“It has been incredible to see not just the audiences that we get, but the respect from sponsors in putting us on prestigious golf courses. That helps bring in a crowd. And I’d say, obviously, compared to the [men’s] PGA Tour, with their prize money and their TV deals, we have room for improvement, but I always say small goals lead to big goals.” For example, Golfweek reported that when the 2023 US Women’s Open was held for the first time at Pebble Beach Golf Links—a world-renowned course in California—the final round drew the most viewers ever for a LPGA tour event.

Korda was born in Bradenton, Florida, and she hails from a sporting family. Her father, Pietr, won tennis’s Australian Open, and her mother, Regina, is also an ex-professional tennis player. Her older sister Jessica is on the LPGA Tour too, and her brother, Sebastian, is on tennis’s ATP Tour (congratulations are in order for Sebastian: He just won the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington, DC.) Korda has golfed since she was a child and became familiar with the LPGA all the way back in 2011, when her sister was a rookie on the circuit.

“I’ve always just loved the game of golf,” Korda says, looking back at what got her into it, and her favorite element that keeps her going. And, while a site’s visibility and lore do help bring in more people, she’s not necessarily personally precious about the pedigree of the course she’s playing (though, of course, Korda has her favorites). “I’ve always said I love the competition of the sport, whichever course I am on.”

Korda has played Augusta, perhaps the most famous course in the world (it’s the site of the men’s Masters Tournament and a club that had long been billed as men’s only, though there are a select few women members including former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice). The nearest and dearest to her heart is a place called Sebonack in Southampton, New York. “That was my first US Women’s Open,” Korda says, “and that was the first time I got to play alongside my sister in a professional event.” The year was 2013—Korda was just 14.

The athlete keeps a mostly strict—and consistent—routine, with gym and practice sessions six times per week and Sundays off. This thinking applied to her 2024 Olympic buildup too: “I’ll prepare the same way as I would for a regular event,” she says matter-of-factly. But she adds, “as important it is to grind, it’s also super, super important to give your body a break, so you’re fresh.”

She does have one thing she wants changed with the Olympics, though, outside of what’s been established: “I’ll have been sad to miss the opening ceremonies. The men are the first week and the women are always the second week, and the women miss the opening ceremony [as a result.] I feel like every other Olympics, they should switch us.” (A fair point!)

Korda appreciates the constant travel of her job—she’s a Delta Diamond Medallion, the airlines’ highest published frequent flier tier—and she’s often overstuffing her Tumi suitcases to the 70-pound mark (a perk her elite status affords her). And despite Tumi’s popularity, the odds of Korda’s luggage being mistaken for someone else’s at baggage claim are slim. “I love stickers,” she says. “Every place I go, every coffee shop that I go to, I try to look for cool stickers that I can add to my suitcases to personalize them.” She pauses. “I need a croissant sticker from Paris.”