2026 Chevron Championship Storylines: Stars in Form, Eyes on Amateurs

The last women’s major was almost eight months ago. On Thursday, the drought ends with the first round of the 2026 Chevron Championship at Memorial Park, and there is plenty to talk about. Here are my storylines to watch (non-pond edition):

Trending Top Five

Currently, the five best players in the world according to the Rolex Ranking are Jeeno Thitikul, Nelly Korda, Hyo Joo Kim, Charley Hull, and Hannah Green. If you’re the LPGA, the global nature of that list is a marketing dream, enough to make even the biggest sports leagues jealous. What’s even better for the Tour, with its first major on the horizon, is that all five players enter this week already with a win this season. The hottest of the quintet is Green, the Aussie who’s won four times across the world in the past two months. There isn’t much missing on the resumes of these players, except in the majors column. Thitikul has yet to break through in the biggest tournaments, Korda’s last major was at Chevron two years ago, Kim’s drought is 12 years and counting, Hull’s still searching for her first major, and Green’s Women’s PGA victory was seven years ago. That’s a paltry four majors amongst the group.

I’m not against up-and-comers notching their first major win this week, but women’s golf has had plenty of that over the last 15 years with little staying power. Majors aren’t everything, but they are the weeks of the year the LPGA has an opportunity to make inroads. It’s a simple recipe. The best players in the world winning the biggest tournaments would do wonders for the LPGA’s efforts to grow its fanbase.

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‍Memorial Park Question Mark

As Matthew mentioned earlier, news of Chevron’s move to Memorial Park was met with near-universal praise. A more centrally located course should bring larger crowds and make the event look, feel, and sound like a major. The new venue could also bring an element of randomness to the week’s proceedings, an equalizer amongst the players in the field. When course knowledge is limited, players get creative in finding an edge. On Tuesday, Green mentioned she had talked with fellow Aussie Min Woo Lee, winner of the PGA Tour’s 2025 Houston Open at Memorial Park, about the course. She’ll also have inside knowledge from her caddie, David Buhai, who caddied in the Houston Open this year.

It’s been a very rainy start to the week in Houston with some areas receiving three inches on Tuesday. Expect longer hitters to have the advantage if the course stretches out to its full 6,800 yards. Driver will be the only option for many players off the tee, and with the rough thickening up from the rain, accuracy will be rewarded. If the course gets shortened, that advantage won’t be as significant, and with soft, receptive greens, long irons and hybrids won’t need to be as precise.

Eye on the Amateurs

Asterisk Talley took the heartbreak of her final round at ANWA and turned it into a top 15 finish at last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship. Since her breakout at the U.S. Women’s Open two years ago, Talley has continued to prove she can hang with the best in the world. She’s the headliner in a stacked group of amateurs all making an appearance, including top-ranked Kiara Romero from Oregon, University of Texas star Farah O’Keefe, and the Stanford trio of Megha Ganne, Andrea Revuelta, and Paula Martin Sampedro.

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