NAPLES, Fla. -- These days, professional golf is cushioned from the hazards of a me-against-the-world existence, with helping hands for swings and psyches that the founders of the LPGA couldn't have imagined in 1950, when they hoped they could drive to the next tournament without getting a flat tire or making a wrong turn. Despite the evolution, it can still be a lonely business in which scores can overwhelm souls if given the chance. Having family around helps, and having a sibling around can help a lot.
The current top-ranked player in women's golf knows.
"I feel really lucky to have her beside me all the time," world No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn said of her older sister, Moriya, who is No. 18 in the Rolex rankings. (They are "May" and "Mo" to friends.) "When we have bad things going on in life, I'm able to talk to her about everything -- able to share -- and she understands everything. Even outside of golf, she understands. I feel really lucky to have someone like this. Sometimes I don't even have to say anything."
Jutanugarn was speaking Wednesday afternoon at Tiburon Golf Club, where the LPGA's season-ending CME Group Tour Championship begins Thursday. On Tuesday, Ariya, 22, who has 10 career LPGA victories including three this year, started crying in a news conference when asked how it felt to see Moriya, now 24, win at the HUGEL-JTBC LA Open earlier this year for her first victory in more than 150 starts.
"I think that's No. 1 because she's the one who always worked hard, who never gave up," Ariya told reporters.
"People saw how happy at the time May was with her sister and even yesterday started crying about it in the media room," said one of the Jutanugarns' performance coaches, Pia Nilsson of Vision54. "And it's so pure. We see them all the time. They are so competitive with each other. They know it makes them better, but there is pure love no matter what happens. It kind of goes back when you read the history of competition, the original meaning of competition was to strive together, strive for excellence. I want you to get good because that will make me try to be better."
The Jutanugarns aren't the only sisters competing at Tiburon. They are joined in the field by Jessica Korda, 25, and Nelly Korda, 20, who are ranked 12th and 33rd, respectively, in the world. In their case this season, it was younger sister Nelly getting her maiden victory last month at the Swinging Skirts Taiwan LPGA Championship to the delight of Jessica, who has five career wins, as she watched the broadcast in the wee hours from her Florida home.
From nearly 9,000 miles away, Jessica's tears of joy were as real as Ariya's had been when she watched Moriya greenside in California.
"I was absolutely a total mess when my sister won," said Jessica, who posted her raw reaction to the achievement on social media. "It's something different when your sibling does it. When you do, it's like, 'Great, that was awesome. I work hard and do the things you're supposed to.' But when you're watching someone else do it, you not only appreciate it more, but you understand the struggles. When you're watching someone else do it, you understand what they're going through."
From its start, the LPGA has had the presence of sisters, with Alice and Marlene Bauer among the 13 women who founded the organization. Marlene -- who played as Marlene Hagge most of her career -- won 26 times, but Alice never won. It was a similar situation for sisters Donna and Janet Caponi, with Donna winning 24 tournaments, including four major championships, while Janet did not earn a victory. Later on, Danielle Ammaccapane won seven times, but sister Dina wasn't able to lift a trophy.
In the long history of the LPGA, the Jutanugarns and Kordas are two of only three sets of sisters who have each won at least once on tour. The other siblings to accomplish the feat are Annika Sorenstam, who had 72 victories, and her younger sister, Charlotta, whose lone victory came at the 2000 Standard Register PING.
Nilsson also coached the Sorenstams. "Some families can be supportive and unconditional but still have fun with competition," she said. "Sometimes it isn't a good situation. It depends on the culture of the family. I can only speak for the Sorenstams and the Jutanugarns, but in their cases, it was a good way."
The Jutanugarns and the Kordas logged thousands of hours together well before they got on tour.
"From day one," Jessica said. "When she could start walking, she had a plastic club in her hand. That's around the time when I started to play golf. If my mom was with me when I was getting a golf lesson, my sister had to tag along. So pretty cool. She always says I was an inspiration. I know I always tried to help her as much as I could, kind of cut the learning curve in half since I am the oldest. I am the test bunny for everything, as I like to call it."
Ariya and Moriya were introduced to golf at the same time, when Ariya was 5½ and Moriya was 7. The older Jutanugarn is a precise golfer, in keeping with a personality that likes a tidy room in contrast to Ariya, a more powerful player whose room isn't as neat as her scorecards.
"Total opposites," eight-time LPGA winner Brittany Lincicome said. "It just shows young people coming up that there is not one way to play."
The Kordas have similar builds and power, but Nelly favors a slightly more aggressive strategy -- sort of opposite of her personality.
"Our personalities are very different," Jessica said. "We say we might look alike and talk alike, but we sure as heck don't act alike. Just our personalities -- I'm a little bit more outgoing, and she's a little bit more serious. But we kind of balance each other out. She brings me back when I need to be brought back, and I try to goof her out a bit more when she needs it. It's a great balance to have. It's great to have that out on tour."
World Golf Hall of Famer and Golf Channel analyst Judy Rankin concurs for a broader reason.
"It's a great dynamic for the tour," Rankin said. "The fact that siblings take up the same game and play the same game extremely well is really interesting. When you talk about growing the game or keeping people in the game, it's always about if you get one person in a family to take it up, very often other family members will take it up, too. I think it's one small component of growing the game at the recreational level. It's such fun to watch them and to watch them watch each other."
Sibling relationships can be complicated but also simple.
"The only thing we want for each other," Ariya said, "is to be happy."
If there is a low score in there somewhere, all the better.