Prior to joining SI in March 2022, he worked for ESPN.com, PGATour.com, Tampa Bay Times and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is the author of The Little 500: The Story of the World's Greatest College Weekend. A member of the Golf Writers Association of America, Schwarb has a bachelor's in journalism from Indiana University.