Latest news with #WomensPGA
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Cliffhangers: Golf On The Edge at Big Cedar Lodge
Korda back to even after capitalizing on free drop After an errant second shot on the par-5 eighth hole, Nelly Korda capitalizes with a fantastic pitch shot to set up her birdie putt at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. 1:11 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aldrich Potgieter wins 2025 Rocket Classic on fifth playoff hole in Detroit
Korda liking position after even-par first round Nelly Korda says she didn't give herself the best looks in the opening round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, but she likes where she's at. Watch her highlights before she and Golf Central break down her round. 5:47 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Minjee Lee wins third major at KPMG Women's PGA and is now halfway to LPGA Hall of Fame
FRISCO, Texas – Clara Lee couldn't watch. After daughter Minjee made three bogeys in the first six holes, the former teaching pro couldn't help but think back to last year's U.S. Women's Open, where Minjee held a three-stroke lead on the back nine at Lancaster Country Club, only to collapse into a share of ninth. Clara tried to stay positive, but when Minjee got on the greens, mom walked away and texted a friend to get the results. 'Just watching her, I'm 10 years older this week,' joked Clara as Minjee hoisted her third major championship trophy at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Advertisement Fields Ranch East course, the new Home of the PGA of America and a staple in the big-event lineup for years to come, provided a merciless test to the best women in the world. Behind her shades, 29-year-old Lee looked chill in the suffocating Texas heat, but as she battled unrelenting winds on a vast, Texas plain, she wanted the world to know that all was not as it appeared. 'I just want to be clear,' said Lee. 'I definitely was nervous starting the day. I wasn't really sure if it was the heat that was making my heart beat more … I looked calm, but I was not as calm as everybody thinks.' Winless since the fall of 2023, Lee's resurgence of late can be traced back to one club: the longer putter. She put it in play at the start of the season at the urging of longtime coach Ritchie Smith. Lee's strokes gained putting rank in 2024 was a dismal 137th. She ranked fifth on tour this season coming into the week, and finished first in the field at PGA Frisco. Minjee Lee reacts on the 18th green after winning the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. 'Just changing to the broomstick has given me a lot more freedom, I think,' she said. 'I was just – I guess I just had a lot of thoughts, and just I was overthinking probably about just the conventional way of putting. Advertisement 'I think just taking my hands a little more out of it and using the broomstick has really been helping me.' An 8-foot par putt on the 13th, followed by birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 put Lee squarely in command down the stretch. She held a three-stroke lead over Auston Kim (71) and Chanettee Wannasaen (71) coming into the 72nd hole, where a host of players and caddies made their way to the back of the green with bottles of champagne. 'She's the longest friend I've had,' said Lydia Ko, 'so it's really special for me to be here for her win. 'I saw a stat that she didn't three-putt at all. That's crazy because I was doing a lot of that.' Lee becomes only the third Aussie to win three different majors, joining mentor Karrie Webb and Jan Stephenson. With victories at the 2022 U.S. Women's Open and 2021 Evian Championship, Lee is now one of five active players on the LPGA with three legs of the career grand slam, joined by Anna Nordqvist, In Gee Chun, Yani Tseng and Ko. Advertisement While she called the career grand slam her 'ultimate goal,' the LPGA Hall of Fame is what she dreamed of as a kid. 'That's why I wanted to be on the LPGA Tour,' said Lee, 'to, you know, win a bunch of tournaments and try to get into it. 'Seeing Lydia do it, I think I would really like to get there. We'll see how we go after this week.' For the record, Lee now has 14 of the 27 required to qualify. Lee's caddie, Michael Paterson, is new to her team this year and, fittingly, was on the bag for four of Karrie Webb's major wins. Paterson said smart golf got them into the winner's circle at 4-under 284. That, and Lee's ability to move on from the bad in as little as half a hole. Only three players finished the KPMG Women's PGA under par, the fewest number at this championship since 2003. Advertisement American stars Nelly Korda (T-19) and Lexi Thompson (T-12) played in the penultimate group and shot 76. World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul began the day four strokes behind Lee in solo second but finished in a share of fourth after a closing 75. Paterson praised his boss's attitude in the toughest scoring conditions of the year. 