Amy Yang looks to repeat at Women's PGA in wide-open field
FRISCO, Texas: The LPGA has a new commissioner on the way, a new course to play and no shortage of parity as it marks the halfway point of the season at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which begins Thursday in Frisco, Texas.
It's an important time on the women's golf calendar for more reasons than one. Three of the next five events are major championships, and no one is running away with the season-long points competition, the Race to the CME Globe.
Through 15 tournaments in 2025, 15 different players have claimed a title, none of them named Nelly Korda. The first two majors were won by first-timers with scant previous experience in the United States — Japan's Mao Saigo at the Chevron Championship, followed by Sweden's Maja Stark at the US Women's Open.
Korda is World No. 1 and entered the week as the slight betting favorite to win what would be her third major. However, she revealed that she suffered a neck spasm on Monday from hitting a practice shot out of the rough. It was concerning, given she missed time last fall with a neck injury.
'But I have a great physio who takes care of me,' Korda went on to say. 'Trying to work through it, but I'll be ready by Thursday.'
For Korda, it was far from a friendly welcome to PGA Frisco, the new resort that also serves as the PGA of America's headquarters. The Fields Ranch East course will host the Women's PGA again in 2031 as well as the men's PGA Championship in 2027 and 2034.
This week, the course will be a par-72, 6,604-yard setup and serve as a test run for holding major championship golf in the Texas summer heat.
'To my knowledge, I think Gil Hanse and the team, they designed this course to host championships,' Lydia Ko of New Zealand said. 'It's designed with a purpose, and obviously the more frequently you go to these kind of sites, you kind of get more familiar with it.'
Ko played a practice round alongside Craig Kessler, who will take over as commissioner of the LPGA next month. Kessler was previously COO of the PGA of America and will be tasked with increasing the LPGA's visibility and financial solvency.
'I'm sure he's busy with still wrapping things up with the PGA of America and transitioning into our role as well, but it's exciting,' Ko said. 'I think it's a great time for golf. It's great to have somebody like him that's enthusiastic and really wants to see where — like how far we can go.'
Korean veteran Amy Yang is the defending champion following a three-stroke victory in 2024.
'I came very close to many major championships and never won before, so on Saturday night I was very nervous and I was questioning myself, 'Can I do it this time?'' Yang recalled. 'But I distracted myself calling my friends and family and just told myself, 'You know, go out tomorrow and just every hole, every shot, just embrace everything and see what's going to happen.'
'That experience taught me that I can do it. I can still do it.'
The entire top 25 in the Rolex Rankings are in the field. World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand has one victory this season, but the promising 22-year-old has yet to win a major.
'Every major I just want to make the cut, to be honest,' Thitikul said. 'It would be really great to win it, and definitely I can tell that it would be like, everyone dreams to win a major. To me, what I have now under my belt, I'm pretty happy with all I've achieved.'
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