After LeBron James gifted Nelly Korda a custom pair of Nike golf shoes, she excitedly told him that she would wear them at the 2026 US Women’s Open. She followed through on that promise, but only briefly. Just six holes into her opening round, she switched back to her regular shoes, and apparently, it was a fit issue.

“They’re the same shoes I’m wearing. Obviously, they were hand-painted and extremely cool. I really wanted to wear them, but it’s so interesting because I’m really fussy with my shoes, as you guys know. I’ve worn, let’s say, a black pair of shoes and a white pair of shoes, the same shoe, and the black pair and the white pair fit completely differently. I’ve struggled with that throughout my entire career, and they just had a little bit too much room in them,” Nelly Korda said on the Pat McAfee Show.

“I felt like my toes were moving around a little too much, and I don’t like that at all. So I just had my physio. I was like, listen, can you please run into my locker and get the pair of shoes I have in my locker? And I changed them after six holes, but it had nothing to do with the shoes. It was just the fit. Well, it wasn’t anything to do with the height of the shoes. It was just that I had a little too much room in them, and I wasn’t feeling too comfortable.”

When a media representative asked her about the change after the first round, she said something similar and shared that she has had the same issues with [Air] Jordans, too, where a different color would fit differently. When asked if shoes were impacting her play, she denied with a chuckle.

In early May 2026, she revealed that she was making shoe changes to improve her game. The biggest change since last year is that she “has higher shoes.” She was talking about higher soles to help her get closer to the ground with her chest. The aim was to get a little steeper in her swing.

“I’m trying to actually get closer to the ground with my chest. And with that, I actually get a little bit steeper in my swing and hinge it a little faster. It’s literally like the smallest of things. Golfers are crazy. I’m crazy, just to let you know,” she said back in May on the Pat McAfee Show.

Since James started publicly posting golf videos in 2025, he has constantly supported and cheered golfers.

“So amazing. I mean, the amount of DMs I’ve gotten from him and his support for the entire tour has been amazing,” Nelly Korda said about his support.

He showed the same support once again by posting about her win on Instagram Stories and writing, “CONGRATS NELLY!!”

Korda is not the only Nike athlete who changed shoes for a golf event. At the PGA Championship, Rory McIlroy, who had developed a toe blister at the Truist Championship, switched from his standard Nike Victory Tour 4 shoes to Victory Pro 4s to alleviate pain.

While the shoe change was one of the biggest highlights of Nelly Korda’s US Women’s Open 2026 victory, she had changed one more thing.

Nelly Korda’s grip change post-Round 1 of the US Women’s Open 2026

After hitting a 2-over 73 in her opening round, Korda said that she had been driving comfortably from Monday to Wednesday and wasn’t sure what happened during the opening round. Therefore, she wanted to go to the range to fix that. Accompanying her was her sister, Jessica Korda.

As the big sister and a 6-time LPGA winner herself, Jessica has been a huge support to Nelly. While practicing on the range, Jessica noticed some discomfort with her sister’s swing.

Grip change is one of the toughest tweaks a golfer makes. A slight change in the grip could result in disastrous rounds. So the World No. 1 was a little skeptical at first.

“It felt super funky today, but I just trusted and went with it,” she said in an interview.

She went with it because she trusted Jessica. She also revealed that Jessica could barely sleep because of the thought of ruining her sister’s game with the advice. However, it all worked out in the end.

Regardless of the shoe swap, Nelly Korda’s major win was historic. She is now just 2 points from LPGA Hall of Fame induction and also one major away from a career grand slam.