'The way she can just brush off a little bit of adversity and keep her chin up,' said Paterson, 'it's unbelievable.' Minjee Lee poses with the trophy after winning the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Lee's brother Min Woo left a message for big sis, telling her he was proud. He tried calling but she was too busy accepting the trophy so he chatted with mom. Though Lee is a resident of the Dallas area, her house was too far away from PGA Frisco to commute, so she stayed with friends in the area. Clara cooked for her every night and made omelets for the morning. She went to Costco to buy all the fruit, slicing up the kiwi and watermelon. Advertisement When Minjee won the U.S. Women's Open at Pine Needles, Clara was on a plane headed to South Korea. This marked the first major championship victory she was able to see in person. 'It was awesome, but I'm exhausted,' she said with a big smile. For Lee, this major hit different. This one, she felt like she deserved. 'I think it's very different, because I feel like I had a lot of doubt the past few years,' she said. 'Not with my long game, but more with my putting. 'I think the more I heard media and other people saying things about my putting, I think it got to me more and more over time. 'Yeah, I think this one just means a little bit more to me. I mean, obviously U.S. Open is my absolute favorite, but in terms of my most deserved I think this one is the one.' This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Minjee Lee wins third LPGA major championship at KPMG Women's PGA
ABC News
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
How Minjee Lee found a slice of home via her brother's message after winning her third golf major
The tyranny of distance is something golfers know well. As they stand on that tee and look out towards the flag — if they can see it at all — it is only distance that stands between them and their goal. It's a stupidly simple game, really. In the words of the great and fictional golfer Chubbs Peterson, the charmingly sincere nature of golf is to simply "send the ball home". Minjee Lee knows how to overcome distance, both figuratively and literally. The concept of home, though? That's a little more complicated. In rubber-stamping herself as one of Australia's greatest golfers by claiming her third major at the Women's PGA Championship, one comment stood out as Lee paid tribute to her over-achieving family. "Wherever Min is, he's supporting me out there," Lee said of little brother and rising golfing star Min Woo Lee. Such is the complicated and stacked nature of the men's and women's golfing calendar, these kind of achievements — so epic and history-making that it feels they should be played out surrounded by family — are instead completed not knowing exactly where in the world your only sibling is as you achieve them. For what it's worth, Min Woo was in the final round of the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, 2,300km away. The same country. But a world away from the champagne showers and unbridled joy of his big sister's big moment. Having just crawled towards a 63rd-placed finish, and with a microphone in his face and a sponsorship banner behind him, Min Woo sent the most sincere and warm message he possibly could from the most corporate and staged of settings. "I'm so proud of you," he said, having been prompted by the broadcasters to send the message. "The last couple of years have been tough and I'm glad to see you back in the winner's circle. "I'm proud of you and … ah … love you." On the final two words, Min Woo's face beamed. No doubt the private calls and texts and group chats had lit up with the more candid and fervent messages of inside jokes and gentle ribbing that can only come through that love language that we all have with our closest families and friends. But in those two words, Min Woo's warmth towards his sister broke through the corporate barriers, a glimpse of home on a golf tour that so often lacks a true understanding of the concept, with an endless schedule and the constant battle to stay high enough in the rankings to make it all worth it. "That's so sweet," Minjee said when shown the video. "We don't get to see each other too much, I feel like I see him more on social media than anything. "I do miss him on the road. Just seeing that makes me a little bit emotional. "It's just really nice to know that you have your family supporting you no matter where you are in the world, even if you're miles apart." This is a tour of close calls, of heartbreak, and of missed opportunities, all of which Minjee has gone through since her previous major victory in 2022, with a capitulation in last year's US Open appearing to dent her growing confidence. And through it all, Min Woo has been there for her, even if via that tyranny of distance. "This will be Minjee's year," Min Woo told the ABC'S Australian Story in March last year. "She'll get there, she'll get there." He turned to his sister during the interview. "Not you think you can," he said. "You will." With putter in hand, home is a tangible thing. Home is in the hole, then off to the next tee to find home again. Off the course, though, it's a concept that is much harder to pinpoint for those on the tour, one that differs from that which you and I understand, of our own bed at night, our place on the couch, a hot meal surrounded by our loved ones. Home is the next hotel at the next event. Home is in the clubhouse weighing up if all of this is worth it. But home is also a message from your brother 2,300km away. Home is those final two words of that message and the beaming smile that comes with it. And home is living in the knowledge that even if you don't "get there", you'll always have a sibling who believes that you can.
