All eyes are on World No. 1 Nelly Korda at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, but those eyes saw a strange sight during Thursday’s opening round.
After playing her opening six holes while starting on Riviera’s back nine, Korda changed shoes on the 16th tee box. This move was made even more noteworthy, however, by what shoes she took off.
The day before, Korda shared on Instagram that she’d received a pair of custom LeBrons. The three-time major champ thanked the four-time NBA MVP and vowed to wear them for the first round. But she wound up going back to her old Nikes after playing the first six holes in one over par.
https://x.com/Sean_Zak/status/206256833297773792twitter
Golf Channel reported that Korda’s caddie asked her trainer to get a different pair of shoes while she was on the 14th hole and she got them a couple holes later. Apparently, the LeBrons, although sharp-looking, were “a little too loose.”
While on hole 16, Nelly Korda switched out her shoes for a different pair from the locker room.@TheAmyRogers reports with more details from Riviera ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YMZU0zuOc5
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 4, 2026
She played the next 12 holes in one over as well to finish with an opening 73 that has her six shots off Sei Young Kim’s early lead.
“I felt like I had a little too much room,” Korda said after the round. “It’s honestly kind of, I’ve run into this issue. I had that with the Jordans, too. Sometimes when I wear a different color, they just are made a little different, just the spacing is a little different. It’s the exact same shoe. I just wanted to wear these.”
She was asked if the shoes made a difference in her play.
“No, apparently not,” she said with laughter. “I just felt more comfortable in these, yeah.”
Anyway, Nelly, if you’re not going to wear those LeBrons, what size are they? Asking for a friend …
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Alex Slitz






