English amateur Lottie Woad impressed again in the second round of the Chevron Championship in Texas as Nelly Korda continued her quest for a fifth consecutive victory and the second major tournament of her career.
Woad – the winner of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this month — followed a one-under opening round with a three-under Friday to sit at four under for the tournament, just three shots behind clubhouse leader Korda.
The 20-year-old easily reached the milestone and will have even loftier goals for the weekend as the field looks to stop Korda from matching LPGA Tour history.
Korda will match Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2005) if she earns her fifth straight tournament victory and is well placed at Carlton Woods after a three-under 69 took her to seven under.
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Woad made a decisive putt to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur earlier this month, becoming the first European to do so.
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Local Woad Golf Club celebrated their Augusta triumph in style!
“It’s definitely been a whirlwind,” Woad said. “I didn’t really get a chance to let Augusta soak in, I came here right away.
“I obviously took a lot of confidence from Augusta, so I’m just trying to use that for this week.
“My goal was to do well on the weekend. I’m in a good position now, so I’m just going to keep trying to improve. I’m just going to use the experience I had playing in front of people on the big stages.
“I’m going to see how close I can get and keep trying to compete. I just want to keep playing and if I can be in the lead on Sunday that would be pretty cool.”
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Woad says the last few weeks have been crazy after winning the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and playing in her first LPGA Tour event.
Korda bounces back from shocking start to top of the rankings
World number 1 Korda started her round terribly with a double bogey, but then birdied two of her next three holes before following a bogey at seven with back-to-back wins at eight and nine.
Korda then made two more birdies on her back nine to move to the top of the leaderboard, as she looks to add the Chevron title to her triumph at the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship.
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The best of Nelly Korda’s second round in Texas
She then said: “It is very important not to get too depressed during a major tournament. You need a lot of patience to win.
“The person who makes the fewest mistakes or recovers the most from their mistakes usually ends up winning.”
On a well-filled ranking – although missing reigning champion and world number 2 Lilia Via after she withdrew due to a back injury before the first round – England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff is in the mix at four under after a two-under 70 on Friday, with compatriot Georgia Hall at one under.
Hall shot a 1-over 73 that day during an eventful round as she mixed five birdies with four bogeys and a double bogey.
Charley Hull, at one for the tournament, is also ready to compete in the weekend after improving her score by one stroke from a one-under 71 on Friday, culminating in an eagle at the par-five eighth.
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Saturday April 20 at 7 p.m.
Watch the Chevron Championship live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW this weekend. Third round coverage begins at 7 p.m. Saturday Aerial Sports Mix.
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