HOUSTON — Nelly Korda plays with great control and even his misses are on target. He hit his final two holes Friday with good irons for another 7-under 65, giving him a formidable six-shot lead entering the weekend at the Chevron Championship.
Korda made just one bogey in 36 holes at Memorial Park, missing a 3-foot putt on the sixth hole after a small chip from under the green.
Otherwise, the two-time major champion was flawless in his 14-under 130 showing that he was playing a different course.
“I’m comfortable with my game,” said Korda. “I think where I’m most comfortable is in my sense of knowing that if I’m wrong I’ll clear it up. Sometimes I think you get so caught up in wanting to play well and wanting to be on top all the time that you have this tension of not wanting to make a mistake.
“I think there’s strength in knowing that it’s okay to make a mistake and just bounce back.”
Patty Tavatanakit had another bogey-free round with a 69. Also shooting behind were Ina Yoon (68), Ryan O’Toole (68) and Texas junior Farah O’Keefe (69), one of five freshmen to finish.
O’Keefe didn’t get her invitation to Chevron until after the Augusta National Women’s Amateur three weeks ago, and she’s taking full advantage of it. He played bogey-free in the second round, although he managed only one birdie on the par 5s.
But his taunt saved him, and the 20-year-old was not fazed by Korda’s run away with the big player.
“I compared it to Rory (McIlroy) at the Masters. You never know what can happen in golf,” O’Keefe said, referring to McIlroy losing six shots over the weekend at the Masters before going on to win his second straight.
“There’s a lot of random stuff you can do to get a bad break and it’s just like that,” she said. “Dad and I called it golf is a staring contest and the first thing you have to do is not blink. So I try not to blink. I just try to keep playing my game, and whatever ends at the end of the week that’s where it ends.”
However, Korda has hit the mark again. He won the season opener in the clinch event, and has played in the finals in all four of his championships.
He looks calm and relaxed, and there is energy.
Korda began his impressive closing with a 3-wood in the air from 221 yards that hit the perfect spot to land 15 feet beyond the hole, leaving an eagle putt that grazed the right edge of the cup.
He missed an 8-foot birdie chance on the par-5 16th, then finished with a flourish — a 7-iron that danced around the cup and landed 10 feet for birdie, then a 9-iron that spooked the hole and left him 4 feet for his 15th birdie in 36 holes.
It was the lowest 36-hole score of his majors career, and the third-best 36-hole score in an LPGA Major behind Jeongeun Lee6 (127), Brooke Henderson (128) and In Gee Chun (129), all at the Evian Championship, the French tournament the LPGA chose to designate as a major in 2013.
Of all the birdies, the other pars were an excellent example of Korda showing great patience and skill in taking deceptively strong pins on the most exposed greens.
One example was the par-3 15th, a left-hand pin with a slope that falls to the left. Lilia Vu jumped over the edge, her voice on the slope was too strong and she rolled 45 meters. Korda sought the green’s fat, leaving a 30-foot putt for the fairway.
“I hit it in the places I want, I miss in the places I want,” Korda said. “If there’s a pin stuck and it’s silly, I’d just go long and give myself the best chance for par. That’s the way we’ve been playing the last two days, not taking any silly risks.”
He also played away from the pin on the 13th, slipping right with another big slope. Korda watched as defending champion Mao Saigo rolled a 45-foot putt past the cup and down the green. He scaled his back to 2 feet for an easy estimate.
“We’ll go after those we can and where we have to play and miss the right spots, that’s what I do,” he said. “I think everything is going really well.”
His shot at 17th could be an indication of where Korda is headed as he tries to regain his place on the world stage.
She was waiting on the fairway when Jeeno Thitikul in the front group made a long birdie putt about 12 feet from the hole and missed the return for a bogey that led to a 73, meaning the No. 1 player in women’s golf missed the cut.