CBS News
22-06-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Minjee Lee secures 3rd major win at KPMG Women's PGA Championship at PGA Frisco
Minjee Lee closed with a 2-over 74 but never gave up the lead Sunday in the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship to win her third major title. While Lee had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine, she had started the day with a four-stroke lead over Jeeno Thitikul. And the world's No. 2-ranked player, also in that final group, bogeyed both par 5s that are among the first three holes on Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco. Lee, ranked 24th, finished at 4-under 284, three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the only other players under par. "A lot of patience out there today. Obviously, I had ups and downs today," Lee said. "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." Kim and Wannasaen both shot 68 to match the best rounds of the day, and the tournament, after only two 68s combined the first three rounds. Kim was bogey-free, but had only pars after three consecutive birdies to wrap up her front nine. With a record $12 million purse that was up from $10.4 million a year ago and matched the U.S. Women's Open for the most price money, Lee took home $1.8 million. That matches the $1.8 million Lee got for her four-stroke win in the 2022 U.S. Women's Open. The 29-year-old Australian who is a Texas resident, living in nearby Irving, got her 11th career win. It was her first this season, making it 16 players to win 16 LPGA tournaments this year. While still windy like it had been all week at 15-20 mph, there weren't the constant gusts of 30 mph or more that had made the playing conditions so difficult Saturday. Thitikul, still in search of her first major title, had the solo lead after the first and second rounds. But she fell behind shooting a 76 on Saturday, when Lee had the only bogey-free round for any player until then. Thitikul then hit her first shot Sunday into the right rough on way to a 75 to finish at 1 over 289, tied for fourth with Chisato Iwai (71). Lee's lead Sunday never got under two, and she preserved that with a clutch 8-foot par putt at the 170-yard 13th hole to stay at 3 under. That came about the same time Wannasaen rolled in a 14-foot eagle putt at the 235-yard par-4 15th hole to get to 1 under, though the 21-year-old from Thailand then missed the green and bogeyed the 455-yard 16th. "Pretty much I saw every single leaderboard and knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today," Lee said. "Just really played within myself today." There was a subtle fist pump from Lee when she then made a 9-foot birdie at No. 14, the only par 5 on the back nine, and followed with another birdie at No. 15. She was the only player this week with two rounds in the 60s, with 69s on Thursday and Saturday. Lee's first bogey was at the par-5 third after her third shot went into a deep greenside bunker, then she had back-to-back bogeys on the 441-yard fifth and 434-yard sixth hole. She didn't have a birdie until the ninth to make the turn at 4 under — at the time three ahead of Thitikul and Kim. Kim started the final round nine strokes back, which was two more than the record comeback for a women's major. Several players have done that, including Lee when she won the 2021 Evian Championship in France by coming from seven back for her first major title. The 24-year-old Kim opened her round with a 5-foot birdie putt on the 528-yard par 5 first. She got within two strokes of Lee after the three birdies to wrap up her front nine. Her tee shot at the 157-yard 8th hole stopped a foot from the cup, and was sandwiched by a pair of 2 1/2-foot birdies before parring out. Nelly Korda, the world's top-ranked player, and semi-retired Lexi Thompson both closed with 76s. Thompson, in the second-to-last group for the second day in a row, finished tied for 12th at 293. The 30-year-old, who played for only the seventh time in 16 tournaments this season, has gone 11 years since her only major win in the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Korda tied for 19th at 6-over 294 and still hasn't won this year after winning seven times last season.
