This week, while Rory McIlroy makes his return to competitive golf for the first time since achieving a career Grand Slam at the Masters, the primary focus in professional golf shifts to the LPGA Tour. The world`s top women golfers are set to compete in the Chevron Championship, marking the season`s inaugural major.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda will be defending her title at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas. In the previous year, Korda achieved a remarkable milestone by winning five consecutive events, joining Nancy Lopez and Annika Sörenstam as the only players in LPGA history to do so. However, Korda is still searching for her first victory of the current season.
Following his playoff triumph over Justin Rose at Augusta National, McIlroy is scheduled to compete in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. This event is unique on the PGA Tour schedule as it features a team format.
McIlroy and his playing partner, Shane Lowry, will attempt to become the first pair to successfully defend their Zurich Classic title since the team concept was introduced in 2017.
The LIV Golf League is also active this week, with its tournament taking place at Club De Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City, beginning on Friday.
Here is a look at some notable storylines in the world of golf this week:
Korda`s Major Defense
Upon arriving at the Chevron Championship last year, Nelly Korda had already secured four wins that season. She added a fifth with a two-stroke victory over Maja Stark, claiming her second major championship. Korda went on to win seven times throughout 2024, including the Mizuho Americas Open and The Annika.
In the current season, Korda is seeking her first win in her sixth start. Her best finishes so far include a runner-up spot at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in early February and a tie for seventh 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 play after finishing tied for 16th last week. She indicated she is now waiting for her putting performance to improve to match her previous form.
“I think that`s where it`s been lacking, is the putts that I was making last year,” Korda explained. “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.”
Earlier this month, Korda mentioned that she relaxes by building Lego sets. Last week, she completed a McLaren Formula 1 set given to her by a fan, along with a “Lion King” Simba model.
“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.”
Happy to Be There
Lilia Vu, the winner of the 2023 Chevron Championship, revealed she was unsure if she would ever play golf again after withdrawing from last year`s first major due to a back injury. On Tuesday, Vu shared that she couldn`t hit a ball more than 40 yards on the range before she had to withdraw 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 the time reading and listening to audio books while recovering. She also missed the U.S. Women`s Open but made a strong return later, tying for second at both the Women`s PGA Championship and the Women`s British Open.
“Just tried my best to become a better person,” Vu stated. “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.”
Zhang on the Mend
Former two-time NCAA Division I national champion Rose Zhang will miss her second consecutive start as she recovers from a neck injury. The injury occurred during her first-round match at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas on April 3, forcing her to withdraw from her second-round match.
In a post on her Instagram account on April 6, Zhang 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.”
As Zhang is completing her studies at Stanford, she has participated in only three LPGA events this year. Her results include a tie for 10th in the Tournament of Champions and missing the cut at the Ford Championship in late March.
Her expected return date to competition remains uncertain.
Lindblad`s Fast Success
After securing her first LPGA victory in just her third start as a rookie at last week`s JM Eagle LA Championship, former LSU standout Ingrid Lindblad received unexpected direct messages on Instagram.
One message came from Annika Sörenstam, a 10-time major champion, and another from Suzann Pettersen, the recent captain of the European Solheim Cup team.
“Couple of bigger names, in my opinion, that kind of congratulated me,” Lindblad said. “Pretty cool. Your name is out there. You`re not a total stranger.”
It might not be long before Lindblad becomes a well-known figure in women`s professional golf. She was the runner-up at the 2022 Augusta National Women`s Amateur and held the No. 1 position in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for 53 weeks.
At the 2022 U.S. Women`s Open, she set a record for the lowest score by an amateur in the event`s history with a first-round 65. She finished tied for 11th. Lindblad also tied for 26th at the Amundi Evian Championship last year.
Lindblad, who hails from Sweden, earned her LPGA Tour card by needing only nine starts on the Epson Tour last year.
Beyond congratulatory messages from golf legends, Lindblad experienced another pleasant surprise since her win on Sunday.
“I`m supposed to pay for one bag when I fly Delta,” Lindblad recounted. “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 Aids Thomas` Putting
Following his victory at last week`s RBC Heritage, his first PGA Tour win in nearly three years, Justin Thomas offered reporters an unexpected explanation for his significant improvement in putting this season.
He credited two-time major champion Xander Schauffele for assisting him in turning around his putting performance. Late last year, Thomas asked Schauffele to play a practice round together near their residences in Jupiter, Florida.
“You guys obviously know Xander, but he doesn`t leave any box unchecked,” Thomas stated. “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.”
Through their conversation, Thomas realized he lacked a consistent “home base” or routine when practicing his putting.
Just a year ago, Thomas ranked 174th on the tour in strokes gained: putting (minus-.478). This season, he has climbed to 24th in that statistic (.459) and ranked seventh in the field 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` Caddie Situation
In securing his first tour win since the 2022 PGA Championship, Justin Thomas had Joe Greiner, former caddie for Max Homa, on his bag. However, Thomas confirmed on Monday that his regular caddie, Matt “Rev” Minister, will return once he recovers from a back injury.
“We all knew that going in — it was very much a fill-in situation,” Thomas explained. “We were so lucky that Joe was available until Rev got healthy.”
