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Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Minjee Lee wins Women's PGA Championship for third career Major
Minjee Lee with the trophy after winning the Women's PGA Championship 2025 on June 22. PHOTO: AFP FRISCO – Minjee Lee of Australia steadied herself after a bumpy start, carded a final round 74 and captured the Women's PGA Championship on June 22 in Frisco, Texas. Lee began the day with a four-stroke advantage over Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul and was never seriously threatened. She finished on four-under 284 for the week, with key birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 of PGA Frisco's Fields Ranch East course providing some important cushion. 'I just said, 'Just stick to my game plan,'' Lee said. 'I know it's a battle against myself pretty much, especially with how tough the conditions were this whole week, not just today. 'Just amplified because it's Major Sunday. Yeah, just be patient and take every shot as it comes.' Lee bagged her third career Major following the 2021 Evian Championship and the 2022 US Women's Open. The 29-year-old moved up the all-time Majors leaderboard, tying names like Nancy Lopez, Chun In-gee of South Korea, Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and Lydia Ko of New Zealand with her third win. The only two Australian women to reach the milestone before Lee were Karrie Webb (seven) and Jan Stephenson (three). 'It's really cool, especially being only a couple of us or a few of us done it so far... It's just a really special feeling,' Lee said. Auston Kim and Thailand's Chanettee Wannasaen each shot four-under 68 on June 22 to tie for second at one under. Jeeno, ranked No. 2 in the world, held the lead after each of the first two rounds before a 76 on June 21 knocked her behind Lee. She bogeyed Nos. 1 and 3 to start off on the wrong foot, settled for a final-round 75 and tied for fourth at one over with Japan's Chisato Iwai (71). Lee spent time in the bunker at Nos. 3 and 5 on her way to two early bogeys, and she dropped her third shot at No. 6. After following up a birdie at the par-five ninth hole with another bogey at No. 10, Lee protected a two-shot margin with three straight pars, including a nine-foot putt at the par-three 13th. That is when she began to break away. She rolled in another nine-footer at the par-five 14th hole for birdie, and at No. 15 – a par-four measuring just 235 yards – Lee nearly drove the green and putted her second stroke to within six feet of the flagstick, setting up another birdie. A final bogey at No. 16 did not sour her mood. After completing a two-putt par at the final hole, she dropped her putter, placed her hands on her head and received a champagne shower from friends and fellow Australian players. 'Pretty much I saw every single leaderboard and knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today,' Lee said. 'I checked the scores and I then I just come back to each shot and try and execute it the best that I could.' Not only did this mark Lee's third Major, but it was her first win of any kind since October 2023. Her brother, PGA Tour player Min Woo Lee, sent her a special congratulatory message. 'I'm so proud of you,' he said. 'The last couple years have been tough and I'm so glad to see you back in the winner's circle. I'm proud of you and love you.' Kim, a 24-year-old from Florida, had never finished better than T30 at a major before June 22 and has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. Kim shot three rounds of par or better this week. She birdied Nos. 1, 7, 8 and 9 on June 22 to shoot up the leaderboard but stopped there, finishing with all pars on the back nine. 'Obviously, the result was really good, but I'm really happy how I handled myself, my emotions, all the adversity,' Kim said. 'The course is playing really, really tough, but I feel like this week... my team and I were very locked in and we focused on all the right things. The result took care of itself.' The grueling conditions all week took a toll on some of the game's top names. World No. 3 Lydia Ko, who started her week with a four-over 75, carded a one-under 71 on June 22 to finish in a group sharing 12th on 293. World No. 1 Nelly Korda fired a final-round 76 for a share of 19th on 294 and world No. 4 Yin Ruoning was in a group on 295 after a closing 76. REUTERS, AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Minjee Lee takes strong lead with second impressive round at Women's PGA Championship
Leader Minjee Lee of Australia hugging her caddie on the 18th hole green after finishing the third round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2025. PHOTO: AFP FRISCO – Higher scores have been on full display at the Women's PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas. That makes Minjee Lee's performance so far even more impressive. The Australian fired a three-under 69 on June 21, her second round under par, to take a commanding four-stroke lead going into the final round. Just five rounds total at the tournament have been in the 60s, and Lee has owned two of them. 'I just try to stay patient out there,' Lee said. 'You can't get ahead of yourself, especially in these conditions. 'It's just only getting harder and harder just with I think pressure of a Major championship, and also just the course just demands so much from you.' The 10-time LPGA Tour champion is pursuing her third Major title, having previously won the 2022 US Women's Open and the 2021 Evian Championship. 'I know what it takes to win and I know just kind of what to feel and what to expect now that I have two under my belt,' Lee said. 