The 31-year-old Alison Lee is back on the LPGA Tour this week at the JM Eagle LA Championship, also her hometown event, and she’s not just here to make up for the lost numbers. Speaking ahead of the tournament, Alison Lee opened up in her interview with the LPGA Tour about just how close she came to stepping away from the sport entirely.

“I really hope that a lot more moms can find comfort and play because it is a big challenge, and I think it’s very intimidating for a lot of women out here who want to have kids, but their career comes first in a sense,” she said. ” Before I made my return, I always thought that after I have kids, it would be impossible, and I just was going to retire,” Alison shared.

Alison Lee began playing golf at the age of six and turned professional in 2014. A former World No.1 amateur, she qualified for the U.S. Solheim Cup team in her rookie season and went on to record 12 top-10 finishes in her first seven years on the LPGA Tour. In 2025, she welcomed her first child, a son named Levi, born on April 25, marking a new chapter in her life.

Lee faced a difficult recovery, undergoing an emergency C-section that left her unable to walk for several days. She began easing back into golf around six weeks postpartum, starting with putting and chipping, and progressing to full swings by about two months. She described the process as physically and emotionally demanding. Yet within six months, she committed to returning, framing the journey as one of resilience and rediscovery.

“I wanna show mom that it’s possible, like you just need to have a little bit of help. I just wanna try and inspire more women if they want, like they don’t need to put their career to the side.”

By September 2025, Lee was back, returning to action at the LET’s Aramco Houston Championship, where she made the cut and finished T53. A month later, Lee fired a seven-under 64 in the opening round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship to tie for the lead. Now with her son, Levi, just days away from his first birthday, Lee is ready to be back on the field in full form with her eyes set on two major goals. Winning on the LPGA Tour and earning a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team.

“I’ve been a pro for 11 years,” she said. “I’ve won on the LET but not yet on the LPGA, and that goal keeps me going.”

Amid the demands of her comeback, Lee remains clear about what drives her. Balancing motherhood with elite competition has not been easy, but her intent is firm – serving as an example for other mothers on similar journeys, as well as her child.

“Hopefully, when he’s older and when he truly understands, like what I did, like all the sacrifices I had to make, because it’s hard and that takes a lot of sacrifice and a little bit of selfishness to try and like push myself and go out there and practice and get in shape and things like that.”

Lee is certainly trying to inspire new mothers, and this adds to the list of women who have made it.

Motherhood is reshaping the LPGA Tour 

Alison Lee’s story is not an isolated one. Six-time LPGA winner Jessica Korda knows the same weight. After withdrawing from the Cognizant Founders Cup in May 2023 with a back injury and later announcing her pregnancy, Korda gave birth to her son Greyson in February 2024 and did not return to full LPGA competition for nearly three years.

The road back was built around a strict new reality. Korda now operates on a five-hour window on practice days, within which she must complete her workout, range session, and everything else required of her. Golf fits into whatever time is left.

“I definitely prioritize my time with my son over golf,” Korda said. “I think I was telling Nelly the other day that I was there for literally 45 minutes because I just didn’t have the time.”

She made her first full-field LPGA start in three years at the 2026 Ford Championship at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. Different player, same crossroads. The LPGA Tour is slowly becoming a space where motherhood and elite ambition are no longer mutually exclusive, but the path back remains anything but simple.