She carded a 6-under-par 66 on Friday to move past first-round leader Gaby Lopez.
Korda overcame a bogey on the fifth hole at the Lake Nona Golf and Country Club to record seven birdies, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and tying for the lowest round of the day.
Korda is at 10-under 134 in the LPGA's season-opening event — which is a limited field of 29 tournament winners from the past three seasons — after two days.
"I kind of feel more at home here," Korda said.
"I love the golf course, love the layout. I love that it's a good challenge, the rough is pretty thick this year, too.
"So I kind of like to embrace those challenges."
The 2020 champion Lopez, who led at 5-under after the first round, shot a 4-under 68 to be within a stroke of the lead.
She is tied for second place with Danielle Kang, who shot a 5-under 67.
Kang delivered an eagle on the par-4 seven hole and avoided bogeys all day.
Using an iron from a rise that splits the seventh fairway, Kang hit her approach shot to the front of the green with her ball rolling directly into the cup.
"Honestly, I said in the last two days, probably you guys are probably going to hear me repeat the same thing: I'm not really focused on the result, not trying to," Kang said.
"I'm just trying to do the job in front of me and hit the best I can with the shot that's in front of me."
Jessica Korda kept herself within striking distance by firing a 5-under 67 to be fourth and two shots adrift of her younger sister.
France's Celine Boutier (67) is tied for fifth place with Canada's Brooke Henderson (68) at 7-under.
The top 10 is rounded out by South Korea's Inbee Park (67) and Japan's Yuka Saso (70), tied for seventh at 6-under, and Finland's Matilda Castren (66), New Zealand's Lydia Ko (68) and Stacy Lewis (69), tied for ninth another shot back.
The event format pairs players with 50 celebrities and amateurs who are competing in a modified stableford scoring format.
The celebrity competition, which features such notables as former NBA star Vince Carter and former NFL standout Larry Fitzgerald, has former MLB pitcher Derek Lowe leading the way with a two-day score of 69.
World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam and former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder are tied for second with a score of 68.
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