Let’s play a game: If you could steal the swing from any professional golfer, which golfer would you pick?

Rory McIlroy, whose combination of perfect technique and lethal speed creates a move that is half-art and half-violence, like a war painting? Scottie Scheffler, whose infinite well of athleticism and flexibility seem to find perfect positions no matter the rotation of his shoulders or the angle of his spine? How about Tommy Fleetwood, whose on-course aesthetic oozes comfortable polish? Or Adam Scott, who has been perfectly slotted for so long one wonders if he’s ever experienced a really bad slice?

Now ask yourself: How many of those players have a better swing than Nelly Korda? Is the number two? Is it one? None?

Korda’s swing is glorious. A breezy thwack that lifts the ball from the earth like James Taylor plucking a D-chord. Inspiring in its beauty, Korda’s swing is her quintessence — easy, simple, to the point, unbothered and unhurried. It exemplifies her game in part because it exemplifies her character. And it is Korda’s character that attracted the attention of another compelling figure at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open: Korda’s greatest threat.

If not for Korda, Jeeno Thitikul might be the best women’s golfer in 2026. We mean that literally — Thitikul sits second on the current Rolex Rankings, behind only Korda — but also ephemerally, because Thitikul is maybe the only player on the LPGA other than Korda whose success is measured in the absence of rounds in contention, not the existence of them.

Korda, who is 27, and Thitikul, 23, have developed a friendly rivalry atop the women’s game — trading the title of World No. 1 and no shortage of press attention over the last year. This week, at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, they’re chasing the top honor in women’s golf: a U.S. Women’s Open title.

Unlike Korda, Thitikul hasn’t yet broken through at the majors. But her journey toward improving has inspired Thitikul to keep a close eye on her rival, and on Monday afternoon at Riv, she revealed the lesson Korda has taught her: the Power of Easy.

“I think she’s always one of the players that — I don’t really [see] her practice that much during the tournament,” Thitikul said. “I just always see her on the driving range a little bit before her tee time. Then [after she was done playing], she maybe just putt a couple balls and then went home.”

To Thitikul, Korda’s approach first sounded a little backward: Try less hard. But then she realized Korda might be onto something. Some of the World No. 1’s success could be tied to her sense of balance during tournament weeks, and some of her balance came from her capacity to ease off the gas.

“I just feel like, especially this year she mentioned that she changed her mindset a little bit,” Thitikul said. “It just feels like she plays in Florida a lot, and then she [goes to events] just to play golf.”

In Thitikul’s eyes, there was something to Korda’s ability to compartmentalize, to spend tournament weeks focused on more than swing maintenance or on-course prep, that seemed to be fueling her success.

“If you put too much work and you not let your body like rest and relax, especially tournament week, I think it’s going to be a disadvantage more than an advantage,” Thitikul said. “It just really inspires me to see her doing what she’s doing right now.”

In the end, Thitikul said, there was something revealing about this approach from the World No. 1. Her success on the course was owed to her swing, but her mindset might be even more impressive.

“She’s a fast player, which is my favorite,” Thitikul said with a laugh. “It’s just great to see someone that’s good-good, and then we’re just hanging around and trying to do the same things to get better together.”

HOUSTON — Nelly Korda has been free and easy all week. With all facets of her game firing, the World No. 2 ripped apart Memorial Park en route to a six-shot lead at the 36-hole mark of the year’s first major.

Korda’s lead grew to eight early on Saturday, and it looked like a lengthy coronation was in store at the Chevron Championship. But as often happens at major championships, the heat rises — literally in Texas — and the pressure mounts as the gravity of the moment comes into focus. Korda made a sloppy bogey at the par-5 eighth and then missed short putts on 13 and 14 — one for birdie and one for par — that left her stewing as she marched to the 15th tee.

The World No. 2 striped her tee shot right over the flag and flashed a smile, but her longtime caddie, Jason McDede, was already giving Korda an earful as they walked to the green.

“He was just telling me to stay in it,” Korda said after her round. “Got a lot more golf left to play.”

Korda changed her mentality after a winless 2025. Her focus has been on staying positive and believing that no matter what spot she finds herself in, her game will win the day. That’s much easier to do early in the week when your lead is growing, and your game feels unstoppable. But when the major championship pressure truly arrives on the weekend, your lead is shrinking and your putter failing you, that requires mental strength. Korda said she felt her focus wavering as she mis-hit key putts on the back nine, and she needed to recalibrate so it didn’t bleed into other parts of her game. Her lead had shrunk from eight to six to five, and the putts that had been ticketed for the center of the cup all week were diving left and right as they approached the cup.

“I’m learning so much about myself,” Korda said, noting that she just wanted to keep giving herself birdies looks even if they didn’t fall. “I was still trying my best, and at the end of the day, that’s all I can control. I want to try my best and execute to the best of my ability. I can’t be frustrated with anything but that.”

Nelly Korda understands what Sunday means. For all of her world-beating talent, Korda has just two major titles to her name. It’s a stunning number for someone who has been far and away the best player in women’s golf for the last few years. Korda won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2021 and added the Chevron in 2024. But her last few major memories, when she has truly been in contention, have left her only with scars. She stumbled in the final round of the 2024 AIG Women’s Open and lost to Lydia Ko, and was unable to run down Maja Stark at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open.

She’s still waiting on No. 3.

“This is why we do it, right, to be in contention on major championship Sunday?” Korda said on Saturday after shooting a third-round 2-under 70.

The gravity of Sunday is clear for Nelly Korda. She spent 41 holes tearing this course apart while building a massive lead. That leaves her with only two potential outcomes.

Door No. 1 sees Nelly Korda put the pedal down and run through the finish line, announcing that, after a frustrating season, she’s back as the major killer and unquestioned best player in the world. That would launch her back to No. 1 in the world and set off a hype train leading toward the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera, the one major that Korda holds above all else. Door No. 2 has Nelly Korda stumble on Sunday, watching a massive lead evaporate in what would be a crushing collapse.

“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 of how she’ll approach a massive Sunday.

The correlations between Korda’s Chevron week and Rory McIlroy’s Masters week have been notable. Both fan favorites and tour megastars built tournament record six-shot leads over 36 holes. McIlroy watched his disappear by the 13th hole on that Saturday at Augusta National. Afterward, he went to the range and beat balls, trying to fix what ailed his swing. Korda said she didn’t watch any of McIlroy’s Masters, and how he let everyone else back into it before triumphing on Sunday. While her lead didn’t dissolve on Saturday as McIlroy’s did, Korda kept her media session short Saturday and went to do the same as the two-time Masters champion. She immediately entered the practice putting green and dropped three balls with McDede watching every stroke. She moved around the cup, alternating from five feet to eight feet to 10 and longer. Each time she hit a putt, she’d look back at McDede, who was crouched watching her stroke and the contact, for feedback. A brief discussion about her motion ensued after a few long-range putts came up short. Then, Korda rolled a few more in the center and called it a day.

“At the end of the day, it’s a clean slate,” Korda said of Sunday. “I’m starting the day at zero.”

But on major championship Sundays, zero is miles away from the goal — from elation or heartbreak.

Nelly Korda has dominated this week in Houston. On Sunday, she’ll either become a three-time major champion or leave with major championship trauma that won’t be easy to flush.

Everything or devastation.