Nelly Korda calls hole locations at unrelenting KPMG Women's PGA 'almost impossible'

USA Today

5 hours ago

FRISCO, Texas – The KPMG Women's PGA Championship blew by its television window by just over an hour. Coverage moved from NBC Sports to Peacock, and with American star Lexi Thompson in contention midway through her back nine and two-time major winner Minjee Lee on top of the board, it marked another missed opportunity for the LPGA.
There were no weather delays. Play at Fields Ranch East started at 6:37 a.m. in twosomes, and it took world No. 1 Nelly Korda, one of the fastest players on tour, 3 hours and 9 minutes to play the front nine – in a twosome.
During a long wait on the drivable par-4 seventh, Ruoning Yin sat underneath her sun umbrella and told her caddie, David Jones, that she wanted to go to sleep.
'I'll wake you up,' he replied.
With winds gusting more than 35 mph and feels-like temperatures approaching 100, it was a taxing day from start to finish. Sunday is forecast to bring more of the same, so officials are sending players out in threesomes.
When asked what could be done to improve pace of play, Korda said that in these conditions, it's too hard to hold the greens.
'The hole locations are kind of in almost impossible positions,' said Korda, 'where not many people are hitting the greens, so obviously it's going to take a lot more time.'
Fields Ranch built to house championships
The Home of the PGA of America was built to host major championships. The PGA Championship will be contested here in 2027, and the KPMG Women's PGA will return in 2031. The men's event will be held a full month earlier, however, which should yield softer, cooler conditions. Given the makeup of a typical LPGA gallery and volunteer base – families with young children and seniors – moving away from this summer heat is certainly a topic of conversation this week.
U.S. Women's Open dates have shifted of late between late May and early July. The dates for the 2031 USWO at Oakland Hills Country Club have yet to be decided, so there's a chance that something could change.
Locals suggest hosting nothing here in the summer past June 1.
Lauren Coughlin was packing up her golf travel bag by the clubhouse as the final groups were making the turn. Coughlin, a two-time winner on the LPGA, noted that the cut was actually higher at the 2024 U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club (8 over), but there weren't many complaints about setup outside of the 12th hole on Thursday.
'Lancaster was very difficult, and it demanded a lot,' said Coughlin, 'but if you hit good golf shots you were rewarded. I think you can hit good golf shots out here and not be rewarded, and that's the difference.'
Stacy Lewis told Golfweek on Friday that the course was 'making very good players look silly' and attributed the slow play to setup.
Scoring average at KPMG is highest in a decade
The scoring average on Saturday was 76.065, the highest major championship round in a decade on the LPGA. The opening par 5 ranked hardest, and, according to LPGA stats guru Justin Ray, its 5.603 average is the highest scoring average on an opening hole in the last 30 years on tour. There were only three birdies on the day and one triple-bogey, posted by Thompson, who, incredibly, managed to play the rest of the round in even par.
Charley Hull carded one of only three birdies on the par-4 sixth hole Saturday. When asked if she took some satisfaction in that, Hull said her 1-over 73 over the Gil Hanse design felt solid.
'Just one of those golf courses that, I don't know, like it can be a bit tricky with the rough, and then the way that they designed a few holes, when the prevailing winds are downwind, you can't stop it anyway, and then you need to bump it in, but you can't bump it in because of the kind of grass that it is," said Hull, referring to the Northbridge Bermuda.
'I don't know, it's just like a golf course design that makes it so tricky.'
Only two holes averaged below par, the reachable par-5 ninth and the drivable par-4 15th.
Officials had to switch the ninth and 18th holes for this championship to make room for hospitality. The 2023 Senior PGA ended on a reachable par 5. The 18th this week, however, has had more double bogeys over the course of three rounds (22) than birdies (15).
Crews trying to keep greens softer
Officials say the greens have been watered every night and morning due to the extreme heat and high winds and will be watered once again this evening.
There were six holes on Saturday in which less than 40 percent of the field hit the green in regulation. Startling given that the tour average is 68.8 percent for the season. Nelly Korda hit nine greens in regulation in the third round and is averaging 63 percent for the week, 11 percent less than her 2025 average.
Minjee Lee posted the only bogey-free day of the round so far this week on Saturday, a 3-under 69, and carries a four-shot lead into the final round over Jeeno Thitikul, the best player on tour without a major. They're the only two players under par for the tournament. Thompson trails by seven and Korda by eight.
When the Senior PGA was held here in May 2023, shortly after the golf course opened, Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington went into a playoff after finishing knotted at 18 under.
Conditions were softer and cooler with less wind, miles away from what the LPGA's best have experienced this week, and more in line with the PGA Championship field will likely see in two years.
'The thing is, it's so hard for us to speak out, because I feel like then people are going to think that we're whining,' Korda told Golfweek after the round, 'but the men, their apex is so much higher, so when they do land it on the green, they can do more with it, at the end of the day.
'Our apexes only get so high, and they only can get so high in 35 mph wind. If there's 35 mph gusts, then it's so hard for us to actually float it into these greens because you're trying to penetrate through the wind and not have the ball blow all over the place.
'It is a major championship, and it should play hard. I think 100 percent it should play hard. But good shots need to also be rewarded, and I feel like you're always on defense right now.'