Lexi Thompson holds clubhouse lead at KPMG Women's PGA, where the wind is whipping in Texas
FRISCO, Texas – In what must feel like another lifetime, Allie White roomed with Lexi Thompson at an AJGA team event, and they said hello to each other on the range Friday morning at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
As White finished up her round on the par-5 ninth, Thompson was closing out hers nearby on the 18th.
'Don't blame the bogey on me,' White joked while sitting with Judy Rankin and Grant Boone on Peacock's Featured Group coverage. While White has moved on from tour life, Thompson is now semi-retired and contending at another LPGA major.
Thompson's lone bogey of the day came on the difficult par-4 18th, denying her first bogey-free major championship round in three years. Even so, 2-under 70 on the Fields Ranch East course puts her in fine position as the course bakes out even more in the afternoon. Thompson, who's 2-under for the tournament, might even hold the lead at day's end as winds gust up to 30 mph with temperatures north of 90.
'It's a difficult golf course, so it's a matter of just really trusting your lines and knowing that the wind is going to bring it back,' said Thompson, who is making her seventh start of the season. 'And just being happy with pars. This is a good par golf course.'
White, 35, made her second consecutive KPMG Women's PGA appearance after back-to-back victories at the LPGA Professionals Championship in 2023 and 2024. A second-round 80 won't have the Lancaster Golf Club (Ohio) director of golf playing the weekend, but she was all smiles in the booth after the round as she talked about her experience.
Thompson's group was warned and then put on the clock for several holes in the second round. On Thursday, her group waited more than 25 minutes on the tee down the stretch in a round that took six hours.
'We fell maybe a hole behind,' said Thompson of Friday's round. 'I didn't think that we were playing – I mean, we were playing slow. It took three hours to play the front nine. But it's a difficult golf course. Pins are tough, and some holes are just really par holes that you can't really hold greens on too, and some holes you have to pitch out.
'So it's difficult golf course to play quickly, safe to say.'
Auston Kim also bogeyed her last hole, the par-5 ninth, but still finished with a 72 to sit at 1 under for the championship. Like Thompson, Kim said the turnaround from the late finish on Thursday was especially tough. She got to bed around 10 p.m., and her alarm went off at 4:30 a.m.
'I think just not getting enough sleep unfortunately, and then the heat, waking up super early and dealing with twice as much wind and firmer greens and longer rough was just a really big challenge today,' said the former Vanderbilt standout.
Kim planned to get a cold shower and a cold plunge after the round to bring down her body temperature, followed by a nap.
'I think I'll be a little bit later tomorrow so that will definitely help,' said Kim. 'Just trying to be horizontal for as long as I possibly can.'
Yealimi Noh began the day two shots back but bogeyed three of her last five holes to shoot 74 and fall to even par for the championship.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
3 minutes ago
Jeeno Thitikul extends Women's PGA lead and semi-retired Lexi Thompson contending for another major
FRISCO, Texas -- Semi-retired Lexi Thompson is going into the weekend contending for her first major title in more than a decade, and in a dwindling group of players under par at the KMPG Women's PGA Championship while Jeeno Thitikul extended her lead. Thitikul, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, finished a six-hour round Friday not long before sunset with consecutive birdies for a 2-under 70 to get to 6-under 138. She had a three-stroke lead over Rio Takeda (71) and Minjee Lee (72), and was four ahead of Thompson (70) after another steamy day on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco. 'To be honest, didn't (think) it's going to be that good result out there,' said Thitikul, the 22-year-old seeking her first major win. 'Especially today just said to my coach, `Like if anybody can shoot under par today, that player will be really, really great.' I'm shooting 2-under par and I was like, `Wow!' With the feel-like temperatures going over 100 degrees and the ever-present Texas wind, only seven of the 156 players who started the season's third major were under par through two rounds. There have been no bogey-free rounds this week. There were 15 players under par after the first round, when Thitikul's opening 68 put her a stroke ahead of fellow North Texas resident Lee. Thitikul, a five-time winner from Thailand, was in the same group the first two rounds with top-ranked Nelly Korda, whose only two birdies Friday came over the final three holes. Korda had a 74 and is 2 over for the week. Even though Thompson is no longer playing a full schedule, she still practices and works on her game pretty much all the time when at home. 'Any time I tee it up I want to come out here and compete and win. I just want to make sure that I'm fully ready every time I tee it up,' Thompson said. 'Yeah, I mean, it put my mind more at ease coming out here knowing that I'm not playing a full schedule, grinding week in, week out, and looking forward to the weeks off.' After an even-par round Thursday, Thompson was bogey-free in the second round until hitting her approach at the 18th into the bunker and being unable come up with yet another par-saver. The 30-year-old Thompson, who has said last year was her final one playing a full schedule, is in her seventh tournament this season, including all three majors so far, and indicated that she will play again next week at the Dow Championship in Michigan before 'a long time off.' Her only major victory was at the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2014, though her 13 top-five finishes in majors since 2013 are the most by any player and among her 20 top-10 finishes in those events. Thompson, whose last win in any tournament was in 2019, said she is not yet allowing herself to think about what it would mean to win another major. She missed the cut at the U.S. Women's Open three weeks ago, but last week was in contention in the final round before tying for fourth at the Meijer LPGA Classic. "It's just something that I'm going to take one shot at a time. When you get to thinking too far ahead of time it just gets to you, so I'm just really going to embrace the moment,' she said. 'Come out on the weekend and just hope for the best, that's all I can do.' Her shots to save par Friday were really better the three birdies — the longest an 11-footer, with a 6 1/2-footer and nearly 4-footer as well. Thompson was only 70 yards from the pin after her tee shot at the 10th, but hit her approach into the bunker and was still 43 feet away after knocking it out of there before a curling right-to-left putt. At the par-5 14th, her 5-foot putt did a 360-degree roll around the lip before falling into the cup. 'Made No. 10 a lot more difficult from my drive. Hit a great drive and I got it pretty close to the green, but they tucked the pin back right over there, so got a little greedy instead of just hitting it out to the left and ended up plugging it in the bunker,' Thompson said. 'Saving pars out there are huge.'
