Not all golfers enjoy getting tips from family members, however well-intentioned they may be. But Nelly Korda, the best player in women’s golf, used a swing tip from her sister to recover from a rough start and charge into contention at the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open.
It heps that Korda’s sister, Jessica Korda, isn’t some amateur swing guru. She’s a six-time LPGA winner herself, with two career U.S. Open top 10s.
When Nelly was struggling to find answers following a poor opening round, Jessica swooped in with a simple tip that righted the ship for the World No. 1.
Korda shouts out sister for key swing help at U.S. Women’s Open
Korda, of the Nelly variety, came into this week’s major at Riviera with sky-high expectations. She’d already captured the first major of the year, the Chevron Championship in April, along with two other wins and three runner-up finishes.
It seemed like this was the year she would finally win her first U.S. Women’s Open.
Then came Thursday.
Korda fought her swing throughout Round 1, a poor strategy for a difficult course like Riviera. She made four bogeys and only two birdies to finish with a two-over 73.
It seemed like instead of contending for the lead, Nelly would be fighting to make the cut on Friday.
But in a post-round range session Thursday night ahead of Round 2, Korda found what she was looking for. Or, more accurately, Jessica did.
“It was weird because I was striking it so well Monday through Wednesday, and all of a sudden I just really didn’t — I had no idea what was going on yesterday with my driver,” Korda said on Friday. “So tried to figure it out on the range after the round and kind of got a little bit of something kind of going.”
The swing fix came after Korda had struggled with “laying it off at the top,” which resulted in inconsistent strikes and wayward drives to the right. Jessica’s simple tip? Strengthen your grip.
“Actually, a big shout out to my sister because she helped me. I just tried to strengthen my grip a little bit,” Korda explained on Friday. “I just kind of keep laying it off at the top and I’ve been working on it, gosh, grinding on it for five weeks, and I can’t get it. I don’t know what I’m doing in my swing, so I just try to strengthen my grip.”
While the new grip didn’t feel natural to Korda in Round 2, she was determined to keep at it anyway.
“It felt super funky today, but I just trusted and went with it,” Korda said.
After seeing the results in Round 2, Nelly might be looking for advice from Jessica more often. The younger sister drained five birdies against a lone bogey to shoot a four-under 67, despite switching golf shoes mid-round.
