Korda set to defend in major no. 1 — Lindblad wins first LPGA title
The IX: Golf Thursday with Marin Dremock, April 24, 2025
It’s finally time for major number one on the LPGA Tour: The Chevron Championship.
Continue reading with a subscription to The IX
Get unlimited access to our exclusive coverage of a varitety of women’s sports, including our premium newsletter by subscribing today!
Already a member?
Login
Welcome back to Golf Thursday!
Order ‘Becoming Caitlin Clark’ and save 30%
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The Next and The IX, just announced his latest book. It captures both the historic nature of Caitlin Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible. Interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and so many others were vital to the process.
If you enjoy his coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX, you will love “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar.” Click the link below to preorder and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout.
This week on tour, we’re finally stepping into the realm of major championships, the tournaments that always provide the most tension and excitement of the season. The Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas is up first, and Nelly Korda is set to defend her title.
It’s safe to say that Korda has a lot on her shoulders stepping onto the grounds at Carlton Woods. She is still sitting at the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and is surely reminiscing on her two-shot win at last year’s championship. Will it cloud her concentration this year?
“I just have to kind of put that aside, what I did last year, and know that the golf course could be playing different. It’s a different field,” Korda said in a pre-tournament press conference on Tuesday, April 22. “So going out there and preparing, the best that I possibly can, control what I can control, give it my all is all that I can really do.”
Korda comes into the Chevron without a win in the 2025 season, which is definitely a different mindset than she had last year. In 2024, Korda already had four wins under her belt coming into the first major championship of the season. This year, her best finish is second place at the season opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. Since then, Korda has struggled, recording only one top-10 finish in her next three starts and failing to advance from group play in the T-Mobile Match Play.
Let’s just say that it’s going to take a lot of guts and a lot of grit for her to defend this week and tick off another major championship win. Her game hasn’t been the sharpest, but she proves week by week that she’s still a highlight reel golfer.
“Yeah, I think I saw some improvements in my game last week with my irons. Definitely felt a little bit more comfortable with that,” Korda said. “Then just need my putter to click a little bit more to make those putts. I think that’s where it’s been lacking, is the putts that I was making last year. I’m just not making as many this year.”
2023 champion and Rolex Rankings No. 4 Lilia Vu also has a case to plead for a victory this week. Vu had to withdraw from the tournament last year due to an injury and wasn’t able to defend.
“I mean, I was on the range and I couldn’t hit the ball past 40 yards. If I’m not doing that, how would I ever finish a round, let alone tee off,” Vu said about 2024. “When you love your job and you love competing and you’re not able to do that and your body is letting you down, it’s kind of hard.”
Similar to Korda, Vu will look to improve on a shaky start to the 2025 season. After a tough two weeks during the first Asia swing, Vu fell in a playoff to Hyo Joo Kim at the Ford Championship. She then missed the cut last week at the JM Eagle LA Championship. Vu is definitely feeling an extra surge of energy and motivation to do well this week.
There are also 12 LPGA rookies and eight amateurs in the field this week. For one rookie (and 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship winner) Ingrid Lindblad, it’s her first Chevron Championship start.
“Oh, I mean, it’s exciting coming out for a major after a win, so obviously you want to keep riding that wave of playing well,” Lindblad said. “But new week, new golf course. But I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m excited to get out there.”
Lindblad is definitely a player that can be in contention every week. Being a star at LSU and then turning pro, pressure and expectations have been placed on her from the moment she stepped onto the golf scene. But Lindblad is an expert at managing it, making her all the more dangerous.
“Obviously I can’t win a tournament on the first tee box. If you’re hitting balls on the driving range you got to be on the driving range, and when you’re playing hole 1 you got to be on hole 1,” Lindblad said. “You can’t think of what’s going to happen on Sunday or if you’re going to make the cut or win. You can’t think that way.”
The Next, a 24/7/365 women’s basketball newsroom
The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
Readers of The IX now save 50% on their subscription to The Next.
The 25-year-old Swede has had some success at major championships in the past. In 2022, she shot a stunning 65 in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles. She went on to finish in a tie for 11th and as the top amateur in the tournament, beating out names like Rose Zhang and Bailey Shoemaker. This year, she’ll need to continue to show that perseverance and competitiveness, all with the weight of being a professional.
One amateur in the field this week is the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion, Carla Bernat Escuder. The Chevron is the first start on the LPGA Tour and first major championship for the Kansas State senior.
“I mean, I think the ball striking of the pros is just different. I think the preparation and how focused they are, it’s something that has really shocked me,” Bernat Escuder said of the shift from amateur to professional preparation. “Like when they’re on the golf course, this is not amateur golf. They are focused on what they want to do, what they want to get done.”
Asterisk Talley, 2025 ANWA runner-up; Lottie Woad, 2024 ANWA champion; and Jeneath Wong, 2025 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific champion, are also in the field as amateur exemptions.
You will not want to miss this one. Catch coverage of the LPGA Tour’s 2025 Chevron Championship on Golf Channel and NBC from April 24–27.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
ESPN+ presents first and second round featured groups coverage of The Chevron Championship
Look back at the 10 previous Rolex ANNIKA Major Award honorees
Field breakdown: 2025 Chevron Championship
LPGA Foundation announces 2025 Chevron Scholarship recipients
Christine Wang earns sponsor exemption to compete in Black Desert Championship
How to watch the 2025 Chevron Championship
Playing field is set for The Chevron Championship
Five things to know about the 2025 Chevron Championship
ESPN+ to stream featured groups coverage at The Chevron Championship
Hannah Green finishes T9, raises over 10K in title defense in LA
Ingrid Lindblad wins JM Eagle LA Championship in 3rd start as LPGA Tour member
Chevron Champions Dinner menu revealed
On this date: Angela Stanford tees it up in 98th consecutive major
Madelene Sagstrom posts first ace of the 2025 season at JM Eagle LA Championship
LPGA professionals have lasting legacy of growing golf
The IX Newsletter: Six different women’s sports in your inbox every week!
