5 compelling ways the Chevron Championship could end, ranked

In the event you thought main championship golf was executed for the month after the Masters, assume once more. The women are competing of their first main of the season — the Chevron Championship — in Texas this week.

Saturday was lower quick as thunderstorms rolled by way of the world and compelled officers to droop play for the day with Atthaya Thitikul sitting atop the leaderboard by way of 12 holes in her third spherical. Two-time main champ Brooke Henderson is a shot again after going eight beneath by way of 17 holes in Spherical 3, whereas Nelly Korda — searching for her fifth straight win — is correct alongside facet her.

With the leaders nonetheless needing to finish their again 9 on Sunday morning, there are eight gamers inside six pictures of the lead. So, who has the perfect shot to say the title in Texas? And which situation could be essentially the most compelling? We break all of it down beneath.

5. Lauren Coughlin shocks the world

Lauren Coughlin is your prototypical grinder. She’s performed on the LPGA Tour since 2018 and has improved yearly. She made simply 4 cuts throughout her rookie season, and netted solely $12,625 to lose her card. She received standing again in 2021 and has been on an upward trajectory ever since. Final yr she completed 76th on the factors checklist, and this season she’s as much as 69th. If she had been to win in Texas, she’d shoot up the standings.

That’ll be simpler mentioned than executed. Though Coughlin was the first-round in a single day chief, because the match has progressed, the cream has risen to the highest. She’s nonetheless T5 by way of 13 holes in Spherical 3, however the massive names have overtaken her on the board. She’ll be three behind Thitikul’s lead as she tees off Sunday morning and can want the day of her life to maintain tempo.

Nonetheless, although, the chance is there. Coughlin has clearly discovered one thing in her recreation that’s working this week and she or he’s proper within the thick of it heading into Sunday. Can she shock the world along with her first LPGA win on the largest stage?

4. Hae Ran Ryu formally arrives

Hae Ran Ryu performed her first season on the LPGA Tour final yr and promptly gained Rookie of the 12 months honors. She had six prime 10s, three prime 5s and notched a win on the NW Arkansas Wal Mart Championship, all whereas competing in America full time for the very first time.

For many who knew her from her days competing in Korea, this got here as no shock. On the Korean LPGA, she additionally gained Rookie of the 12 months honors (in 2020) and gained 5 occasions in three seasons. Now a full time LPGA-er, Ryu seems to be able to take the following step.

That subsequent step may come as quickly as Sunday. Ryu is T5 at eight beneath mid-way by way of her third spherical and can enter the match’s remaining day three off Thitikul’s lead. Can she get previous a few of the recreation’s greatest stars for her first main title? If she does, she’ll formally be the following massive girls’s golf star from South Korea.

3. Atthaya Thitikul takes the following step

Atthaya Thitikul is simply 21 years outdated, however she’s already received one heck of a CV. She gained Vare Trophy in 2023 (low scoring common) and the yr earlier than was Rookie of the 12 months. In 2021, she was Women European Tour Participant of the 12 months — on the age of 19(!). Thitikul’s expertise is simple; all that’s left is taking the leap into superstardom.

Sunday represents a major alternative to do exactly that. By way of three days of play, Thitikul’s identify sits alone atop the leaderboard in Texas. The one factor that stands in her means are two of the perfect gamers on the earth in Korda and Henderson. If Thitikul is to win on Sunday, she’ll be part of Ariya Jutanugarn as the one different golfer (male or feminine) from Thailand to win a significant championship.

Does Thitikul has what it takes to turn out to be girls’s golf’s subsequent massive star? We’re about to seek out out.

2. Brooke Henderson nabs main No. 3

Brooke Henderson has been a staple in girls’s golf since she burst onto the scene on the age of 17. Within the time since, she’s gained 13 LPGA Tour occasions, two majors and turn out to be Canada’s most completed skilled golfer.

Heading into Saturday on the Chevron, Henderson didn’t appear like she could be including to that legacy this week. By way of 36 holes, she was simply two beneath and properly off the tempo set by the leaders. However on Saturday, she flipped the swap.

Henderson took the sphere by storm in Spherical 3 as she made seven birdies and an eagle (in opposition to one bogey) to get to eight beneath by way of 17 holes and one stroke off the lead. Now, she’s in prime place so as to add to her legacy with main win No. 3.

1. Nelly Korda continues her dominance

There was no larger story heading into the week than Nelly Korda. With wins in her earlier 4 begins, she was lastly displaying the dominance that matched her potential. And with a significant in her sights, the timing was good so as to add to her unreal run.

It’s been mission completed so far. Korda has been regular all week with rounds of 68 and 69 to sit down one again of the lead heading into the weekend, and she or he’s three beneath by way of 11 holes in Spherical 3 to sit down one again of the lead.

Korda has lengthy been regarded as the following face of girls’s golf, however the productiveness has by no means fairly matched up along with her potential. She’s begun to shed that popularity along with her red-hot run to begin 2024, however a win on the Chevron would cement her place atop the ladies’s recreation. Does she have what it takes?

Zephyr Melton

Golf.com Editor

Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com the place he spends his days running a blog, producing and enhancing. Previous to becoming a member of the crew at GOLF, he attended the College of Texas adopted by stops with the Texas Golf Affiliation, Staff USA, the Inexperienced Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all issues instruction and covers novice and ladies’s golf. He might be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.