Let us walk down memory lane, all the way back to the early 1990s. Back when golf used to be a vanilla sport played by men who looked the same, dressed the same, and had similar hobbies. Then came 1996, when Tiger Woods smashed into the scene. And yes, I mean, smashed! He wasn’t just winning titles one after another. He was rewiring how others perceived golf as a sport. Whether it was his passionate fist pumps, the advertisements that even got him to juggle golf balls, or just that bright smile, people were drawn to him. And, in turn, he was drawn to the people. He quite literally raised the bar for who could watch and play golf, expanding the PGA Tour in ways few thought possible. Come 2024, and just when the LPGA Commissioner realized women’s golf was falling behind as other women’s sports were growing, the Tour’s sister circuit discovered they had a similar catalyst.

Now don’t get me wrong, Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam had already brought much to the table to help the LPGA grow. But Nelly Korda and her five consecutive wins two years ago – including the Chevron Championship that brought in 1.9 million viewers – to match Lopez, Sorenstam, and Woods, made her the biggest women’s golf star in the Paris Olympics. But interestingly, more than the electric jolt that she brought, it was her ability to stay human and show emotions that attracted many. And that quality wasn’t lost on Kessler, who quite literally gave her the biggest honor she could’ve expected.

“People ask a lot of Nelly Korda. She’s the Tiger Woods in many ways of our tour,” Kessler said of Korda and his players on Golf Channel. “The fact that she got on a plane right after she won the U.S. Women’s Open and did an interview from the stock exchange floor on CNBC and did the Today Show.

“And I can run you through a series of our athletes who have all stepped up in big ways. I’m very encouraged by the level of buy-in I’m seeing.”

Enough media presence is expected when you win so much in your sport. However, it was usually not the case with LPGA and Korda. However, back in June, when Korda won her second major, the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera, he scrapped out a plan to capitalize on her skills while keeping her image and the LPGA Tour’s need for a push in mind because he had seen what happened before him.

Nelly Korda won the US Women’s Open title by one shot over Charley Hull and Gaby Lopez, making it her second major win in a row. But the celebrations did not stop on the course.

She appeared on “The Pat McAfee Show,” met the New York media, featured on a Times Square billboard and visited the New York Stock Exchange. LPGA Commissioner Craig Kessler admitted that the tour had never planned this kind of promotion for a player before. His point makes sense. Winning major titles puts a golfer in the spotlight, but reaching people beyond golf can make that success even more valuable.

In 2024, when the WNBA was booming because of superstar players like Caitlin Clark, Korda won seven times. But it was a missed opportunity.

The LPGA Tour did not organize enough media tours or social media awareness for Korda to make that kind of a difference. Kessler knew she could.

How Kessler changed Nelly Korda’s visibility, and, by extension, the LPGA’s

Before Kessler came in, the LPGA was turning into ruins while every other women’s sport like the WNBA and the NWSL saw an uptick. But when he saw what Korda could do, he knew what the Tour needed. However, as Kessler took over, things went into a spiral.

In 2025, Korda went winless. And Kessler’s plans almost came to an end. Almost.

In the year he didn’t see his best player make the most impact on the course, he realized she could still do enough off of it. His vision for the next five to ten years of LPGA is already set. But what he instantly did was change the broadcast, putting every round live on air for the first time in 75 years. In turn, that helped in different ways.

More cameras meant more ways to bring a player’s story to life for the fan to watch. There was no longer a disconnect. But Kessler went on. He joined hands with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and has plans to reschedule the 2027 slate.

“It will feature unbelievable golf courses we’ve never played before,” he said earlier.

With the visibility also came social media engagements. It could also increase the overall purses for events in the LPGA. After all, he knows what he’s looking for.

“Part of my job is to figure out how do we take these moments that are once-in-a-generation moments — Nelly winning four times in the first half of the season, two consecutive majors — how can we parlay that into something that’s great for Nelly and also great for the tour?” Kessler told GOLF in a phone interview in June.

But while Kessler knows what Korda can and is doing, he also appreciates other players who are stepping up in ways that bring much promise to the circuit’s future.

Kessler praises Nelly Korda and others for a quality that not every player shows

Stepping in front of a room after you’ve won, with high emotions and big smiles, isn’t hard. But entering the same room when you’ve lost with a narrow margin or disappointed your fans, that’s a bigger challenge. That’s where Kessler has noticed what his players are capable of.

“We’ve had quite a few players, you look at Brooke Henderson or Nelly Korda, who have lost in a playoff or on 17 or 18 of a tournament, and immediately walk in to do press to talk about what their emotions are like and what they’re feeling. And those types of interviews in raw moments are what create connections between fans and athletes.”

Fans also want to hear from athletes when things don’t go their way. These moments can tell fans more about a player than a celebration after winning a trophy.

Still, Nelly Korda cannot grow the LPGA on her own. The tour needs more players who are ready to connect with fans and make themselves known outside golf. If Korda, Brooke Henderson, and other stars continue to do this, the LPGA could build a stronger bond with sports fans. Winning gets people’s attention, but showing their personality and being open with fans can keep them interested. For one, Kessler is making sure that sentiment reaches the LPGA fans raw.