Nelly Korda picked up where she left off and shot her second consecutive round of 65 to build a commanding six-shot lead at the Chevron Championship on Friday in Houston.

The World No. 2 is well set up to vie for her third career major title and her first since winning this event at a different course in 2024.

Korda carded five of her eight birdies Friday on the back nine at Memorial Park Golf Course, including Nos. 17 and 18, to reach 14-under 130 for the championship. Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, who shot a bogey-free 69, is a distant second at 8 under.

Amateur Farah O’Keefe also posted a bogey-free 69 to move to 7 under, tied for third with Ryann O’Toole and South Korea’s Ina Yoon, both of whom had 68.

“I just feel really good,” Korda said. “I mean, I’m just hitting it in the spots that I want to, missing it into the spots that I want to. The communication between (caddie Jason McDede) and I is really good where if there is a tucked pin and it’s kind of stupid, I would rather give myself a longer lag putt and give myself the best opportunity for par. That’s kind of the way we been playing the past two days, not taking kind of stupid risks.”

Korda is so far building on a tremendous start to her season. She won the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and logged three straight second-place finishes after that.

“It feels very good,” Korda said of her run of success, “but you know that it’s golf so you just try to enjoy it as much as possible because you’re going to get bad breaks, hit bad shots. … So you just kind of try to soak it up as much as possible.”

Tavatanakit, the winner of this major in 2021 when it was named the ANA Inspiration, went out in the afternoon and managed three birdies.

“Chasing, leading, whatever, I feel like I’m just glad I have this opportunity to be in the mix,” she said. “I don’t know. I don’t know if this is good or bad. Like I just want to go out there the next two days and just do my best and accept whatever comes and just play really freely.”

O’Keefe, a native of nearby Austin and a member of the University of Texas golf team, is making the most of her sponsor invitation into the major. While more experienced pros struggled around her, O’Keefe made all pars on the front nine before holing birdies at Nos. 11, 14 and 18.

She’s the first amateur in tournament history to open with two straight rounds in the 60s.

“I think I am going to just stay happy,” O’Keefe said. “I had a really good caddie in Scotland and he just kept saying, ‘Happy days.’ Every time we end up in a bunker, ‘Happy days. We’re good.’ I think that positivity — if you beat down on yourself, really if you’re negative in any way it hurts you. So I’m just grateful to be here and happy to be representing what I get to represent. I get to represent Texas, the University of Texas, my family.”

O’Toole is a surprise name to see near the top of the leaderboard, as a 39-year-old ranked 219th in the world with one career LPGA victory. She has never had a top-10 finish in 11 prior starts at this event.

O’Toole has her mind on her brother, who was in an offroad vehicle accident in January and spent a month in the ICU.

“I was up at 5 a.m., 6 a.m. working out and to the hospital by 7:30, 8 a.m., at the hospital all day, and would be relieved in the afternoon to go practice kind of thing,” O’Toole said.

“… I don’t know, like you never know when your last event is going to be or whatever. I’m just happy to be here. On top of going to Q-School last year, that was kind of a kick in the butt. I went just saying, ‘Look, if I make it, great. Then I have control of my future. If I don’t, I’m going to start the next chapter.'”

Yan Liu of China (70) is alone in sixth at 6 under and Megan Khang (67), Thailand’s Jasmine Suwannapura (67), Sweden’s Maja Stark (70) and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (71) are tied at 5 under.

The cut line landed at 2 over par, and the most notable name to miss the weekend was World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand. She bogeyed two of her last five holes with one birdie and missed the weekend by one stroke as she continues to seek her first career major.

Rose Zhang, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko also wound up at 3 over.

Two-time major champ Stacy Lewis, 41, posted 79-77 (12 over) in the final event of her LPGA career.

“I was around some older players when they retired and I saw this just happiness in them,” Lewis said. “They weren’t sad anymore. They didn’t miss it.

“I got to that point early last year where I was just — didn’t want to practice as much and I was just thinking about the end. It made me excited instead of sad.”

–Field Level Media

The Arizona Cardinals became the next team to address the quarterback position in the 2026 NFL Draft when they used the first pick of the third round Friday on Miami’s Carson Beck.

Beck was the third quarterback taken in this draft and the first on Day 2. No signal-caller was selected between Ty Simpson to the Los Angeles Rams at No. 13 overall and Beck at No. 65.

