The LPGA Tour will host three major championships over the next six weeks, starting with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and starting with a tee-off at Fields Ranch East on Thursday at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.
Korea’s Amy Yang is the defending champion.
This is the last major championship to be played in the US this season. The Amundievian Championship will be held in France from July 10th to 13th, and the AIG Women’s Open will be held in Wales from July 31st to August. 3.
Here are some of the storylines you should see at Frisco this week.
Can Nelly end her unwinning drought?
A year ago, World No. 1 golfer Nelly Corda had already won six times before the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, including her second major victory at the Chevron Championship. She won seven wins in 2024 after her first finish with Anica in November.
This season, she is still looking for her first victory. She hasn’t played poorly, finishing in the top 10 in four of her nine starts, finishing second in the US women’s Open at Erin Hills, Wisconsin last month.
“Yeah, it’s golf,” Korda said. “Every year is completely different. I attended this event last year. I won (6). I think even Hannah Green has had multiple victories under her belt.
“It’s just golf. You just have to ride the waves, and the competition gets better and better every year. To win once, to win twice, that’s really good.”
There have been no repeated winners at 15 LPGA Tour events this season. Japan’s Mao Zedong Siago and Swedish Magusterk were the first major champions at the Chevron Championship and the US Women’s Open, respectively.
Korda eventually held the mix at the US Women’s Open, finishing a 5-under 283 with two strokes behind Stark. Korda led the field with strokes: off the tee (+1.82) and fifth in the approach (+1.67), but she was 52nd in the putting (-.42).
“I think it just makes you starve,” Korda said. “For me, I hate mistakes. Obviously, I love winning. You can’t win often, but there’s nothing like fighting for.
“At the end of the day, I put myself in that position. I was still competing for the adrenaline rush at 6pm and trying to win a major championship. That’s why I play this game and I love it so much.”
The world’s number one looking to Thitikul
Korda has yet to finish his first finish of the season, but World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul has already won on the Women’s Europe Tour (PIF Saudi Ladies International on February 15th) and LPGA Tour (Mizuho Americas Open on May 11th).
The 22-year-old is about to win her first major championship this week. If Thitikul does that, she will be even closer to Korda as the world’s number one golfer. Thitikul, from Thailand, was the LPGA Rookie of the Year 2022 and was temporarily ranked number one during that season.
Her best finish in the majors came in fourth at the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship held at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
“I didn’t expect to reach number one in the world when I was 19,” Thitikul said. “But now I’m number two in the world, and I still feel the same way as how I put my work (my) (no matter what number I have), and my work is the same.”
Thitikul, who lives in the Dallas area, leads the LPGA with his earned strokes: second in total (2.70), scoring average (69.1).
She had six top 10 in 10 starts and only missed one cut. This is a big reason why it leads the LPGA seasonal ring point race.
“To be honest, I just want to make a cut,” Thitikul said. “It’s really great to win that, and I can say that to me that being under my belt is a dream for anyone to be.
New venue for the Women’s PGA Championship
This is the first time that the world’s best female golfers have competed at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco, one of two courses in PGA in America’s new home.
The course hosted the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship in May 2023, with Steve Stricker defeating Padraig Harrington in the playoffs, winning a total of 270 under 270 with a total of 72 holes.
Designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, the course will host the Women’s PGA Championships in 2025 and 2031 and the Men’s PGA Championships in 2027 and 2034.
“It feels like this kind of golf course. I’m dictating a lot by the time you play,” said three-time major champion Lydiaco. “It’s not that solid and fast yet. I think there might be a bit of rain on the forecast, so I think the course will play much longer than the way older guys played it a few years ago.”
I think it’s hot and dry after Thursday’s opening round. Weather forecasts show that winds of 10-18 mph are high in the mid-90s and mid-90s, and high prices are required.
“I think everything is pretty difficult depending on the wind,” Korda said. “Every par-5 is mostly a three-shot hole for me, so I just dial in. The leeward hole is probably the most difficult because it’s very difficult to keep the green.
I’ll chase after Anica
At just 28 years old, KO is already the youngest member of the LPGA Hall of Fame. She is a 23-time LPGA Tour winner, 38 times worldwide and is an Olympic gold medalist in women’s golf.
Another victory also allowed KO to pass 10 major champion Annika Sorenstam on the LPGA Tour in career revenue. Sorenstam won a whopping 72 times, winning around $22.6 million before retiring after the 2008 season.
“(In a way), she won in the ’70s so it’s unfair,” Ko said. “I’m proud of my 23. I hope for a few more by the time I’m done. We’re playing in very different times.”
KO has already won around $20 million since turning Pro in 2013.
“I’ve said it a lot in general women’s golf and women’s sports, but we’re just at that height,” Ko said. “I think we are very fortunate to be able to ride that in this generation.
“I’m so lucky to be born in this era, so even comparing it to Annika, who does much more than I do, I think it’s hard. So I think it can continue to grow it as a player, or as an organization as a whole, and give future generations and kids that come here with more opportunities.”
I’m happy with Spaun
It’s been a whirlwind for Stark since she held back Korda and others at Erin Hills to win the biggest victory of her career. The former Oklahoma golfer is currently ranked 6th in the world.
She took a break last week to sink the gravity. Stark said he didn’t cry after winning, but she shed tears when she caught his first major on Sunday with a 64½-foot putt in the 72-foot hole of the US Open at the Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh.
“After JJ Spaun won, I was so excited about him that I cried,” Stark said. “Just as you could when you saw the reaction and how happy he was, hearing him almost quit last year, and like he was crying, you finished with two birdies and finishing this way, it was just crazy.
“Look at his kids, you know, hold him. It makes me emotional for everyone. I’m a bit of a crybaby.”
