Nelly Korda left this year's Chevron Championship with more than just another major title.

With her victory at the season's first major, Korda earned two points toward the LPGA Hall of Fame, moving within five points of automatic qualification.

Sunday's win marked Korda's third career major and second Chevron Championship title. It also brought her one step closer to reaching one of golf's biggest career milestones.

Korda won the Chevron Championship by five shots over Thailand's Patty Tavantanakit and China's Ruoning Yin, finishing at 18-under at Memorial Park Golf Course.

LPGA Hall of Fame qualification is based on a points system tied to major titles, tournament wins, player of the year honors, and other awards. Korda has now racked up 22 points — five shy of the 27 needed for induction.

Hall of Fame qualification usually doesn't come until later in a player's career, while only 35 women's golfers have earned LPGA Hall of Fame status. At just 27, Nelly Korda's name is already part of those conversations.

Korda had earned 10 points entering the 2024 LPGA season. That included her gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, eight LPGA victories, and her first major title at the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

She nearly doubled that number in 2024. Korda won seven titles, including her first Chevron Championship, while earning Rolex Player of the Year honors. She subsequently gained nine additional Hall of Fame points.

Now, she has added three more points in 2026: one for her win earlier this season at the Tournament of Champions and two more at Chevron.

Of course, being five points away doesn't guarantee a speedy induction. However, it does change the framing around Korda's budding season. And with the LPGA's major calendar just beginning, she has several more chances ahead to close that gap.

US golfer Nelly Korda is back at No. 1, winning the season’s first LPGA major at this weekend’s Chevron Championship by a comfortable five points — before landing the traditional celebratory cannonball into the 18th green pool.

The win marks Korda’s third career major — and her second Chevron Championship title in three years — after pulling off the tournament’s largest margin of victory in 18 years.

“Whatever happens — if I jump into that pond, if I have the trophy in my hands at the end of the day — then great. I gave it 100%,” she said ahead of Sunday’s final round. “If I don’t, then I have next week, I have the week after.”

Resuming her spot atop the CME Globe race,Korda is looking more like the player who blazed through a record-tying five straight LPGA wins in 2024 after struggling last year.

The 27-year-old has two wins and three runner-up finishes across five 2026 tour stops, racking up 2,100 points — and $2.5 million — so far this season.

What's Next for Chevron Championship Winner Nelly Korda

Korda will next hit the links at the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on April 30th. The LPGA event runs through May 3rd, with live coverage on The Golf Channel.

Nelly Korda is entering this week's 2026 Chevron Championship armed with strong form and a clear perspective on who helped shape her path to the top of the world golf rankings.

Ahead of the LPGA's first major of the season, Korda first pointed to her sister, Jessica Korda, as her earliest role model.

“My sister. Always," Korda said. “Yeah, I looked up to her from a really young age. I admired her. I wanted to be here since she joined the tour in 2011."

Korda also highlighted Tiger Woods as a defining influence on her generation.

“Obviously Tiger Woods, because my sister always says like, our generation — that’s kind of like Tiger’s kids," she said. “We watched him dominate the game at that time. I would say those two in golf, yeah.”

Her inspirations additionally extend beyond the green. Korda has previously praised tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, admiring Federer's composure and Nadal's competitive intensity — traits that mirror her own approach on the course.

Heading into the Chevron Championship, Korda also reflected on the realities of competing at the highest level and how quickly emotions can become public. She cited US tennis star Coco Gauff's 2026 Australian Open racket-smashing incident as an example of how closely athletes are watched.

"The thing that's different about athletes versus someone that's not is sometimes we're under a microscope, so you see everything," Korda said. “Coco Gauff, she was slamming her tennis racket. She thought it was in private, and you have video cameras there."

Korda continues to draw inspiration from athletes who came before her, while also navigating expectations that come with being one of the sport's top players.

How to Watch Nelly Korda at the 2026 Chevron Championship

As the Houston tournament gets underway, Korda enters the week with refreshed perspective and momentum, looking to secure her third LPGA major title.

The Chevron Championship runs through Sunday, April 26th, with live coverage on The Golf Channel.

The first major of the 2026 LPGA Tour has arrived, as the Chevron Championship tees off tomorrow in Houston armed with an elite field and a $9 million prize pool.

The 2025 tournament featured a five-player playoff — the largest in LPGA major history — with Japan's Mao Saigo emerging as the eventual winner.

World No. 14 Saigo returns to the Chevron Championship field to defend her title, alongside No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, No. 2 Nelly Korda, and No. 3 Hyo Joo Kim.

