Updated April 23, 2026, 9:11 p.m. ET
The 2026 Chevron Championship is the first major on the LPGA schedule, taking place in Texas.American golfer Auston Kim started strong with an eagle on the third hole.The tournament purse has been increased to $9 million, with the winner receiving $1.35 million.Weather forecasts for the tournament include chances of rain on Thursday and Friday, with clearer conditions expected over the weekend.
Welcome to the first major on the LPGA’s 2026 schedule. It’s the Chevron Championship, being played in Texas for the fourth time.
The Chevron was first played in 1972 and it became an LPGA major in 1983.
Get caught up on all the Friday updates, leaderboard changes, highlights and more with Golfweek.
See all the scores being tracked at the Chevron.
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more! Nelly Korda takes the lead at the Chevron
Korda is on a tear on her second nine. She birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and the had two more at Nos. 8 and 9 before parring the last. She is at 7 under and has a two-shot lead through 18 holes.
Korda has two LPGA major: 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and 2024 Chevron Championship. There’s still a long way to go in Houston but this is a great start towards a third.
Looooong birdie putt for Pauline Rossin-Bouchard Nelly Korda ties for the lead at 5 under
After starting on the back nine, Nelly Korda made the turn and promptly birdied Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and has it to 5 under, moving into a tie for the lead. Korda has a win, two solo seconds and a tie for second so far in 2026.
On Thursday, in the opening round of the Chevron Championship, many LPGA players were surprised by the tour’s decision to play the ball down.
Two-time Chevron winner Brittany Lincicome counted seven times during the course of her opening round that her ball had enough dirt caked on to impact the flight.
Linn Grant, who opened with a 2-under 70, felt playing preferred lies would’ve been the right choice after storms rolled through early week, dumping 2.9 inches of rain and shortening the Tuesday pro-am. Officials closed the course three times in two days.
— Beth Ann Nichols, Golfweek
The world No. 2 and 2024 Chevron champion Nelly Korda gets an early birdie at Memorial Park.
Shocking shot from pro in contention
Ina Yoon was one shot off the lead Thursday when she hit a shot that shocked even the announcers.
Erica Shepherd was forced to withdraw from the Chevron with injury before her tee time.
Where to watch the 2026 Chevron Championship
NBC, Peacock and Golf Channel are teaming up on the live TV and streaming of the Chevron over the course of four days. Golf Channel has live coverage in two viewing windows for the first round:
Thursday, April 23: Golf Channel, 11 a.m. ET to 3 p.m. ET; 6 p.m. ET to 8 p.m. ET
Watch Golf Channel for free on Fubo Yan Liu ties the lead
The birdie fest continues Thursday at Memorial Park, with Yan Liu joining the lead at 5 under after this great birdie putt.
It’s early, but Kiara Romero is looking to make a statement. The world’s No. 1 amateur, a junior at Oregon, is 3 under at the turn and only two shots behind Somi Lee.
Linn Grant adds another birdie to her card and sits at 4 under, tied for the early lead. A soft golf course has led to plenty of birdies on Thursday morning.
Lydia Ko hits it tight making the turn
Lydia Ko with a stellar approach on the par-3 ninth hole. Unfortunately, she missed the birdie putt and turns in even par.
The latest women’s major champion, Miyu Yamashita, opens her Chevron journey with a lengthy birdie putt. She won the AIG Women’s Open last summer.
Hannah Green with a stellar approach
Earth Day was Wednesday, but Hannah Green got her fair share of the trees and grass on the sixth hole, having to hit a towering shot over some trees to make a birdie. She’s 2 under thru 8 holes in the opening round and looking for her fifth worldwide win of the calendar year.
It’s been a good start for Auston Kim, as the American star had an eagle on the third hole to get atop the leaderboard as of 9:45 a.m. on Thursday. Kim, 25, put together a memorable 2025 season on the LPGA, most notably finishing T-2 at the KPMG Women’s PGA in Texas. On Instagram, the former Vanderbilt player revealed the list of goals she’d written out for herself for 2025 and then stacked up her results. For example, she wanted a sub-71 scoring average in 2025. She met that goal with a 70.65 average over 86 rounds. While she didn’t win, she did qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship and also soared into the top 100. At this time last year, Kim ranked 155th in the world. She’s now 21st. Kim closed out last season with a T-4 at The Annika and a share of seventh in her CME debut.
What’s the Chevron weather forecast?
There’s already been some storms in the Houston area this week. In fact, as Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols reported, the media center was cleared out for a second time in three days on Wednesday. According to AccuWeather, Thursday is looking better, with just a 25 percent chance of rain and a high of 82.
It’s gloomy but warm on Thursday morning:
Friday has about a 55 percent chance of rain with another high of 82. The weekend’s looking good with a high of 89 on Saturday for the third round and less than a 30 percent chance of rain. Sunday’s final round should see a high of 87 and about a 16 percent chance of rain.
Last night, before play was set to begin at the season’s first major, Hannah Green was plugging away on the range. Our Beth Ann Nichols caught a peek.
Can we get a shoutout, PGA Tour?
This marks the first time the PGA Tour’s Texas Children’s Houston Open and the LPGA’s Chevron Championship have been played on the same venue at Memorial Park. Surely, the PGA Tour, in an attempt to grow the game, helped with some promotion of the first women’s major of the season, right? Not according to our Cameron Jourdan, who was on-site last month for the men’s event.
Chevron raises LPGA major championship purse
For the second time in three days, an LPGA purse got a $1 million bump. After JM Eagle CEO Walter Wang’s surprise announcement in the booth over the weekend that the LA Championship purse was going up $1 million on the spot, Chevron made a similar move on Tuesday. The first LPGA major of the year will now feature a $9 million purse, an increase of $5.9 million since Chevron took over title sponsorship in 2022. Sunday’s winner will receive $1.35 million.
What are the hole locations for the opening round?
Here are the pin placements on Thursday in Houston:
What happened in the 2025 Chevron Championship?
Last year saw the largest playoff in LPGA major championship history with Mao Saigo eventually coming out on top. Saigo outlasted four others in the bonus golf to become the fifth Japanese player to win a major.
Where is the Chevron Championship being played?
The Chevron Championship controversially moved from the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, to the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at the Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas, in the spring of 2023.
The 2026 event, April 23-26, will be at Memorial Park, a municipal track that ranks eighth on Golfweek’s best public access courses in Texas.
One part of the course is certainly interesting. There’s a narrow creek nearer the far side of the property htat slithers to the left of No. 15 green, adding intrigue – if not normally an outright threat – to the shortest hole on the property. In an era in which driving length has earned much adulation and importance, it’s this tiny par 3 created by architect Tom Doak that likely will live rent-free in so many players’ heads during the Chevron Championship.
— Jason Lusk, Golfweek