Subscribe now and join us, just $6 a month or $60 a year. It’s the women’s sports media network we all wished for, and now it’s here!
LET News
Former World No. 1 Sung Hyun Park to star at Aramco Korea Championship
Leading the field — Sára Kousková becomes sustainable golf champion
Tamburlini primed for “special week” at Chevron Championship
Caroline Headwall and Mel Reid announced as 2026 European Solheim Cup team vice captains Alexander reaches career-best world ranking after awesome April
Bennett looking forward to rest of LET season after best-ever result
Epson Tour News
Three things to know about the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa
Field breakdown: 2025 IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa
Amateur/NCAA News
One in a million: The Lucia Romero story
2025 NCAA women’s golf championship: Selection show info, qualifiers, schedule
2025 NCAA DI women’s college golf conference championship dates and results
Oregon Ducks win 2025 Big Ten Women’s Golf Championship
Florida State wins first-ever ACC Women’s Golf Championship
South Carolina wins SEC Women’s Golf Championship
Arizona prevails in playoff to win Big 12 Women’s Golf Championship
Five at The IX: Ingrid Lindblad emerges victorious at the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship for her first victory on the LPGA Tour
On Sunday, April 20, 25-year-old Ingrid Lindblad fought for a win at the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship at El Caballero Country Club. The Swede has already had a sensational amateur career, spending a staggering 53 weeks as world No. 1, but her professional career is off to a good start as well. The LSU alumna shot a 68 (-4) in the final round and avoided a playoff with Akie Iwai, who made bogey on the last hole to drop a shot back. This is the first win in three starts as an LPGA Tour member. Here’s what Lindblad had to say in her post-win press conference.
THE MODERATOR: All right, welcome everyone here to the media center. I am very pleased to be joined by 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro champion, Ingrid Lindblad. Congratulations on the win.
Just talk about some of the emotions of the day. You are a rookie on Tour and just are now a Rolex first-time winner. Tell me all you’re feeling right now.
INGRID LINDBLAD: I mean, I feel like I was just out there trying to take one hole at a time. Looked at the leaderboard a couple times and saw I was three in front at some point. I was just telling myself, just keep hitting good golf shots.
Felt like I could have made a couple more birdies on the back nine but nothing really wanted to drop. I feel like I was just trying to like be where you can’t see if you’re 5-under par or 5-over par. Just staying in the moment and — I mean, show no emotion, but sometimes it’s hard to show no emotion.
Q. As you get done, I’m assuming you’re aware where you stand. What was your thought process? Did you think you were going to a playoff?
INGRID LINDBLAD: When I came in, I came into the scoring and I was like I just is need to take a breather; so much going on.
But I kind of — and then I really had to use the bathroom when I was done. If we’re going to go to a playoff I was like, okay.
So went into the locker room. I think is her name is Sue, the rules official. She came with me. She’s like, do you want to go out there? Because I didn’t really know what was going on on 18.
So she was like, okay, she has a 10-foot putt for par. I said, as in Match Play, you expect your opponent to make the chip, make the putt. You can’t be like oh, she’s going to miss it and I’m going to win the hole.
It was a little bit the same there. She’s going to make it and we’re going to go to a playoff. I think that’s a better approach to she’s going to miss it and I’m going to win. Then when you get in a playoff you get disappointed.
And then I was like oh, we won. So obviously I was expecting her to make the putt because that’s what I have to do. She played really well this week, too. I played with her the first two days and she played really well. I was expecting her to make it.
Q. First hole you hit three really good shots; make the putt for birdie. Seems like from then on you maintained your emotions pretty well. As you went to the back nine and you had the three-shot lead and like you said you’re trying to hit good golf shots, was there any level of frustration when some of the putts weren’t dropping on the back nine?
INGRID LINDBLAD: I mean, like on 12, that putt was about 30 feet, so wasn’t like I was expecting to make it. I was just — I saw when Ina hit her putt how quick it was. I was like, we don’t have to go for anything. Just leave it to a tap-in and get out of there.
Maybe a little bit disappointed I didn’t roll in any putts on 13, 14, 16.
Q. Your thoughts about obviously we talked about Annika won here 21 years ago; now you win; get the champagne celebration from Madelene. Everything is coming up Swedes. Thoughts on the Swedish golf connections out here right now?
INGRID LINDBLAD: I think it’s great. I think it’s even better that we’re up there and winning. Turns out — shows that we’ve done something right in junior golf, and they’re kind of following us through college golf and following us to pro golf as well, coaches and support staff and everything.
So I’m just very happy to have this huge golf scene behind me. They’re coming — we have two people coming to Utah, so try to come out every now and then and help us in the ways they can.
I’m just happy to have couple fellow Swedes out here who play good golf, too.
Q. What do you think about the rookie class here? Second rookie to already have won this year. Obviously Akie has finished second twice. Just overall thoughts on the rookies out here on Tour this year.
INGRID LINDBLAD: I think it’s pretty good competition. It was really good competition out on Epson Tour last year, too. Just shows that the rookies, I mean, we’re not here to mess around with, you know.
We come out here for a reason, and I think it shows that we’re ready to be out here.
| Mondays: Soccer |
| By: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer |
| Tuesdays: Tennis |
| By: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer |
| Wednesdays: Basketball |
| By: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The Next |
| Thursdays: Golf |
| By: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX |
| Fridays: Hockey |
| By: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden |
| Saturdays: Gymnastics |
| By: Lela Moore, @runlelarun, Freelance Writer |