Beyond the $1.35 million winner’s purse, several elite golfers are also eyeing career milestones on one of the LPGA’s biggest stages.

In Gee Chun, Minjee Lee, and Anna Nordqvist are all staring down a Career Grand Slam, with three of five major titles under their belts.

Thitikul is hunting her first major win, after finishing second at last year’s Amundi Evian Championship.

“I think I focus on every tournament,” Thitikul told Golf Channel. “But I mean, obviously major is the one that every people want… Hopefully one day.”

How to Watch the 2026 Chevron Championship LPGA Tour Major

The Chevron Championship tees off Thursday at 8:15 AM ET, live on Golf Channel.

The JM Eagle LA Championship payout just reached a new level, with the LPGA announcing a purse increase to $4.75 million for the 2026 event.

The announcement came from chairman and CEO Walter Wang, who revealed the increase live on Golf Channel during Saturday’s third round of play.

That number now ranks among the largest purses on the LPGA Tour outside of major championships and the CME Group Tour Championship — another sign of the league's continued financial growth.

The increase came mid-tournament, with organizers adding an additional $1 million to the pool prize. That bump elevated the event from its original $3.75 million purse and continued a steady climb. The tournament doubled its purse from $1.5 million to $3 million in 2023, before rising to $3.75 million in 2024.

The winner's share reflects that jump. 2026 champion Hannah Green earned $712,500, up from $562,500 in previous years. The victory marked her third LA Championship title in four years — and her first victory at El Caballero Country Club.

However, that shift doesn't just impact No. 1, with each Top 10 finisher earning six-figure payouts. The move reinforces how much earning potential has grown across the LPGA.

The JM Eagle LA Championship tees off just before the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season. This makes it a key stop for players looking to build momentum — and now, a more lucrative one.

More broadly, the increase reflects a larger trend. The LPGA continues to push toward higher purses and expanded investment, with 2026 featuring record prize money across the schedule.

Lauren Coughlin rolled to victory Sunday at the Aramco Championship, shooting even-par 72 for a 7-under total to beat fellow US star Nelly Korda by five shots at Shadow Creek.

The win handed the 33-year-old Virginia native her third LPGA title and first in two years. Coughlin collected a $600,000 check from the tournament's $4 million prize pool, one of the Tour's biggest non-major paydays.

"I just know I played really, really great all week," Coughlin said, referencing last year's narrow Aramco Championship loss at the same venue. "Definitely left a sour taste in my mouth last year not getting the W… so makes it extra special."

Coughlin never trailed after opening with a share of the first-round lead. She pulled away decisively in the final round with a crucial sequence on the eighth hole. The Virginia alum drained a downhill 45-foot birdie putt while Korda three-putted, missing a two-footer for par.

That swing created a six-shot gap that Coughlin protected the rest of the way around the demanding 6,765-yard layout. Only four players finished under par for the week at Shadow Creek, where the challenging conditions drew comparisons to major championship difficulty.

Korda shot 75 in the final round and finished at 2-under alongside Ireland's Leona Maguire. The runner-up finish marked Korda's third consecutive second-place showing after opening her season with a Tournament of Champions win.

The consistent results were nearly enough to push Korda to No. 1 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.

"I'm just going to stick to what I'm doing," Korda said. "I'm really happy with the way that my game is trending."

The LPGA unveiled seven major broadcast enhancements for the 2026 season at last week's Founders Cup, marking the most significant television overhaul in tour history.

The biggest change brings live TV coverage to all LPGA event rounds for the first time ever, as the tour partnered with FM to dramatically expand broadcast hours and maximize audience reach.

Craig Kessler leads the transformation, joining the LPGA less than a year ago and before spending the past 12 months reinventing how the tour approaches its audience. Kessler's strategy mirrors the NFL's playbook of maximizing viewership — even at the expense of some TV revenue.

Camera equipment received a 50% increase for 2026. The LPGA also upgraded microphones and slow-motion camera capabilities to add more texture and detail to broadcasts.

Drone photography also got an upgrade, with a larger fleet capturing dynamic new images during competition, while shot tracer capabilities quadrupled through an expanded partnership with TrackMan. According to reports, the graphics department saw the largest increase between 2025 and 2026.

The LPGA is investing heavily in feature-driven programming designed to run during tournament broadcasts. The first feature profiled world No. 78 Rose Zhang, detailing the US golfer's educational journey at Stanford during Founders Weekend.

Player access has expanded via enhanced walk-and-talk efforts during the season, making the tour's most prominent faces and names more accessible to fans. Similar improvements are also popping up on the LPGA's social media accounts, with more coming during tournament broadcasts.

