Although Rory McIlroy has returned to the course for the first time since completing a career grand slam with the Masters, the professional golf spotlight will change to the LPGA Tour this week.
World No. 1 golfer Nelly Corda tries to defend his title at the Carlton Woods club in Woodlands, Texas. Last year, Corda joined Nancy Lopez and Anica Sorenstam as the only golfers in LPGA history, winning five consecutive starts. Korda hasn’t won this year yet.
After beating Justin Rose in a one-hole playoff at Augusta National, McIlroy will be active in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the only team event on the PGA Tour schedule.
McIlroy and his teammate Shane Lowry will be the first pair to defend their title in the Zurich Classic since the team concept was introduced in 2017.
The Liv Golf League is also active at Club De Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City on Friday.
Here’s what you should watch this week’s golf.
Corda’s main defense
When Korda arrived at the Chevron Championship a year ago, she had already won that season four times, adding her fifth to a two-stroke victory over Majästerk, winning her second career major championship. Korda won seven times in 2024, opening Mizuho Americas in May and adding Annika in November.
This season, Korda will look for her first victory in her sixth start. She finished runner-up in the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in early February and finished in seventh in the Founders Cup.
“I think last year was last year,” Korda said. “This is a brand new year. What I accomplished last year is that no one can take it from me. It will always be a really great memory, but it’s a fresh week and a fresh mindset.”
Korda feels good about iron play and is waiting for the putter to heat up again after finishing 16th at 14 under last week at the JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana, California.
“I think that’s where there’s a shortage. The putt I made last year,” Korda said. “I haven’t made that much this year, but it’s just golf. I’ve had a wave like this before.
Earlier this month, Korda revealed that he will take his heart out of golf by building a LEGO set. Last week she was completed with a set of McLaren Formulas given to her by fans, as well as the model for Simba from The Lion King.
“This week, I’m trying to get my dad to make Legos a Legos together,” Korda said. “Maybe play some games. We’re both really competitive. We’ve always played together, sequences. I think I’m going to pick it up. Something like that just takes my mind off my mind.”
I’m happy to be there
Liliav, the winner of the 2023 Chevron Championship, was unsure if he could play golf again from his first major last year with a back injury. Vu revealed Tuesday that he was unable to hit a 40-yard ball in driving range before retreating before the first round.
“Do you think last year I was able to play golf rounds again, let alone tournament rounds?” Vu said. “At that point you think about different things. You don’t even defend that tournament. I can’t even play one hole. It went through my heart.
Vu called the long break from competitive golf the “toughest two months” of her life. She read a lot and listened to audiobooks while she was recovering. She also finished second in the Women’s PGA Championship and the Women’s British Open after missing out on the Women’s Open in the US.
“I tried my best to be a better person,” Vu said. “That’s all I can improve at that point. Physically, I was doing my best with (physiotherapy) (physical therapy), learning how to breathe correctly, fix my posture, and how to sit.
“It’s just a life change I say. I think it happens for everything and I think it needs to happen so that I can have more body awareness.”
The tension
Former two-time NCAA Division I national champion Rose Chan misses her second straight start while recovering from a neck injury. She was injured in her first match at T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas on April 3rd.
In a post on Zhang’s Instagram account on April 6th, she wrote:
As Chan is completing his research at Stanford, he appeared at three LPGA events this year. She finished 10th in the Tournament of Champions and missed a cut at the Ford Championship in late March.
It is unclear when she will return to the competition.
Lindblad’s rapid success
After winning his first LPGA victory in his third start as a rookie at last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship, former LSU star Ingrid Lindblad received some amazing DMs on Instagram.
One came from 10-time major championship winner Sörenstam, and the other from Suzann Pettersen, the captain of the recent European Solheim Cup team.
“In my opinion, that kind of thing congratulated me,” Lindblad said. “It’s pretty cool. Your name is there. You’re not a complete stranger.”
It may not be long before Lindblad becomes a famous name in professional female golf. She was runner-up in Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2022 and was ranked number one in the world’s amateur golf rankings for 53 weeks.
At the 2022 US Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, she scored a 6-under 65 card in the first round and scored the lowest amateur score at the event. She came in 11th place with 1 under. Lindblad came in 26th at last year’s Amundi Evian Championship with a 5-under 5.
Swedish native Lindblad needed nine starts to win an LPGA card on last year’s Epson Tour.
Congratulations from Sörenstam and Pettersen were not the only surprise since winning on Sunday.
“When I fly the delta, I’m supposed to pay for one bag,” Lindblad said. “They abandoned my baggage fees and I’m like, ‘OK’. But I don’t know if it was me or if they did something wrong. ”
Schauffele gives an unlikely assist
After collecting his first PGA Tour victory in almost three years at last week’s RBC heritage at Harbortown Golf Link in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Justin Thomas provided the unlikely answer to reporters when asked about improved dramatic putting this season.
He believes two-time major champion Xander Schauffele has helped him turn things around. Near the end of last year, Thomas asked Schaufere to do a practice round with him near his home in Jupiter, Florida.
“You guys obviously know Xander, but he doesn’t leave an unchecked box,” Thomas said. “As he said that day, he said, ‘If there’s a chance that golf could be improved, I probably did it or tried it.” So I was telling him about this process and how he reads Green and how he sees things, his practice and everything. ”
What Thomas understood was that when it came to putting practice, he didn’t have a consistent “home base.”
A year ago, Thomas was ranked 174th in the tour at Stroke: Putting (minus-.478). This season he was 24th in that statistic (.459) and seventh in the field over 72 holes at Hilton Head Island.
“More than anything, I think it’s like he was looking for and maybe he was trying his best,” Schaufele said. “He’s done so many good things in the past, so it was eye-opening.
“(i) I felt like all the answers were in front of him. JT is so good, he figured it out pretty quickly.”
JT is sticking to his caddy
Thomas, who won his first Tour victory since the 2022 PGA Championship, was supported by former Max Homa caddy Joe Greiner. However, Thomas told SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio on Monday that his regular caddy, Minister Matt “Rev” will return to his bag as he recovers from a back injury.
“We all knew we were going to go in. It was a very filling situation,” Thomas said. “We were very fortunate so Joe was able to use it until Rev was healthy.”