Welcome to this week’s Golf Insider, everyone!
From April 23–26, professional and amateur stars take on The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston. Here are my three key storylines going into the first major championship of the 2026 season.
The Aussies
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the golfers from Down Under this week.
Of course, we have to start with Hannah Green and her hot streak. To sum up just how well she’s been playing this season, Green has won four out of her five last starts across the LPGA and LET. It’s only the end of April.
Green’s latest win was last week at the JM Eagle LA Championship, where she prevailed in a playoff to win the tournament for the third time in four years. She sparked a back-nine comeback, shooting a 5-under-par 31 to force the playoff.
Green just didn’t stop. She sunk a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to secure the title. Calm, cool, collected. You can expect her to play the same way this week in Houston.
I’ll also have my eye on Minjee Lee as she continues her quest for the career Grand Slam. Lee withdrew from last week’s JM Eagle LA Championship after carding a solid 3-under-par in her first round.
Although no reason was given for her withdrawal, this could have just been a precautionary measure. We know that Lee wants to have the absolute best shot at claiming the major title that’s been eluding her. Whether she was feeling some discomfort in her swing, some travel fatigue or just under the weather, I trust that she made the right decision for her body and her game.
Heading into Chevron week, I hope we see a lot of Lee, and I hope we’re lucky enough to see her best game.Never count out Green and Lee’s compatriot Grace Kim, either. Her comeback performance at the Amundi Evian Championship last season to win her first major will stick with me every time I hear her name. She has all the grit and potential to make waves in Houston this week.
Current and future Stanford amateurs in the spotlight
Megha Ganne, Asterisk Talley and Andrea Revuelta headline the group of amateur stars teeing it up this week at The Chevron.
Talley, coming off a T-13 finish in Los Angeles last week at a course she was very comfortable with, looks to build her LPGA resume with experience here at Memorial Park. The 17-year-old has committed to play at Stanford for her collegiate career.
Ganne looks to continue to round out her illustrious amateur career with some more valuable experience on the LPGA Tour. She and Revuelta are coming off a huge match play win for the Cardinal at the ACC championship. Ganne continues to lead this team to record-breaking and history-writing performances; the win was Stanford’s first conference title in the ACC.
And on the topic of Revuelta, her huge push in the final round of the 2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur to finish as the runner-up will not be forgotten. She’ll carry this experience, along with her match play victories, onto the largest stage this week at Memorial Park.
Top-ranked players look to get back on track
Would it be a golf story if I didn’t mention that Nelly Korda’s stats this season are off the charts, but she only has one win?
Korda, in four starts on tour in 2026, has one win and three second place finishes. The World No. 2 is currently first in the Race for the CME Globe standings and first in the Vare Trophy standings for scoring average. Her incredible stats and just one win are really testaments to the comeback stories and grinders we’ve seen on tour this season.
Tournaments are tighter and the competition gets better week by week, but I feel like Korda is right there. This is a tournament she’s comfortable with winning, so we’ll certainly see some lights-out golf from her this time around.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul is searching for her first major title this week in Houston, but her journey to the first major has been rougher than Korda’s. Thitikul does have a win in 2026 in her home country at the 2026 Honda LPGA Thailand. However, her last four finishes were less than satisfactory. She hasn’t had a finish inside the top-10 since the first tournament of the season at the end of January.
Thitikul certainly has what it takes to win her maiden major; it’s only a matter of time. I’m just not sure her game is tuned enough to get it done this week.
You can watch The Chevron Championship from April 23–26 on Golf Channel, NBC and Peacock. I’ll catch you next week to see who dons that glorious white bathrobe and goes home with the trophy.
See you then, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
LPGA News
The Chevron Championship announces purse increase to $9 million beginning in 2026
Memorial Park: Muni gem to major stage
Featured groups: 2026 The Chevron Championship
Field breakdown: 2026 The Chevron Championship
How to watch 2026 The Chevron Championship
Five things to know about 2026 The Chevron Championship
Sei Young Kim, Jin Hee Im fall just short in Los Angeles
Hannah Green rallies to win the JM Eagle LA Championship for the third time in four years
2026 JM Eagle LA Championship tournament purse increased to $4.75 million
Wang family’s commitment to community extends beyond LA Championship
LPGA Foundation announces 2026 Chevron Scholarship recipients
First-round ace for Yu Liu at JM Eagle LA Championship
Charley Hull confirms her entry into the 2026 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open
LET News
Order of Merit leader Laisne staying focused after intense playoff victory
World No. 40 Alexander targets prestigious home title after close call in Joburg
Hewson drawing on fond memories in Cape Town as she looks to kick on with 2026 campaign
Watch live: 2026 Investec SA Women’s Open
LET heads to Cape Town for Investec SA Women’s Open
Laisne clinches second LET title after marathon playoff at Joburg Ladies Open
Epson Tour News
Field breakdown: 2026 IOA Championship presented by Morongo Resort & Spa
Epson Tour grad Melanie Green fires second-round 68 to sit in contention at El Cab
Rookie Camille Boyd finds her rhythm in LA
NCAA News
2026 NCAA DI conference championship dates, results
Tennessee wins first SEC title in program history
Stanford wins program’s first ACC championship
Five at The IX: Hannah Green nabs fourth win of the season at 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro
On Sunday, April 19, Hannah Green fired a 5-under-par 31 on the back nine of her final round to force a three-way playoff at the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship. After tying Koreans Sei Young Kim and Jin Hee Im at the top of the leaderboard at 17-under-par, Green bested them in the first playoff hole with a 12-foot birdie putt.
