After two rounds of the 2026 Chevron Championship at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, Nelly Korda hasn’t just led the field; she’s made the course look easy. Seeing this, it’s only fair she gets some praise, and the latest one comes from veteran looper Jim Bones Mackay.

“I’m convinced she’s the best driver of the ball in the game. You feel like you’re shortchanging her iron game and other things that she does that are just so amazing,” said Mackay during Golf Channel‘s live coverage of the Chevron Championship.

Mackay’s words matter. He spent 25 years as Phil Mickelson‘s caddie, from 1992 to 2017, and was part of 41 PGA Tour wins and five majors. He later helped Justin Thomas win the 2022 PGA Championship, then moved to an analyst role at NBC Sports and Golf Channel. Mackay is not interested in headlines. He has seen the game from inside the ropes longer than most analysts have watched from the outside.

Nelly Korda arrived in Houston after a strong start to the season. She won the Tournament of Champions and finished runner-up three times in her next four events. At Memorial Park, the conditions suited her perfectly.

She found eleven out of thirteen fairways and had an average drive of 268 yards. The wide fairways were softened by heavy rain, and the par-fives could be reached in two shots. This kind of setup punishes mistakes and rewards the way she drives the ball. The World No. 2 is at 14-under par, holding the biggest 36-hole lead in Chevron Championship history and the lowest 36-hole score of her major career. Mackay saw all of this, so his conclusion was more confirmation than surprise.

The numbers back up this confirmation and go beyond just this week. Even in 2025, which Korda considered a winless season, she led the LPGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. After 11 rounds in 2026, she is third in that category at 2.10, first in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green at 5.55, and first in Strokes Gained: Total at 4.00. Her strong play off the tee is not just because of the conditions at Memorial Park. It has been a consistent pattern from season to season.

To understand Mackay’s view, it is important to look at the numbers and the history of off-the-tee performance on the LPGA Tour.

Nelly Korda’s driving and the LPGA’s long history of off-the-tee dominance

Laura Davies led the LPGA’s driving distance charts for five straight seasons after the tour began recording statistics in 1992. She averaged 258.87 yards in that first season, a clear margin of 20 yards over the next closest player. After a focused fitness program, Annika Sorenstam added more than 20 yards to her driving and averaged 269.76 yards in 2003, taking the distance title that year. Both are in the World Golf Hall of Fame. Both set the standard for their eras with their driving ability.

Korda’s profile is different from Davies’s and Sorenstam’s, which is why Mackay’s claim stands on technical grounds. She does not lead the LPGA in pure distance. Players like Bianca Pagdanganan hit the ball farther. Korda pairs a 265-to-270-yard average with about 75 percent fairway accuracy. This combination puts her in the top two on tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. Distance without accuracy is a risk. Maintaining distance with accuracy, at Korda’s level for a full season, is a clear scoring advantage.

At Memorial Park this week, the numbers have shown Korda’s advantage. Mackay’s endorsement was not casual. It came from a respected sideline observer, watching Korda compete in a major championship field and stating what the evidence made clear.