Nelly Korda shot a monster drive on her 17th hole with a calm authority, closing out in style at the Chevron Championship 2024. This is how she captured her second major. She went on to secure 7 LPGA titles and the World No. 1 spot that year. On the bags with her was Jason McDede, her trusted caddie and the person behind all her titles. Revealing her interpersonal dynamics, Korda shared her raw, unflinching relationship with McDede.

“How is that like with your caddy? Is there ever a time when you guys disagree and it just gets a little weird, or you’re just like quiet for a second? Like, you like pulling a club, like what are you doing? You’re like, ‘I got this. Hold on. Trust me,” Grant Horvat asked Nelly in his video.

“Not that, but like we’ve been together for nine years. So, that’s a good, good caddy player. I have all my wins with him on the LPGA. So, we have a great relationship. There are times when we disagree, or he likes it so funny, like by now I know him so well. When I tell him, “Oh, I’m thinking this.” I can hear it in his tone that he’s not 100% confident in it. And then I’m like, “Okay, so what?” Korda continued. “‘Oh my gosh, we know each other way too well.’ He’s like, ‘Sometimes that’s a blessing and a curse,'” replied Korda, applauding Jason McDede.

McDede has been on Korda’s bag since 2018. She joined the Tour in 2017. They have built a great yin-yang style relationship over the years on mutual understanding and respect. That can be a blessing in high-pressure stages, where relying on each other becomes all the more necessary. Helping her navigate the turf since she first began in the LPGA circuit, McDede helped Korda shape her breakthrough year in 2021 with her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship win. She went on to claim three more titles by the end of the year, showcasing their unmatched chemistry and camaraderie. McDede also helped bring her Olympic gold at the delayed Tokyo games.

Coming off her Chevron victory, marking her name in the LPGA as the Player of the Year, Korda couldn’t help but laud her caddie:

“I honestly don’t have any words, just because there are too many. He has been by my side for every single one of my wins out here, and in a sense, he’s my punching bag out there, he’s my best friend, and he’s my teammate. I wouldn’t be able to do it without him because his encouragement on and off the golf course has been amazing, and I’m just so, so, so thankful for him.”

Despite the added risks of being each other’s complement during the tournament, Korda and McDede have continued to show up for each other, building a relationship of trust and admiration for each other. But sometimes, the relationship dynamics can get interesting, as in the case of the 2019 Swinging Skirts LPGA Taiwan tournament.

Top Stories

Golf Insider Clears Air as Tommy Fleetwood Is Accused of ‘Gamesmanship’ by Commentator

Nelly Korda Gets Emotional as Brother Sebastian Korda Shares Big Personal Announcement

Encouraging Tiger Woods Update Surfaces 32 Days After Back Surgery Ruled Him Out

Tommy Fleetwood Pokes Fun at New ‘Rory McIlroy Award’ After Eligibility Criteria Is Announced

Caitlin Clark Becomes the Answer to LPGA’s Biggest Concern Ahead of Her Pro-Am Appearance

Nelly Korda got paired against McDede’s fiancée.

Jason McDede is deeply connected with golf. Whether it’s his professional boss or his wife, both have shown their flair on the LPGA circuit. At the 2019 Taiwan event, Jason McDede’s then fiancée Caroline Masson contended alongside Nelly Korda. As expected, McDede was on the bags with Korda, making the moment slightly awkward.

Initially, Korda, with her dominant demeanor, led the game and looked well on her way to an easy victory. But punishing bogeys on the 14th, 15th, and 17th dropped her score to 17-under, giving way to other golfers like Masson and Minjee Lee.

Masson made a crucial birdie on the 18th, but Lee could manage only a par, while Korda made a fierce comeback with a clutch birdie. That forced the event into the playoffs, but before the stakes could heighten, Korda made a birdie on the first hole and secured the victory. That marked her third title since McDede came on the bag.

But that must have been awkward and a little disheartening for the newly engaged couple, who met back in 2013. Addressing this tension, Korda spoke after the event:

“Yeah, Jason is engaged to Caroline, but at the end of the day, he is on my team, and I am the one signing his paycheck. Caroline is a great person, and she played amazing golf today. You know, it was kind of difficult for him… But I wouldn’t be where I am without Jason, and he made sure that he kept me in the game.”

This moment highlights the professionalism and respect that define elite sports—even amid personal connections and potential awkwardness, Nelly Korda and her caddie maintained focus on performance and mutual respect for competitors. And that’s what defines which relations last and which settle into the dust. Korda’s relationship with her caddie is, undoubtedly, the former.