This was Green’s third win at the LA Championship in four years; she also won in 2023 and 2024. Considering Green’s hot streak, it was no doubt she’d make this push to clinch another victory, her eighth on the LPGA Tour. She has four wins across the LPGA and LET this season, and the first major of the season hasn’t even happened yet. Things are looking bright for the Aussie going into The Chevron Championship. Here are some quotes from Green’s post-win press conference at El Caballero Country Club.
THE MODERATOR: All right, pleased to be joined by now three-time JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro winner Hannah Green. Just first things first, walk us through the range of emotions. At what point did you find yourself into this tournament? You came storming back on the back nine.
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think when Sei Young holed out on 11 that’s kind of when I thought it was probably going to be over. I made a birdie on that hole and then I think made a par on the next, and that’s when I got hot and made four birdies in a row.
You just never know on this golf course. There is opportunities to make birdies, but sometimes it’s hard to make pars. So, yeah, I just had to stay patient and I think kind of—after she had made eagle I kind of in my mindset I was like, well, I have nothing really to lose. Here I am so far behind.
Yeah, I guess just patience and perseverance on that back nine.
Q. You have a good community here in LA with your host family coming out and supporting you. Does it just kind of help you a little bit with the comfortability of being here and just feeling more comfortable at this event than some others?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I think so. My host dad, Tom, he’s very passionate about my golf, so it’s very easy to hear him on the golf course. When I look at some of my highlight reels you can hear him screaming in the back, which is hilarious.
I obviously don’t get that all the time playing in the States, and sometimes not even when I play in Australia. It’s nice to have him supporting me. I was really fortunate to have both Tom and Carrie out watching today. I kind of said they need to come back for U.S. Open, which is obviously in a couple months’ time.
Yeah, very cool. I stayed with them in 2018 before I ever won any LPGA tournaments, so it’s nice to have such a long relationship with them. Wilshire is a little bit far to stay with them for this week, but for them to make the trip out was really nice.
Q. When you left the media center last night you talked about thinking you were probably going to be fairly far behind coming into today. Then obviously turned out not. How quickly did the mindset change? Going into today’s round in the last group, and getting off to kind of a slow start, how do you hold yourself together and not get too down and just stay the course?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, I hope I didn’t jinx Sei Young because I did think she was on a run. Yeah, she made a good birdie on the first hole. I then made a birdie on the second hole. Felt like a little bit of match play.
Then we kind of both dropped off. It was hard to get to some of the pins they had on those particular holes. So, yeah, I felt like when I made the bogey on the par-3 we both three putted; that was kind of not a great move.
Then also seven we both made par, the par-5. So I don’t think there was a leaderboard until perhaps nine so I kind of saw that I was still within reach. I still needed a very good back nine.
So, yeah, again when she made the eagle on 11 I thought it was game over. I thought I hit a good chip shot there and had a tap-in for birdie and she goes in and holes it.
But, yeah, it was somewhat of a match play probably the last few holes. I don’t know if she felt that way, but it’s kind of hard to not get caught up in what someone else is doing. Seeing players make putts makes the hole look a little bit bigger sometimes and also makes it a little bit smaller.
I just had to try my best to focus on what I was doing.
Q. Conversely, the putt on 16 for eagle, how disappointed were you with that particular effort?
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it was definitely not one of my best strokes. I was nervous over that putt because I felt like I really needed to make it to be in the tournament. I was a bit disappointed when that didn’t go in.
I still made a birdie and still got one shot back. On the next hole I was kind of in between whether to hit a 9-iron on 8-iron, and glad I went with a club that was going to go long of the hole because I feel like leaving it short of that green would’ve been a tougher two putt.
I guess I got fortunate that someone else unfortunately made a bogey. Yeah, it was nice to walk up the last hole knowing I just needed to make par to get into the playoff. That pin was tucked in the left side so it wasn’t easy to land it there and keep it close. It was quite tough. I don’t know if there would’ve been many birdies on that hole.
Yeah, it was nice to be able to make that putt.
Q. What is it like playing the way you are and having the four wins? Your thoughts on how that sets you up going into the first major of the year.
HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, unfortunately my success rate has been that I do miss the cut before I have a successful week. I’m hoping that I can break that chain.
Carlton Woods was a great venue but I didn’t have much success there. Memorial Park will hopefully do me good mentally. I also am coming into the first major of the year probably the most confident I have been in my own game.
I’m really looking forward to it. It is going to be hard traveling tonight, getting in tomorrow. My head will probably be quite big still, so I feel like I need to bring myself back down to earth. The week after Houston I’m not playing, so I think maybe I will try and celebrate this win then.
We all still have to peak for next week, and so I just want to make sure I’m not too tired after doing this stuff, even though I love talking to you all. It sometimes can be a bit more tiring than when you’re not winning tournaments. Yeah, just trying to take it easy tomorrow. Go out and walk the course instead of playing. Super excited for next week.
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