NBC Sports
6 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
HLs: 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Round 2
Watch the best moments from the second round of the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East in Frisco, Texas.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Stacy Lewis criticizes setup at KPMG Women's PGA, saying it makes good players look silly
FRISCO, Texas – No LPGA player has been involved more in the making of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship than Stacy Lewis. In fact, when this championship first came together a decade ago, former KPMG chair John Veihmeyer said the firm's involvement wouldn't have happened if they hadn't first formed a relationship with Lewis. So, when the two-time major champion and former No. 1 offers critical comments about this week's championship, rest assured she's put a lot of thought behind it. Round 1 of the KPMG Women's PGA at Fields Ranch East took more than six hours for those who finished late in the day, including Peacock featured group Lexi Thompson, Yealimi Noh and Yuka Saso. There were 25-minute waits on par 3s, with several groups backed up on Nos. 8 and 13. The slow-play issue, Lewis says, is a setup issue, and it was more of the same in the second round. 'Today it was just hole locations again, on sides of hills,' said Lewis, who won't play the weekend. 'Then you throw the wind in there, there was no way to stop it on No. 8 again today. We should be playing the front of that tee, probably 120 yards … can't hold the green.' The women played the eighth hole from 157 yards on Friday and less than 20 percent of the field hit it in regulation. After Lydia Ko hit a beauty into the green on No. 8 late Friday that didn't stop, NBC analyst Morgan Pressel said it was a hole setup that didn't reward good shots. "Not my favorite thing to see," she added. Golf Channel analyst and PGA Tour winner Brandel Chamblee has long thought that LPGA setups are far too long, making note of it several times on recent Live From shows at U.S. Women's Opens. Famed reachable par 5s that often elicit much drama in the men's game – such as the 18th at Pebble Beach – are often three-shot holes for the women. The 75.58 scoring average on Thursday was the fifth toughest day at a major championship on the LPGA in the last 10 seasons. Friday's average is now the highest scoring average at the majors in a decade. As a player, Lewis doesn't really care if 12 under wins a major. What she cares about is whether or not the golf course is playing the way it was designed to be played. So often, she feels that officials move the tees back to get to a certain total yardage. "Almost play it backwards,' said Lewis of how it should be done. 'You see a green, OK what club should we get them in on this hole, and let's go find a tee box that gets us there.' She'd also like to see the bunker in the middle of the fairway on the 18th be removed. The hole, which makes for an awkward tee shot for players who can't hit driver off the tee without running through the fairway but also can't carry the bunker at 237 yards with a 3-wood, has yielded more doubles than birdies the first two rounds. Officials had to switch the ninth and 18th holes for the event to make room for hospitality. The 2023 Senior PGA ended on a reachable par 5. The two nines will be switched altogether for the 2027 PGA Championship to accommodate hospitality down the stretch. One of the unique aspects of the Gil Hanse design, which opened in 2023, is that there are no traditional tee boxes. Hanse used what he calls ribbons tees, which offer loads of flexibility as they're essentially extensions of the fairway. So much so that it can be difficult to find a flat spot to tee up the ball. Fields Ranch East was set up at 6,532 yards on Friday, when winds gusted up to 30 mph and temperatures soared into the triple digits. They'll be able to stretch it back to 8,000 yards for the men someday if desired, a modern design at the Home of the PGA of America that, as Jerry Kelly said at the 2023 Senior PGA, is 'future-proofed.' Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom said she's heard mixed reviews from players on Fields Ranch East, which will host the PGA Championship in 2027 and the KPMG once again 2031. 'I think you can be rewarded for good shots,' said Sagstrom. 'You definitely get punished for bad shots, so that's good. It's in beautiful condition.' The Northbridge Bermuda rough is penal. Miss a fairway by mere inches and it might be necessary to wedge out as the ball sinks down out of sight. Major champion Ashleigh Buhai said her group noted there were a lot of Sunday pins on Thursday, though she liked the challenge. 'I don't mind it,' said Buhai. 'You've got to think. I don't mind using my brain and having to hit the different shots. Sometimes, leaving it 30 feet is a good shot.' Angel Yin had a decidedly different take, telling scribes on Thursday that she thought it was quite boring. 'It's just kind of repetitive,' said Yin, 'and there are challenges, but it's very subtle.' Lewis disagreed with Yin's "boring" take, but did say she's heard from a number of disappointed players. 'We had such a good run with this championship at very good golf courses and then we come here,' said Lewis, referring to recent venues such as Baltusrol, Atlanta Athletic Club, Congressional and Sahalee. 'The issue of this all too is, make us look good,' she continued. 'We're trying to get more people to watch women's golf, and to watch us play golf, and setups like this, they don't help us. "And this is when we have our biggest stages, network TV and all of that, and we're making very good players look silly."
