Nelly Korda slows her torrid pace and settles for 5-shot lead in Chevron Championship

HOUSTON (AP) — Nelly Korda tied the 54-hole scoring record at The Chevron Championship on Saturday. She had a five-shot lead going into the final round, the largest of her career. A victory would take her back to No. 1 in the women's world ranking.

And she headed straight for the putting green.

For so much that had gone right for Korda, who stretched her lead to eight shots at one point at Memorial Park, there was part of her game she needed to polish. She missed three 4-foot putts over the final 11 holes and had to settle for a 2-under 70 in an otherwise exquisite performance.

“On the back nine I learned that I needed to stay in it and not to focus so much on my mis-hits with my putts,” she said. "So I just needed to keep giving myself opportunities, which I was. I don’t want it to bleed into the other parts of my game where then I start to get so frustrated that it affects my driver, affects my irons. Just didn’t want that at all. I wanted to continue giving myself opportunities even if I want holing them.

“I was still trying my best, and at the end of the day that's all I can control,” she said. “I can't be frustrated with anything but that.”

Korda looked close to unbeatable for so long with another clinic controlling her irons on the heavily sloped greens. And then the gap began to shrink as her contenders did just enough to stay in range.

“I played really solid on the front and then just kind of ... not may have lost concentration, but the wind started picking up and then I just put myself into great positions (and) didn’t kind of execute really well," Korda said.

The heat and humidity also took a toll, and Korda often walked the fairways with an umbrella to shield her from the sun.

Patty Tavatanakit, who went 48 holes without a bogey before making one on the 13th, bounced back with a pair of birdies over the last five holes for a 69 to get within five shots. It was a remarkable scrambling performance for Tavatanakit, who won this major as a rookie in 2021. She got up-and-down seven out of eight times.

Ruoning Yin of China, a Women's PGA champion and former No. 1 in the world, shot 66 and was six shots behind along with Pauline Roussin-Bouchard of France, who had a 67.

Korda was at 16-under 200 to tie the tournament record set by Jennifer Kupcho in 2022, the last year the major was at Mission Hills in the California desert.

For seven holes, this was the best player in women's golf in full flight.

A long bunker shot to 4 feet gave her a birdie on the par-5 opening hole. She hit 8-iron to 3 feet of a dangerous front pin on the par-3 second, hit a gap wedge to 6 feet for birdie on the fifth, and holed a 10-foot birdie putt on the next hole to reach 18 under.

Korda didn't miss a green until a lob wedge to the par-5 eighth was slightly strong and just rolled over the green into a shaved area. She chipped that to 4 feet and missed for her first bogey.

That turned out to be the start of the doldrums. Korda had a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th that narrowly missed, and then she missed the 4-footer coming back and made bogey. She was just over the green in two on the par-5 14th, chipped that to 4 feet and missed the birdie putt.

She took on another front pin at the par-3 15th in a narrow part of the green. That settled 8 feet behind the pin. The birdie putt never had a chance.

Korda missed only two greens but took 32 putts. The short misses have been noticeable even this year when she was runner-up twice to Hyo Joo Kim in consecutive weeks.

Even so, the American star is right where she wants to be. Korda will be in the final group for all five tournaments she has played this year, including her weather-shortened win to start the year at the Tournament of Champions in Florida.

“I’m just going to focus on myself, kind of work on my process, really dial into that, make sure that I have tunnel vision, and not really focus on the exterior noise,” Korda said.

Tavatanakit one-putted every green through six holes and tried to stay in the game, even when falling eight shots behind. She took on the pin at No. 4 and went down a hill, only to hit a superb flop shot to 2 feet for par. It was like that for so much of the day.

“You just do what you got to do,” she said. “It’s a major championship. It’s playing tough. You’re not going to always have your best, but you just got figure out what’s in front of you.”