Beck, 23, transferred to Miami last year after playing parts of five seasons for Georgia. He guided the Hurricanes to the national championship game, which they lost to Indiana and QB Fernando Mendoza — the No. 1 overall pick Thursday by the Las Vegas Raiders.

In 55 career games at the college level, Beck threw for 11,725 yards and 88 touchdowns with 32 interceptions, including a career-best 30 TDs in 2025.

Beck could have an early opportunity to start for Arizona, which released Kyler Murray in March. Jacoby Brissett, who went 1-11 as the Cardinals’ starter in 2025, is holding out for a contract extension. The team also has journeyman Gardner Minshew II and reserve Kedon Slovis.

Other quarterbacks waiting to hear their name called on Day 2 include LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar and Arkansas’ Taylen Green, among others.

–Field Level Media

Defensive tackle Kayden McDonald was in Pittsburgh for the NFL draft on Thursday night, and the defensive tackle watched 15 of his peers make the walk from the backstage green room to the stage to be announced as first-round selections.

The only player left in that room when the 32-player round ended was McDonald.

McDonald returned to the scene Friday night, and he didn’t have to wait long. He heard his name called early in the second round when the Houston Texans chose him with the 36th overall pick, the fourth made on Friday.

The Ohio State product who was a consensus All-American last season had tears flowing during the entire walk toward the stage. He stopped for a second to tap the Texans display on the wall.

When he got to the stage, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and McDonald conducted a long embrace, and Goodell was doing a lot of talking.

In essence, the long wait was over for McDonald, who was one of seven Buckeyes drafted in the first two rounds.

“This is emotional,” McDowell said on the ESPN broadcast. “I know I’m supposed to be here. I’m just so blessed and thankful.”

The Texans traded with the Las Vegas Raiders to move up two spots on a night in which the second and third rounds were held. When the Raiders chose at No. 38, they tabbed safety Treydan Stukes of Arizona.

The second round had a heavy defensive flavor with 22 players on that side of the ball being selected.

There was also was an impact trade announced as the Minnesota Vikings sent veteran linebacker Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles for a third-round pick in this year’s draft and a third-rounder in 2027. The Eagles also received a seventh-rounder this year in the deal.

The San Francisco 49ers started off the festivities by selecting receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, who played for Ole Miss last season after spending two seasons apiece at Washington State (2021-22) and Oklahoma State (2023-24).

Two other wideouts went in the second round — Denzel Boston of Washington to the Cleveland Browns at No. 39 and Germie Bernard of Alabama to the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 47.

Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood went 37th overall to the New York Giants. He was another player thought to be a possible first-rounder.

“Of course it was disappointing,” Hood said. “I know God does everything for a reason. He was probably preventing me from something or he had something better in store for me, and that being the Giants.

“I’m super excited to go into this next chapter of my life and will just go in there and give my best and give my all and be the best version of myself.”

Hood also played for Auburn (2023) and Colorado (2024) during his college career.

The Miami Dolphins appear to have made one of the best picks in the round by grabbing Texas Tech consensus All-America linebacker Jacob Rodriguez with the No. 43 pick.

Rodriguez was the face of the Red Raiders’ stunning season last year and loaded up on postseason awards, including the Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defender. He led the nation with seven forced fumbles and also intercepted four passes.

At No. 48, the Falcons tabbed Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell, the younger brother of Atlanta’s A.J. Terrell, who is entering his seventh season as a starting corner for the Falcons.

The New York Jets chose cornerback D’Angelo Ponds of national champion Indiana with the 50th overall pick. The 5-foot-8 Ponds played his first season (2023) at James Madison before following coach Curt Cignetti to Indiana and becoming one of the Hoosiers’ top defensive players.

In the first round, four Buckeyes were selected: receiver Carnell Tate, (No. 4, Tennessee Titans); linebacker Arvell Reese (No. 5, Giants); linebacker Sonny Styles (No. 7, Washington Commanders) and safety Caleb Downs (No. 11, Dallas Cowboys).

After McDonald went in the second, tight end Max Klare (No. 61, Los Angeles Rams) and cornerback Davison Igbinosun (No. 62, Buffalo Bills) went back-to-back near the end of the round.

The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks took TCU safety Bud Clark with the 64th and final pick of the second round.

–Field Level Media