While Korda played well enough to contend early in 2018, she battled Clostridium difficile, more commonly known as “C. diff.” for several months early in the season. 

When she finally broke through with a victory in Taiwan, she broke down when she saw Jessica on a FaceTime call. 

The Kordas became the third set of sisters to win on the LPGA, joining Annika (72 wins) and Charlotta Sorenstam (one win) and Ariya (12 wins) and Moryia Jutanguarn (two wins).

Nelly’s two-shot victory at the 2019 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open gave the Korda family a staggering fourth Down Under title. Petr Korda kicked it off with a win at the 1998 Australian Open tennis tournament.

Jessica recorded her first victory on the LPGA at the 2012 Women’s Australian Open. Younger brother Sebastian claimed the 2018 Australian Open junior tennis tournament, and then Nelly followed suit at The Grange Golf Club.

When asked if there were photos in the house of previous scissor-kicks, Petr said no.

“You do that when you complete the mission,” he said. “You cannot do that with one person that’s missing. She kind of felt like she was left outside of the circle, but right now the circle is closed. We’ll see what we will do.”

Korda’s second Taiwan title came in a three-way playoff against Minjee Lee and Caroline Masson. What made this overtime extra intriguing was that Masson was, at the time, engaged to Korda’s caddie Jason McDede. The couple are now married and welcomed a son, Benton, in 2023. 

Korda, who still has McDede on the bag, birdied the 18th in regulation and on the first extra hole to take the title.

“Jason is engaged to Caroline, but at the end of the day, he is on my team and I am the one signing his paycheck,” said Korda, laughing.

Masson said before the final round that she planned to embrace the unusual situation.

“Solheim was even worse,” she the German player. “We played against each other, so we’re kind of used to it now.”

The 2021 Gainbridge title holds a special place for Nelly as it was her first on U.S. soil, and the first LPGA victory her parents got to witness in person. Jessica Korda had managed to win in front of Petr and Regina for the first time just the month prior.

Nelly won at Lake Nona by three shots over Lexi Thompson and resident Lydia Ko. It was just the start of a career-changing year.

A closing 67 at the Meijer LPGA Classic gave her a second title in 2021, and the big takeaway from the week was that she enjoyed the Sunday battle. Korda admitted that there have been times the stress of Sundays in the hunt ate at her. 

But it was different this time. 

“I was laughing out there a good bit, which on Sundays,” said Korda. “When I’m in the final group, I forget to smile and laugh and I’m so zoned in on hitting these perfect shots and making sure I execute everything perfectly, that when something is off just a little bit I get so angry at myself and so hard on myself.

“Today I was like, OK, we take it how it is and just enjoy the moment.”

At 22, Korda came into the KPMG Women’s PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club, her 26th major start, the undisputed best player on the LPGA without a major. By week’s end, kids lined the barricades that led from the 18th green up to the clubhouse shouting her name.

On a sweltering Sunday, Korda fulfilled the promise she’d shown from a young age, becoming the first American to rise to No. 1 in the world since Stacy Lewis in 2014, ending a drought that stretched 2,678 days. 

It marked her third victory of the season.

“You’re welcome for the boot camp,” said Petr, referring to the practice session they held at home in Bradenton, Florida, after Nelly missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open. The biggest takeaway from that multi-day session, she said, was structure.

Korda’s fourth LPGA title of the year came in dramatic fashion after she made triple from the fairway on the penultimate hole. A birdie on the last (and another short miss from Lexi Thompson) put her in a playoff against Thompson and Lydia Ko.

Korda poured in a birdie on the 18th for a second time to clinch the title. The anger she felt after the triple, when curse words were flying, actually fueled her.

“When I used to play against my dad when I was younger,” said Korda, “he would always try to piss me off because he always says that I step it up a notch when I’m pissed.”

The second time Korda won the Pelican felt much different than the first. So much had transpired between the two titles. 

“We’re just very fortunate she’s alive,” said her father Petr of the blood clot that required surgery and took her out of the game for months.

She closed with a 64 on Sunday, edging Thompson by a stroke. 

At the Drive On earlier this year Korda, playing 15 minutes from her childhood home, entered the final round at Bradenton Country Club with a four-stroke lead and found herself down three strokes to Lydia Ko with two holes to play.

Korda, who hadn’t made a birdie all day, stepped up to the par-5 17th and eagled it for a second day in a row, hitting 3-wood, 3-wood and then draining a 20-footer. She then nearly holed her approach on the 18th for eagle, finishing off regulation with a tap-in birdie to force a playoff. Korda played the 17th and 18th holes 8 under for the week, picking up more than seven strokes on the field on those two holes alone.

Korda won on the second playoff hole, winning for the first time since November 2022. 

She then took the next seven weeks off.

When Korda returned to the tour at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship, she showed a little rust only in her chipping in that opening round. Otherwise, she looked like someone who never took a break. 

Korda’s seven-week hiatus from competition included three and a half weeks without touching a club. She spent two and a half of those weeks in Prague, Czech Republic, with family. Korda said she couldn’t remember a time that she put her clubs away for that long while in a good headspace and not injured.

Her playoff victory over O’Toole made her the 39th different player from the United States to earn double-digit victories on tour. 

The victory at Palos Verdes also moved her past Laura Davies on the LPGA’s all-time career money list at No. 28 with $9,523,989.

Korda took her first outright lead of the week on the back nine Sunday at the inaugural Ford Championship and finished the job with a bogey-free 7-under 65 to win by two for her 11th LPGA win.