PHOENIX, ARIZONA | Today at the Ford Championship, six-time LPGA winner Jessica Korda will return to the tour and share that stage with her younger sister and 16-time winner, Nelly, for the first time since May 2023.
While Jessica admits she’ll be nervous throughout the round, she says having Nelly on the same golf course, staying in the same house – and sometimes making her food – gives her a sense of familiarity with an increasingly unfamiliar scene.
“You don’t have to think about who you’re going to play a practice round with or who you’re going to sit at lunch with,” Jessica said. “There are a lot of new faces, especially after not being out here for three years, so I think there are maybe like a handful of players that I really know from when I was playing actively. Definitely having my sister out is a nice way to ease into the week.”
After a lingering back injury forced Jessica Korda to step away from golf in 2023, she gave birth to her son, Greyson, on February 3, 2024 and went on maternity leave. Despite her return to professional golf, Jessica isn’t the same as she was when she left the game. She can’t be. With a young child, she can only practice about three days a week, and even that’s not guaranteed. Still, she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I definitely prioritize my time with my son over golf,” she said. “So (practicing is) not nearly as exciting as it used to be.”
The Korda sisterly support goes all the way to when they were kids, but it has been especially strong since Nelly joined the LPGA in 2017. Jessica, who reached the pro tour in 2011, had already won four times by then. Nelly says her sister prepared her for LPGA life, which can be isolating and lonely at times.
“Getting the insight from her from when she turned pro I feel like really helped me my rookie year on tour of having like a built-in best buddy,” said Nelly.
Nelly, 27, has always admired the ability of Jessica, 33, to make clutch putts, like she did when the sisters were paired for Team USA in the 2019 and 2021 Solheim Cups.
“There were so many times I was like, ‘Oh my God, please make this. I really don’t want to putt,’” Nelly said. “And she did.”
“I made this putt on 18 to knock her outside the top 10. She was the first text message I got when I checked my phone.” – Nelly Korda
But there was a moment during Nelly’s rookie year when it was the younger sister’s turn to make a clutch putt – at the expense of her elder sister. The scene was the Volvik Championship in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
“I made this putt on 18 to knock her outside the top 10,” Nelly said. “She was the first text message I got when I checked my phone.”
“I made her pay for the hotel that week,” Jessica said, laughing.
While the sisters are similar in many ways, their demeanor is very different. Jessica shows more emotion on the golf course.
“I don’t really show too much up and down during my rounds and she really throws out big fist pumps,” Nelly said. “That’s something I always admired about her, too.”
It’s actually Nelly’s steady attitude that Jessica says annoys her a bit, especially since she knows how competitive her little sister is.
“You just know that she would rather rip your throat out than lose,” Jessica said.
From 2017 through 2022, Nelly Korda won four times on the LPGA and a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Jessica won twice on the LPGA, with her last win coming at the 2021 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, which is now the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, which Nelly won this year.
Then Jessica started experiencing back problems, which forced her to take time off at the end of 2022. In May 2023, she withdrew from the Cognizant Founders Cup after the first round and was forced to go on medical leave. That turned into maternity leave when Greyson was born in February 2024.
Nelly was on her own on the LPGA for the first time.
“The rest of that year and 2024 was a very big adjustment for me being kind of by myself on tour without Jess,” she said.
Nelly made those adjustments. While she didn’t win in 2023, she won seven times in 2024 including one major at The Chevron Championship. She also won the 2024 Rolex Player of the Year and the Race to CME Globe.
“At Grant Thornton, after the first day, Greyson decided to not sleep. So I didn’t sleep from midnight to 5 a.m. It adds another variable to golf, to preparation.” – Jessica Korda
After watching her sister from the sideline for years, Jessica decided to return to competitive golf at the Grant Thornton Invitational in December, teaming up with friend and PGA Tour pro Bud Cauley. Jessica says the return has been hard, and not just because of her responsibilities as a mother.
She still feels pain in her back, and doesn’t think it will ever go away, although she can manage it. Bigger still is getting mentally focused for each event, which is difficult with a young child.
“At Grant Thornton, after the first day, Greyson decided to not sleep,” Jessica said. “So I didn’t sleep from midnight to 5 a.m. It adds another variable to golf, to preparation.”
This week, Jessica says her mom has taken away the baby monitor so she can get some sleep. However, Greyson’s presence is enjoyed by all.
“Having Greyson and our mom in the house has been a lot of fun,” Nelly said. “And Greyson is at such a fun age where there is always something to do and he’s just so much fun and laughing all the time.”
If there has been any disappointment this week, it was seeing their kid brother Sebastian – a professional tennis player following in the footsteps of parents Petr and Regina – lose in the Round of 16 of the Miami Open on Tuesday, largely due to a back injury at the end of the second set. Injuries have plagued Sebastian, 25, throughout his whole career, which has made it hard to capitalize on big results like his win over seven-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday to reach the fourth round.
While Sebastian obviously has what it takes to succeed in professional tennis, Nelly and Jessica agree that he might be the most talented out of all the Korda siblings with his hands. It would be interesting to see what could happen if he took golf seriously.
“It almost makes me mad how good (his swing is) because I don’t think he’s ever had a lesson,” Nelly said. “He just goes out, doesn’t warm up, doesn’t do anything, just is pure.”
But now it’s time to focus on their own games this week at Whirlwind Golf Club, and Jessica says she’s taking her return to golf one day at a time. She doesn’t want to set high expectations for herself. She’s happy being a part-time golfer and full-time mom.
“Honestly, I’m just really happy to be here,” Jessica said. “I didn’t think I’d tee it up again after I was withdrawing out of a couple events in 2023. So being here, feeling good, we’ll see where it takes us.”