As Rory McIlroy makes his comeback after achieving the career Grand Slam at the Masters, the focus in professional golf shifts to the LPGA Tour this week. The sport`s top female players are set to compete in the Chevron Championship, marking the inaugural major of the season.
World number one Nelly Korda aims to defend her championship title at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. In the previous year, Korda became one of only three golfers in LPGA history, alongside Nancy Lopez and Annika Sörenstam, to secure victory in five straight tournaments. She is still seeking her first win of the current season.
Following his playoff triumph against Justin Rose at Augusta National, McIlroy is scheduled to participate in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which stands out as the sole team competition on the PGA Tour calendar.
McIlroy, partnering with Shane Lowry, will attempt to be the first duo to successfully defend their Zurich Classic title since the event adopted its team format in 2017.
Also teeing off this week is the LIV Golf League, holding its tournament at Club De Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, starting Friday.
Here`s a brief overview of key storylines in golf this week:
Nelly Korda`s Major Defense
When Korda arrived at the Chevron Championship a year ago, she had already claimed four victories that season and would add her fifth with a two-stroke win over Maja Stark to capture her second career major title. Korda went on to win seven times in 2024, including the Mizuho Americas Open in May and The Annika in November.
This season, Korda is searching for her initial victory in her sixth tournament start. She finished as the runner-up in the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in early February and tied for seventh place at the Founders Cup.
“I would say last year is last year,” Korda commented. “This is a brand new year. What I achieved last year, no one can take that from me. That`s always going to be such a great memory, but it`s a fresh week and fresh mindset.”
Korda feels more confident about her iron performance after tying for 16th at 14 under par in the recent JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California. She is currently waiting for her putting game to regain its top form.
“I think that`s where it`s been lacking, is the putts that I was making last year,” Korda stated. “I`m just not making as many this year, but that`s just golf. I`ve gone through waves like this before, and if I just continue working at it, hopefully it does click.”
Korda revealed earlier this month that she finds relaxation away from golf by assembling Lego sets. Last week, she finished building a McLaren Formula 1 set given to her by a fan, along with a model of Simba from `The Lion King.`
“Going to make my dad do LEGOs with me this week,” Korda said. “Maybe do some games. We both are really competitive. Something we always played together, Sequence. I think I am going to pick that up. Stuff like that gets my mind off it.”
Lilia Vu`s Recovery and Return
Lilia Vu, the winner of the 2023 Chevron Championship, wasn`t certain she would be able to play golf again after withdrawing from last year`s first major due to a back injury. Vu shared on Tuesday that she couldn`t even hit a golf ball 40 yards on the driving range before she pulled out before the opening round.
“I think last year I was so much in panic with would I ever play a golf round again, let alone a tournament round?” Vu reflected. “At that point, you think about different things. Not even defending that tournament; I can`t even play one hole, so that was kind of going through my mind. It was a good time to reevaluate everything.”
Vu described her extended break from competitive golf as the “hardest two months” of her life. She spent time reading and listening to audiobooks while recovering. She also missed the U.S. Women`s Open but returned to tie for second place at both the Women`s PGA Championship and the Women`s British Open.
“Just tried my best to become a better person,” Vu said. “That`s all I could improve at that point. Physically, I was trying my best with [physical therapy] and learning how to breathe correctly and fixing my posture, the way I sit.”
“Just a whole kind of life change I would say. I think everything happens for a reason, and I think that needed to happen so that I could have more body awareness.”
Rose Zhang Sidelined by Injury
Former two-time NCAA Division I national champion Rose Zhang will miss her second consecutive event as she recovers from a neck injury. She sustained the injury during her first-round match at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas on April 3 and was forced to withdraw from her second-round match.
In a post on Zhang`s Instagram account on April 6, she wrote: “Safe to say, things haven`t been too hot for me in the golf realm and I found myself struggling to compete in high spirits due to an injury. Just remember, this isn`t a sob story. While this period is unique and frustrating, I find great optimism in getting better and working hard to compete at the highest level.”
Zhang is completing her studies at Stanford, which has limited her appearances to just three LPGA events this year. She tied for 10th in the Tournament of Champions and did not make the cut at the Ford Championship in late March.
Her return date to competition remains uncertain.
Ingrid Lindblad`s Quick Success
After securing her first LPGA victory in only her third professional start as a rookie at last week`s JM Eagle LA Championship, former LSU standout Ingrid Lindblad received a couple of unexpected direct messages on Instagram.
One message came from Annika Sörenstam, a 10-time major champion, and the other was from Suzann Pettersen, the most recent captain of the European Solheim Cup team.
“Couple of bigger names, in my opinion, that kind of congratulated me,” Lindblad shared. “Pretty cool. Your name is out there. You`re not a total stranger.”
It may not be long before Lindblad is also a widely recognized name in women`s professional golf. She was the runner-up at the 2022 Augusta National Women`s Amateur and held the top spot in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 53 weeks.
In the 2022 U.S. Women`s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, she recorded a round of 6-under 65 on the first day, which was the lowest score ever by an amateur in the event. She finished tied for 11th at 1 under par. Lindblad also tied for 26th place at 5 under at last year`s Amundi Evian Championship.
Lindblad, who is from Sweden, needed just nine starts on the Epson Tour last year to earn her LPGA playing privileges.
The congratulatory messages from Sörenstam and Pettersen weren`t the only surprises she experienced since her win on Sunday.
“I`m supposed to pay for one bag when I fly Delta,” Lindblad mentioned. “They waived my baggage fee and I`m like, `Alright.` But I don`t know if that was me or they did something wrong.”
Schauffele`s Unlikely Putting Advice Helps Thomas
After claiming his first PGA Tour win in nearly three years at last week`s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Justin Thomas gave reporters an unexpected answer when asked about the significant improvement in his putting this season.
He credited two-time major champion Xander Schauffele with assisting him in turning his putting game around. Towards the end of last year, Thomas asked Schauffele to play a practice round with him near their residences in Jupiter, Florida.
“You guys obviously know Xander, but he doesn`t leave any box unchecked,” Thomas explained. “Like he said that day, he`s like, `If it has anything to do with you potentially improving in golf, I`ve probably done it or tried it.` So I just was talking to him about this process and how he reads greens and how he sees things and his practice and everything.”
What Thomas realized was that he lacked a consistent “home base” or routine when practicing his putting.
A year ago, Thomas was ranked 174th on tour in strokes gained: putting (minus-.478). This season, he has risen to 24th in that statistic (.459) and was seventh in the field for putting over 72 holes at Hilton Head Island.
“I think more than anything, it was just sort of he was searching and maybe trying too hard,” Schauffele commented. “He`s done so many good things in the past that it was sort of like maybe an eye-opening. Sort of like, `I used to do, three, four, five of the things we were talking about, and I stopped doing them because I was down this crazy rabbit hole of trying to get better.`”
“[I] felt like all the answers were right in front of him. JT is so good that he figured it out pretty quickly.”
Thomas Sticking with Regular Caddie
In securing his first win on tour since the 2022 PGA Championship, Thomas was assisted by Max Homa`s former caddie, Joe Greiner. However, Thomas stated on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Monday that his regular caddie, Matt `Rev` Minister, will resume caddying for him once he recovers from a back injury.
“We all knew that going in — it was very much a fill-in situation,” Thomas said. “We were so lucky that Joe was available until Rev got healthy.”
Benedict Kingsley