The changes mirror advancements in the men's game while positioning the LPGA to capture — and grow — a new generation of golf fans.

US golf star Nelly Korda is taking notes from Sunday's tight Founders Cup finish, as she heads into this week's Ford Championship in Phoenix. There, she'll reunite with sister Jessica for the pair's first regular-season meeting since 2023.

Korda finished second on Sunday after missing a three-foot par putt on the 17th hole that cost her a chance at victory. She fell to Hyo Joo Kim by one shot, with Kim finishing at 16-under 272.

"Obviously, something like 17 stings, so it is what it is," Korda said after the round. "I felt great all day. I just kind of made one stupid mistake, and that was 17."

The world No. 2 mounted a comeback Sunday, birdieing six of eight holes to tie for the lead before the costly 3-putt derailed her momentum. While Kim also bogeyed the final hole, Korda could only manage par on 18.

Despite the disappointing finish, Korda remains focused on the positives as she prepares to kick off the 2026 Ford Championship on Thursday.

The tournament marks a special reunion for the family, as Jessica Korda makes her first regular-season LPGA Tour appearance since 2023. The 33-year-old is working her way back to the LPGA Tour, after rehabbing a back injury and spending two years on maternity leave.

The Ford Championship features a stacked 144-player field competing for a $2.25 million purse. Kim arrives as the defending champion after winning the event in 2025. World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul and other top-ranked players are also expected to compete.

Nelly won the 2024 Ford Championship as part of her historic four-tournament winning streak.

How to Watch the Korda Sisters at the 2026 Ford Championship

The Korda sisters hit the links in Phoenix on Thursday, with live Ford Championship coverage starting at 7 PM ET on The Golf Channel.

The Asia Swing of the 2026 LPGA Tour is in full force, with the world's top-ranked golfers teeing off in the 18th edition of the annual HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore on Wednesday evening.

A full 21 of the Top 25 ranked golfers — including all but one of the world's Top 10 — will compete for the lion's share of the tournament's $3 million purse, with US star and world No. 2 Nelly Korda opting to sit out the Tour's Asia Swing for the second straight year.

Leading the charge is No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul, who joins the field in full form after winning the 2026 Honda LPGA Thailand on home soil on Sunday.

Thitikul will look to extend her winning ways against a field that boasts the tournament's last four victors, led by 2025 title-winner No. 6 Lydia Ko, as the 13-year LPGA veteran from New Zealand defends her trophy while continuing to adapt her game.

"To be honest, now that I've been on tour for so long, my body, I know, is not the same as 10 years ago," the 28-year-old said. "Sometimes I think the fatigue catches up to me more than where I am mentally. So I'm just trying to have a good balance of that."

How to watch the 2026 HSBC Women's World Championship

The 2026 HSBC Women's World Championship tees off at 7:20 PM ET on Wednesday.

Live coverage of each of the competition's four rounds will air daily at 9:30 PM ET through Saturday night on the Golf Channel.

US golf star Nelly Korda is back in the winner's circle, as the world No. 2 lifted her first LPGA trophy in more than 14 months at the weather-shortened 2026 HGV Tournament of Champions on Sunday.

Due to unexpected extreme cold and wind in Orlando, officials canceled the final round of the season-opening competition on Sunday, reducing the tournament to 54 holes and declaring Korda the champion based on her performance in the first three rounds.

"Thursday, Friday, were obviously completely different conditions to Saturday," Korda said. "The gusts, it's so exposed off the water there. You could surf on that water [on Saturday]."

Though many struggled in Saturday's conditions, Korda thrived, with the 27-year-old posting a field-leading 8-under score, boosting her to a 13-under tournament total to take a three-shot victory over South Korean runner-up No. 79 Amy Yang.

"I'm really proud of myself, my team, and all the work that we have put in when no one was watching," said Korda after the win.

Korda victory at Tournament of Champions snaps winless streak

Korda's Sunday victory snapped a winless streak that dates back to 2024, when the US standout took the golf world by storm with a dominant seven LPGA victories.

Despite banking nine Top 10 finishes last year — and making every cut in 2025 — the lack of hardware saw Korda ultimately cede her world No. 1 status to Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul last summer.

"I was so close. I played really well last year," she reflected on Sunday. "Golf is a game of centimeters. There were so many times last year where I wished I had an inch here or a centimeter there, where it would've changed the story completely."

The US star will next take six weeks off of competition as she once again skips the LPGA Tour's upcoming Asia swing, with Korda rejoining the field for the 2026 Founders Cup in California on March 19th.