In the first round, Nelly Korda teed off just as Yoon Yi-na was finishing her morning round. In the second round, the order reversed: Korda had nearly completed her round when Yoon began hers.
The leading figure of the Chevron Championship, the first major on this season's LPGA Tour, is unquestionably world No. 2 Korda. In the second round held Thursday (Korea time) at Memorial Park Golf Course (par 72) in Houston, Texas, Korda carded a 7-under 65 to reach 14-under 130, racing into a solo lead. She sits six strokes ahead of Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand, who is alone in second at 8-under 136, as she charges toward victory.
When Yoon finished her round with four strokes shaved off, there was brief speculation that she might face Korda head-to-head in the final group of the third round. At that point, Tavatanakit, with two holes to play, was tied for second with Yoon. Had the standings held, Yoon — with the most strokes gained and a stronger back-nine performance among those tied for second — could have been paired with Korda. But Tavatanakit added a birdie on one of her remaining two holes, and the scenario did not materialize.
Yoon's recent form has been strong enough that a direct match against Korda would not see her outmatched. On the day, Yoon steadily trimmed her score, weathering crises and seizing opportunities.
She opened with a 2-meter birdie on the par-5 first hole, but the early holes were a struggle. On the par-3 second, where she had missed a short par putt of about a meter for bogey the previous day, she made another bogey. She missed the green left, just as the day before, and failed to convert a 2-meter par putt. She then missed birdie chances from 4 meters on the par-5 third, 3 meters on the par-4 fourth, and 1 meter on the par-4 fifth. Pars continued through the par-4 sixth.
The breakthrough came in the form of a decisive shot — and on the par-3 seventh, the very hole where her first-round tee shot had found a penalty area and led to a double bogey. She stuck her tee shot to 1.5 meters and sank the putt. It was a "revenge birdie" that made up for the previous day's disappointment. She added another birdie on the par-5 eighth, sticking her third shot to 2 meters.
The momentum briefly stalled on the par-3 ninth, where she had birdied the day before. With the wind unpredictable, she hooked her tee shot sharply left and made bogey.
But that was the last stroke she would lose. She made up for the ninth-hole mistake with a 1.2-meter birdie on the par-4 10th, cruised through three pars, and added another 1.2-meter birdie on the par-5 14th.
In fact, the day's highlight was a par save on the par-3 15th. With the pin set on the far left edge of the green, Yoon played too aggressively and found trouble. Her ball rolled down the slope to the left of the green, leaving her a difficult situation that called for a high-trajectory lob shot. Her playing partner Yan Jing of the United States attempted a shot from a similar spot, only to see the ball roll back down, resulting in a double bogey. To avoid the same fate, Yoon hit slightly harder and was left with a par putt of more than 5 meters — but she drained it.
After pars on the par-5 16th and par-4 17th, Yoon stuck her second shot to within a meter on the par-4 18th — the hole that had played the toughest the previous day — and sank the birdie.
Finishing tied for third at 7-under 137, Yoon said, "Major championship courses are more demanding than regular events, so staying calm is important," while also candidly adding, "I'd really like to play in the same group as Korda and learn a lot from her."
National team player Yang Yun-seo trimmed one stroke on the day. Although she slipped slightly from tied for eighth to tied for 11th at 4-under 140, she continued her "amateur surge."
Hwang Yu-min, who shot a 3-under 69, reached the turn tied for 16th at 3-under 141 alongside Lee So-mi and Lim Jin-hee. Yoo Hae-ran was tied for 22nd at 2-under 142, while world No. 3 Kim Hyo-joo and Choi Hye-jin sat tied for 36th at even-par 144 heading into the third round.
While world No. 2 Korda is running away with the first major of the season, world No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand missed the cut by a single stroke. Ko Jin-young, Kim A-lim, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, and Mimi Rhodes of England — who is competing with Hwang for Rookie of the Year — all missed the cut tied with Thitikul at 3-over 147 for tied 73rd.
