Could the LPGA use a Nelly Korda moment? That's the plan

When Nelly Korda sank a 2-foot, 10-inch putt to win the US Women's Open at Riviera earlier this month — her second major victory and fourth of the year — the questions came before the champagne ran dry on the 18th green.

He can win three in a row? Will you give up a career Grand Slam or a Super Slam? this year? When will he punch his ticket to the Hall of Fame? This is the biggest LPGA moment since…?

For LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler, his first thought was happiness for Korda, who accomplished a lifelong dream by carving the mountain she set out to climb when she made her US Women's Open debut at the age of 14 at Sebonack on Long Island's East End. But he also had a question of his own.

How can the LPGA make the most of the revolutionary gift given to them by Nelly Korda?

“Part of my job is to figure out how we take these long-lasting moments – Nelly winning four times in the first half of the season, two majors in a row – how can we explain that to be good for Nelly and good for the tour?” Kessler told GOLF in a phone interview Tuesday before the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

KESSLER CONTINUES work for about a year. A golf rapist who came out of the PGA of America, he took the LPGA with the idea of ​​changing the sports league that was lagging behind other major women's sports in terms of the sum of its parts – world-class athletes with dynamic personalities, during the growth of women's sports and at a time when there is an increase in interest in playing golf, both professionally and recreationally or what should be said. That is, a league that is leading the cultural explosion, not one that has been lagging behind for the past decade.

What Kessler found when he arrived was a bigger challenge than he imagined, but one with clear paths to rapid, positive change if the focus and attention were in the right place.

“I think I was surprised by two things,” Kessler said. “The first, how much opportunity there is here, even more than I expected. And the intensity of the challenge. This is not an organization that is looking for a single solution. This is an organization that has so much opportunity that it just needs a huge amount of focus in many areas: broadcasting, creating stars, creating an amazing fan experience, rethinking our program.”

If you want to understand where Craig Kessler wants to take the LPGA and how he plans to get there, you have to start with what he's learned about himself since taking over.

“My dad always said there are a lot of people who think they're smart and they don't mind telling you that,” Kessler said. But real wisdom comes in the form of questions, curiosity, knowing what you don't know and not being afraid to ask.” The people who go far, he said, the ones who make a difference, big or small, are the ones who are flexible and open-minded, and more interested in doing something right than being right.”

Kessler has a vision for where the LPGA should be in five or 10 years. You have ideas and thoughts and flywheels about how to get there. He brought about a major change in broadcasting which has seen all the rounds shown live for the first time in 75 years. That stream came with enhancements like drones, more tracers, more cameras, and more features and enhanced content that tell the players' stories. It was successful. It can improve. Nothing is perfect. He added a new tournament through an agreement with Golf Saudi and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, with a fund of $4 million. He plans to reshape the program and said the 2027 slate will have “unbelievable golf courses that we've never played before.” He wants to elevate every part of his players' journey, from bags to player food to social media content and personal products.

His first year also came with mistakes and mishaps, most notably the shortening of the Champions Tournament to 54 holes due to the cold. It was a decision Kessler regretted and it kept him awake for weeks, fearing that he no longer trusted his players.

But he hasn't, because Kessler is always asking everyone's questions. Because you are open and honest and accountable. Because the idea is not concrete, it is being shaped, not only by him but by everyone. During the week of the tournament, you'll find him on the move talking to players from all parts of his journey, going around the Golf Channel set, talking to the media. One thing Kessler wishes he had known when he took the job was how important that time is.

“Just be there, be prepared to have honest conversations, and come in with an open heart and an open mind,” Kessler said. “I wish I had left more time for myself to do those things.

“I think every year on the job I hope I'm a better decision maker and more importantly I'm a better questioner.”

When Kessler took over, the LPGA was in the midst of a season defined by historic parity. Korda didn't make it in 2025, and at the CME Group Tour's season-ending tournament, the question of whether the LPGA needs a superstar to capture eyeballs was at the forefront. The consensus among players was that having a deep tour is better for the overall health of the LPGA, but having a superstar can be important as the league looks to the big goal.

