Sensational Nelly Korda leaves field trailing in her wake at Chevron Championship

Nelly Korda was in excellent touch at Memorial Park (Getty)

"I compared it to Rory (McIlroy) at the Masters. You never know what can happen in golf," O'Keefe said, referring to McIlroy losing a six-shot lead on the weekend at the Masters before going on to win for the second straight time.

"There is so much random out there that you can get a bad break and it's just kind of that thing," she said. "My dad and I called it that golf is a staring contest and all you have to do is not blink first. So I'm just trying not to blink. Just trying to keep playing my game, and whatever that ends up at the end of the week is where it ends up."

Korda, however, has hit her stride again. She won the season opener in a weather-shortened event, and has played in the final group in all four of her tournaments.

She looks calm and poised, and there is power.

Korda began her great closing stretch with a 3-wood into the wind from 221 yards that landed in the perfect spot to roll out 15 feet beyond the hole, leaving an eagle putt that grazed the right edge of the cup.

She missed an 8-foot birdie chance on the par-5 16th, and then finished with a flourish — a 7-iron that danced around the cup and settle 10 feet away for birdie, and then a 9-iron that again scared the hole and left her 4 feet for her 15 birdie in 36 holes.

Mimi Rhodes struggled on Friday and missed the cut (Getty)

It was the lowest 36-hole score in her career in the majors, and the third-best 36-hole score in LPGA majors behind Jeongeun Lee6 (127), Brooke Henderson (128) and In Gee Chun (129), all at the Evian Championship, the tournament in France the LPGA chose to designate as a major in 2013.

There was disappointment for England’s Mimi Rhodes, though, shooting a six-over round of 78 to miss the cut. Compatriots Charley Hull (-2) and Lottie Woad (+1) did make the weekend.

AP