Nelly Korda didn’t have to wait long Sunday to hear from her big sister after winning the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Still on the 18th green, still dripping with champagne from the celebratory soaking she got after tapping in to win, Nelly turned to see Jodi Ewart Shadoff thrust a phone in her hand.
Before Nelly could get to scoring, before she could even get to the trophy, big sis Jessica got to her.
Glancing down at the phone, Nelly saw Jessica in tears, looking back at her in a FaceTime connection.
“It was like Jess was right here with me,” Nelly said. “She was just bawling. I lost it, too. I was crying because of all the emotions.”
Choking up, Nelly didn’t have to say anything.
“Jess kept saying, ‘I’m so proud of you, I’m so proud of you, I’m so proud of you,’” Nelly said. “It meant a lot to me.
“She’s like my best friend. To have her out here on tour, taking me under her wing, showing me the ropes and including me in everything, she made me the player I am today.”
Jessica may have been back at her home in West Palm Beach, Fla., glued to Golf Channel’s live stream of the event, but the distance didn’t matter. The sisters made history together in Taiwan.
Jessica, 25, is a five-time LPGA winner. Nelly, 20, claimed her first in her second year on tour. The Kordas are just the third set of sisters to win LPGA titles.
The Sorenstams were the first sister combo to do it. Annika won 72 LPGA titles, with Charlotta joining her with a victory in 2000. The Jutanugarns were the second. They joined the mix when Moriya won the Hugel-JTBC LA Open in April, following sister Ariya as a winner.
Nelly’s victory radiated beyond sisterhood. It was a full family celebration. When Nelly checked her cell phone after leaving scoring, she saw a text with a photo from her father, Petr. He snapped a shot of a full champagne glass from the family home back in Bradenton, Fla.
“He said, ‘This one’s for you,’” Nelly said. “I think they were having quite a breakfast. They were up all night.”
Full-field scores from the Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan Championship
The Kordas are an extraordinary sports story. From mom and dad, to the sister combo and baby brother, they are all world-class athletes.
Parents Petr and Regina were international tennis champions from the Czech Republic, with Petr taking a Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in 1998, and Regina climbing among the top 25 women in the world rankings and making the Olympics.
Sebastian, 18, is the baby brother. He is the reigning Australian Open junior champ and No. 2 in the world in the International Tennis Federation junior rankings.
Nelly was thinking about all of them in the wake of Sunday’s victory.
“Just to be in the position we’re in, we are very grateful,” Nelly said. “It’s all because of our parents. They’ve always been there for us. They’ve always made sure our heads were in the right place, and they’ve always told us to be humble.”
Korda didn’t look as if she were trying to close out her first victory Sunday at Ta Shee Golf and Country Club. She looked in total control, posting a bogey-free, 4-under-par 68 to win by two shots. She hit 11 of 14 fairways. She hit 16 greens in regulation. Mostly, though, she overpowered her challengers.
Korda was in the final pairing with Wei-Ling Hsu, the homeland favorite who was playing in front of massive galleries. Jin Young Ko, a two-time LPGA winner and Korean LPGA star, was also in the final pairing.
They were no match for Korda’s power. She’s one of the tour’s big hitters, ranking 19th in driving distance. She averaged 274 yards per drive on Sunday and consistently hammered tee shots 30 yards past both Hsu and Ko.
Hsu closed with a 74 and tied for sixth. Ko finished with a 73 and tied for eighth. While Hsu and Ko both played themselves into trouble, Korda never did.
“It’s definitely one of the best days of my entire life,” Korda said.
FaceTime with Jessica added to the emotion. Nelly remembered back to when she was 13, when Jessica won her first LPGA title. Nelly huddled with her parents watching a live stream on her father’s computer.
“I remember everything about it,” Nelly said. “When she won, my mom and I were bawling our eyes out.”
Nelly had a chance to win earlier this year. She took a one-shot lead into the final round of the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, but she lost by a shot to Michelle Wie when her final birdie chance at the last slid away.
“Jess was really there for me,” Nelly said.
Nelly said she needed Jess early in the year, when she was battling through a mysterious stomach malady that lingered for almost three months, before the right antibiotics drove it away.
“Jess has been there every step of the way,” Nelly said. “She knows exactly what I’ve gone through this year.”
And knew more than anyone else what breaking through to win really meant.