Porter\u2019s opening 2-under 70 has her tied for 20th, trailing Korda\u2019s blistering 7-under 65, which has her holding a two-shot lead over Patty Tavatanakit and Somi Lee in the LPGA\u2019s first major of the year.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Queenslander is the youngest of eight Australians in the field, with Karis Davidson one shot further back, while Hannah Green, Steph Kyriacou and Robyn Choi are tied 60th at 1-over. Minjee Lee sits at 2-over, Grace Kim at 3-over, while Gabi Ruffels endured a tough start with a 6-over 78.<\/p>\n
Porter settled any nerves quickly with a birdie on the opening hole and added another at the third to reach 2-under early.<\/p>\n
She maintained composure from there, mixing two further birdies with two bogeys to record her best-ever opening round in a major and position herself strongly in just her second start at the Chevron.<\/p>\n
The par-5s proved particularly fruitful, yielding three of her birdies on the front nine, before she played the two on the back in regulation.<\/p>\n
Korda, the 2024 champion and 18-hole leader, suggested that Thursday\u2019s wet conditions at Memorial Park favoured long hitters and made the par-5s more attackable for those with distance off the tee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not rolling out too far in the fairway, so someone who is hitting it longer definitely has an advantage,\u201d Korda said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a second-shot golf course, where you\u2019re thinking about misses and the bigger sections of the greens; where you can and can\u2019t be aggressive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like when par-5s are gettable; where you have to hit two really good shots.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you make a golf course really short, especially par-5s where everyone is laying it up in the same exact area and at the end of the day it’s a wedge contest, to me that’s not very exciting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who hit a really good drive and have the opportunity to go for it should be able to go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her rookie LPGA Tour season in 2025, Porter played all four rounds at the Chevron, finishing tied-40th at 3-over, before missing the cut in her next three major starts.<\/p>\n
Despite missing the cut at last week\u2019s JM Eagle LA Championship, won by Hannah Green, Porter has enjoyed a strong start to 2026, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Australian Open following a closing 10-under round, and a fifth-place finish at the Fortinet Founders Cup the following week.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s favourites, World No.5 Green and World No.7 Lee, have work to do with 54 holes remaining.<\/p>\n
Green has shown she can erase a deficit quickly, having overturned an eight-shot gap midway through the third round to win in Los Angeles last week for her fourth victory of 2026. Lee, meanwhile, is working her way back to rhythm after a recent illness forced a withdrawal last week.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n \u00a9 Golf Australia. All rights reserved.
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