Farah O'Keefe, the 20-year-old junior at Texas, had a 72 and remained the low amateur at 7-under 209, putting her in a tie for sixth place and nine shots behind.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Ruoning Yin, of China, walks on the green on the 17th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Patty Tavatanakit, of Thailand, watches her tee shot on the fifth hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Nelly Korda chips to the green on the 17th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Nelly Korda waits to play on the seventh hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Nelly Korda hits her tee shot on the 18th hole during the third round of the Chevron Championship LPGA golf tournament Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AP) — An explosive device killed 13 people traveling on a bus in southwestern Colombia on Saturday, an attack the country's army chief described as a “terrorist act" that also left at least 38 injured as violence linked to drug trafficking in the region escalates.

Octavio Guzmán, the governor of the region of Cauca, said on X that the device was set off while the bus was traveling along the Panamerican Highway in the municipality of Cajibio. Five children were among the injured, Cauca Health Secretary Carolina Camargo told Noticias Caracol, a TV news program.

Gen. Hugo López, commander of Colombia's Armed Forces,told a news conference that it was a “terrorist act" and blamed the network of a man known as “Iván Mordisco” — one of Colombia’s most wanted figures — and the Jaime Martínez faction. Both are dissidents of the now-defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia that operate in the region.

Neither Iván Mordisco nor the Jaime Martínez faction abide by the peace agreement signed with the state in 2016.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro condemned the attack on X.

“Those who carried out the attack and killed seven civilians — and wounded 17 others — in Cajibío — many of them Indigenous people — are terrorists, fascists, and drug traffickers,” he wrote.

The attack is the latest in a spate of explosions that have attempted to target public infrastructure. At least 26 incidents have taken place in the past two days in southwestern Colombia, which López said has only affected civilians.

They included a shooting at a police station in the rural area of Jamundi, and an attack on a Civil Aviation radar facility in El Tambo, where authorities took down three explosives-laden drones earlier on Saturday. No one was hurt.

On Friday, two vehicles rigged with explosives were detonated near military units in Cali and Palmira, causing material damage.

The escalation of violence in that region — a territory contested by illegal armed groups linked to drug trafficking — prompted the mobilization of high-ranking officials on Saturday. Led by Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez, the delegation that includes regional governors and local authorities, was meeting in Palmira when the deadly explosion occurred.

“These criminals seek to instill fear, but we will respond with firmness,” Sánchez said on X.

Meanwhile, Francisca Toro, governor of Valle del Cauca, has called upon the national government to provide “immediate support.” In a message on X, Toro called for a reinforcement of public security forces, enhanced intelligence operations and “decisive actions” against crime in the face of a “terrorist-level escalation.”

According to authorities, Cauca and Valle del Cauca serve as a critical hub for illicit activities of illegal armed groups vying for control over sea and river access routes leading to the port of Buenaventura — a key transit point used to traffic drugs to Central America and Europe.

The government has also offered a reward of more than 1 million dollars for information leading to the capture of “Marlon,” who is identified as the leader of the region's dissident group. On Friday, local authorities offered more than $14,000 for information leading to the identification and location of those behind the attacks in Cali and Palmira.

The covered body of a victim lies among vehicles damaged in an attack on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, Saturday, April 25, 2026, where authorities said at least a dozen people were killed and blamed dissident groups of the former FARC rebels. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

People gather around a bus hit by an explosive device on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, Saturday, April 25, 2026, after an attack blamed by authorities on dissident groups of the former FARC rebels killed at least a dozen people. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

People gather around a bus hit by an explosive device on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, Saturday, April 25, 2026, after an attack blamed by authorities on dissident groups of the former FARC rebels killed at least a dozen people. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

People gather around vehicles damaged in an attack on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, Saturday, April 25, 2026, that killed at least a dozen people and authorities blamed on dissident groups of the former FARC rebels. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)

Relatives of victims embrace in front of a bus hit by an explosive device on the Pan-American Highway in Cajibio, Colombia, Saturday, April 25, 2026, after an attack blamed by authorities on dissident groups of the former FARC rebels killed at least a dozen people. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)