“Even if you don't play golf, you know who Tiger Woods is,” said Hall of Famer Lydia Ko. “As having such a figure, yes, it is very important.”

WHEN KORDA RECORDS SEVEN WINS times in 2024, his success felt like a missed opportunity for the LPGA under Kessler's predecessor. The WNBA was in the midst of an explosion, and it sounded like Korda could create a similar wave for women's golf. That didn't happen. Maybe the LPGA wasn't ready yet. Korda also didn't settle for being the kind of standard bearer the LPGA needed.

So when Kessler took over, there was no hidden script for how to promote a superstar to a historic tournament, should that happen.

Yes, you can't edit history. It comes without warning and asks the flexible to make the most of an opportunity that may not come again.

Korda's four, two major victories this season are LPGA honors. The tour is full of talented, marketable performers, from Charley Hull to Lydia Ko and Rose Zhang. Women's golf has a stacked group of young up-and-comers like Asterisk Talley and Kiara Romero, who are coming soon. But if you want to introduce them to the crowd, if you want to grab and keep eyeballs in a scrolling disaster world dominated by 30-second social media videos and endless streaming options, you need something to grab them. You need gravity as an entry point.

After Korda put his name on Ben Hogan's statue outside the Riviera, it was up to Kessler, the LPGA team and Korda and his team to find a way to capitalize on the moment – to use his gravitas and stardom to draw new fans. That included an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show,” a press tour of New York City and an appearance on the “Today” show, a stunning Nike billboard in Times Square, a visit to the New York Stock Exchange and select interviews with the golf media. It is being repeated for the first time what Kessler hopes will be the guide he will always use in his time.

Granted, this is not the playbook the LPGA has ever made, is it?” Kessler said. “So we're building a new muscle, and if I had to describe it in a word, it's bad. Call everyone we know in our network, see who is available, who is interested, work with Nelly and his team, and find out how we can run the process that makes everyone happy, and my suspicion is that every time, sometimes we will win Nelly better and in the end we will win. it's a playbook that we can repeat every time we have times when it makes sense to use a toolkit like this.”

As Nelly made the rounds of the Big Apple media, Kessler received a text from someone in the golf space about the time Korda's beauty was engineered — which could and should serve as a building block as the league tries to catch up.

“This is the first time since Michelle Wie West that the LPGA has had a world champion surpassing the game she plays.,” Kessler said, recalling the message.” “That's right, I think people are talking about Nelly and the LPGA because she found a way to promote and enter the culture in a way that maybe we didn't talk about early on. Yes, and that creates a set of amazing opportunities for Nelly and many of our other stars, let's say, who will enter the culture in the same way as Nelly.”

Where does Kessler want the LPGA to be in five, 10 years? The vision is bold and ambitious, in keeping with the current boom in women's sports. A global sports and entertainment leader that inspires and gives back to the community. With a stable of celebrities whose stories go beyond golf and are embedded in wider culture. The plan is, to use Kessler's term, it's scrappy. It's smart and bold and will take time and more than two hands. He thinks the trip is already “on the way,” but “it's going to take time to sink in.”

As an African proverb says: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

Kessler wants the LPGA to go a long way. So is Korda.

So the commissioner, who likes to ask questions, and the young champion, who is eager to do his part to take the LPGA where it is going, forge a path together.

“He's a deep thinker,” Kessler said of Korda. “She's really smart, we'll talk, and then a day or two later, out of the blue, I get a text or a call, and Nelly says, 'Hey, I've been thinking a lot about what we talked about, here are a few more ideas. I usually ask a lot of questions to our staff, players, players … and when we have a big decision to make, I often find myself going out and asking questions, and whenever I have a chance to get Nelly's thoughts, I feel like the trip is better because of it.

“From our first conversation to sitting next to him [KPMG Women’s PGA] Champions dinner last night, she's comfortable in her own skin, proud of what she stands for, eager to inspire women and girls more than I've ever seen, and such a gift to the LPGA.”

As Kessler races toward Year 2 amid a wave of excitement created by Korda and the LPGA's spending plan, his question remains in the air: How much was the gift brought by Nelly Korda? The answer will not come next week or next year. But it will come – and, for the LPGA's growth, it will have profound consequences.