'So, yeah, I just think the experience that I've had is really going to help me hopefully get over the line tomorrow.' Lee avoided the ever-present bogey, which has haunted most of the golfers on this course, and instead grabbed three birdies, on holes 9, 14 and 15 to distance herself from the competition. That came on the heels of an opening round 69, which featured birdies on holes 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14 and 15. The Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco was especially unkind on June 21 to world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who is pursuing her first Major, and who enjoyed a three-stroke lead coming into the weekend. The 22-year-old from Thailand suffered six bogeys while scoring two birdies to shoot a four-over 76 and fall from six under to two under. Despite that disastrous round, she still sits in a better position than everyone else as one of two golfers currently under par, and she holds a three-shot lead on the rest of the field. The three golfers in the best position to make a potential run on the two leaders on June 22 (June 23, Singapore time) sit in a tie for third at one over. South Korea's Choi Hye-jin had the best round of the three (72), but Japan's Miyu Yamashita (73) and American Lexi Thompson (75) are technically still in the hunt. Thompson shook off a triple bogey on her first hole and a bogey to follow to shoot one-under golf the rest of the round. 'Yeah, definitely proud of how I just stayed strong,' Thompson said. 'It was kind of a nightmare of a start, but I knew coming into the day it was going to play very difficult. 'I don't know really what happened on my first hole, but happy I got it out of the way and stayed positive out there and just made pars and a few birdies here and there.' World No. 1 Nelly Korda (72) is tied with three others in sixth place at two-over 218. Yealimi Noh (74), Ireland's Leona Maguire (72) and Japan's Chisato Iwai (75) are the others. On the PGA Tour, England's Tommy Fleetwood shot a seven-under 63 in the third round of the Travelers Championship on June 21 to carry a three-shot advantage into the final round at Cromwell, Connecticut. Russell Henley shot 61 and Keegan Bradley posted 63 to sit T2 at 13 under. Australia's Jason Day is alone in fourth at 11 under after a 67. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Nelly Korda suffers neck spasm, but will be ready for Women's PGA
Nelly Korda during the final round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic earlier in June 2025. PHOTO: AFP FRISCO – World No. 1 Nelly Korda attended a press conference on June 17 ahead of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship with therapeutic tape on her neck. The American explained that she suffered a spasm the day before during practice at PGA Frisco, the site of this week's Major championship. 'I hit a shot out of the rough yesterday (Monday), and my neck went into a full spasm,' she said. 'It's getting better, but yeah, it was not very good yesterday.' Korda – the betting favourite to win this week despite a winless start to her season – added that she expects to be ready for her first-round tee time on June 19. The injury nonetheless comes at a tough time for the 26-year-old, whose last win on the LPGA Tour came in November. She tied for second at the US Women's Open earlier in June. Korda cited a neck injury for missing a pair of tournaments on the Asia swing late in the 2024 season. She also sat out a chunk of the 2022 season due to a blood clot in her arm. 'Obviously with the injury that I had last year, every single time something kind of flares up in my neck now, I think I feel it a little bit more than what I used to,' she said. 'But I have a great physio who takes care of me. Trying to work through it, but I'll be ready by Thursday.' She also said the heat in Texas this week will be a potential complicating factor as she tries to gameplan how to 'be smart' and take care of her body while going out and competing. Korda won the first of her two Major titles at the 2021 Women's PGA in Atlanta. That earned her a lifetime invite to the champions' dinner, but she had to pass on the tradition on June 16 evening while getting treatment for her neck. 'I didn't go because of my neck. I was so sad to miss it, though,' she said. 'I messaged (defending champion Amy Yang of South Korea); the menu looked unbelievable. I love Korean food. So I was really jealous. 'At the end of the day, I need to prioritise my body. So I wasn't able to go, but I missed out on a good dinner.' Meanwhile in men's golf, fellow top-ranked Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion this week at the Travelers Championship, where he defeated Tom Kim in a playoff last season. He is coming off a T7 finish at the US Open at Oakmont Country Club last weekend and has won three of his last five events, including the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. Scheffler needs no more reminders that his caddie, Ted Scott, was on Bubba Watson's bag when Watson won the Travelers Championship three times – in 2010, 2015 and 2018. He said Scott has helped him to put the signature event's 6,844-yard, par-70 layout in perspective. 'What we talk about on that golf course is I think there's a stigma around it that you have to make a ton of birdies, but it's really about getting the most looks,' the American said. 'There's certain holes where you have to play really conservative and play to the middle of the green and just get as many looks for birdie as possible. 'The Travelers is a great golf course in the sense you get very rewarded for good shots. If you start hitting offline, you can be punished pretty severely. The closing stretch enhances that, and that's why you have such great finishes there year after year.' Scheffler shot 65-64-64-65 to finish 22 under par in 2024, then bested Kim on the first playoff hole with a par at the 18th. REUTERS, AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
