KPMG Women's PGA Championship: From Nelly Korda to Lydia Ko's record chase, storylines to watch

The LPGA Tour is hitting the nutrient of its docket with 3 large championships taking spot successful the adjacent six weeks, starting with the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which tees disconnected Thursday astatine Fields Ranch East astatine PGA Frisco successful Frisco, Texas.

South Korea's Amy Yang is the defending champion.

It's the past large title that volition beryllium played successful the U.S. this season. The Amundi Evian Championship volition beryllium played successful France connected July 10-13, followed by the AIG Women's Open successful Wales connected July 31-Aug. 3.

Here are immoderate of the storylines to ticker successful Frisco this week:

Can Nelly extremity her winless drought?

A twelvemonth ago, satellite No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda had already won six times earlier the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, including her 2nd large triumph astatine the Chevron Championship. She collected 7 wins successful 2024 aft finishing archetypal successful The Annika successful November.

This season, she's inactive searching for her archetypal victory. She hasn't played poorly, finishing successful the apical 10 successful 4 of her 9 starts and tying for 2nd successful past month's U.S. Women's Open astatine Erin Hills successful Wisconsin.

"Yeah, it's golf," Korda said. "Every twelvemonth is conscionable truthful different. Last twelvemonth coming into this event, I had [six] wins. I deliberation adjacent Hannah Green had aggregate wins nether her loop excessively coming into this event.

"It's conscionable golf. You benignant of conscionable person to thrust the wave, and the contention is getting amended and amended each year. To triumph once, to triumph twice, it's truly good."

There hasn't been a repetition victor successful 15 LPGA Tour events this season, and Japan's Mao Siago and Sweden's Maja Stark were first-time large champions astatine the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women's Open, respectively.

Korda was successful the premix successful the U.S. Women's Open until the precise end, finishing 5-under 283, 2 strokes down Stark. Korda led the tract successful strokes gained: disconnected the tee (+1.82) and was 5th successful attack (+1.67) but she was 52nd successful putting (-.42).

"I deliberation it conscionable makes you hungrier," Korda said. "For me, I hatred making mistakes; obviously, I emotion winning. You don't get to triumph often, but there's thing similar being successful contention, truthful I deliberation that's benignant of what makes maine hungrier to travel backmost and to enactment harder and enactment myself into that position.

"At the extremity of the day, I did enactment myself into that position. I was inactive successful contention and feeling the adrenaline unreserved connected 18, trying to triumph a large championship. That's the crushed wherefore I play this game, and I emotion it truthful much."

Thitikul eyeing satellite No. 1

While Korda has yet to decorativeness archetypal this season, satellite No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul has already captured victories connected some the Ladies European Tour (PIF Saudi Ladies International connected Feb. 15) and LPGA Tour (Mizuho Americas Open connected May 11).

The 22-year-old volition effort to triumph her archetypal large title this week. If Thitikul does, she'll inch adjacent person to Korda arsenic satellite No. 1 golfer. Thitikul, from Thailand, was the 2022 LPGA Rookie of the Year and was concisely ranked No. 1 successful the satellite that season.

Her champion decorativeness successful a large was solo 4th astatine the 2022 KPMG Women's PGA Championship astatine Congressional Country Club successful Bethesda, Maryland.

"Never thought I was going to scope No. 1 successful the satellite erstwhile I was 19," Thitikul said. "But present No. 2 successful the world, I inactive consciousness the aforesaid however I enactment the enactment [in] due to the fact that I consciousness similar [no substance what fig I am], my occupation is the same."

Thitikul, who lives successful the Dallas area, leads the LPGA successful strokes gained: full (2.70) and is 2nd successful scoring mean (69.1).

She has six top-10s successful 10 starts and missed lone 1 cut, which is simply a large crushed wherefore she leads the LPGA's seasonlong points race.

"Every large I conscionable privation to marque the cut, to beryllium honest," Thitikul said. "It would beryllium truly large to triumph it, and decidedly I tin archer that it would beryllium similar everyone's dreams to triumph a major. To me, what I person present nether my belt. I'm beauteous blessed with each I've achieved. If I tin get it, it would beryllium great, but if not, I don't person thing to regret about."

New venue for Women's PGA Championship

It's the archetypal clip the world's champion women's golfers person competed astatine Fields Ranch East astatine PGA Frisco, 1 of 2 courses astatine the PGA of America's caller home.

The people hosted the 2023 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship successful May 2023, and Steve Stricker defeated Padraig Harrington successful a playoff with a winning 72-hole full of 18-under 270.

The course, designed by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner, volition big the Women's PGA Championship successful 2025 and 2031, and the men's PGA Championship successful 2027 and 2034.

"I consciousness similar this benignant of play course, it's dictated a batch by what clip of the twelvemonth you play," said three-time large champion Lydia Ko. "It's not that steadfast and accelerated yet, and I deliberation determination whitethorn beryllium a small spot of rainfall successful the forecast. So I deliberation the people is astir apt going to play a batch longer than possibly however the elder men played it a mates years ago."

It figures to beryllium blistery and adust aft Thursday's opening round. Weather forecasts telephone for highs successful the debased and mid-90s with southerly winds from 10-18 mph.

"I deliberation it each plays beauteous hard depending connected the wind," Korda said. "All the par 5s are beauteous overmuch three-shot holes for me, truthful conscionable dialing in. The downwind holes, I deliberation are going to play astir apt the hardest conscionable due to the fact that it's rather hard to clasp the green. If you bash deed it a small spot abbreviated with that fluffy Bermuda, it benignant of conscionable stays, truthful you can't play for a run-up."

Chasing down Annika

At lone 28, Ko is already the youngest subordinate of the LPGA Hall of Fame. She's a 23-time victor connected the LPGA Tour, a 38-time victor astir the satellite and the reigning Olympic golden medalist successful women's golf.

With different triumph oregon two, Ko could besides walk 10-time large champion Annika Sorenstam successful vocation net connected the LPGA Tour. Sorenstam won a whopping 72 times and earned astir $22.6 cardinal earlier retiring aft the 2008 season.

"In [a way], it's unfair due to the fact that she's won 70-something times," Ko said. "I'm arrogant of my 23, and I'm hoping to person a fewer much by the clip I'm done. We are conscionable playing successful a precise antithetic era."

Ko has already earned astir $20.8 cardinal since turning pro successful 2013.

"I deliberation I've said aggregate times successful women's play and women's sports successful general, we're conscionable connected specified a high," Ko said. "I deliberation it's precise fortunate successful this procreation to beryllium capable to thrust it.

"I'm precise fortunate to beryllium calved successful this era, truthful it's benignant of hard successful the consciousness of being adjacent compared to Annika, who has done overmuch much than me. I deliberation that's wherefore it's our work arsenic players, oregon conscionable the full organization, to beryllium capable to support increasing it and springiness much opportunities for the aboriginal generations and the kids that are coming retired present to ticker america play."

Happy for Spaun

It has been a whirlwind mates of weeks for Stark since she held disconnected Korda and others astatine Erin Hills to seizure the biggest triumph of her career. The erstwhile Oklahoma State golfer is present ranked sixth successful the world.

She took past week disconnected to fto the gravity descend in. Stark said she didn't outcry aft winning, but she did shed immoderate tears erstwhile J.J. Spaun captured his archetypal large with a 65½-foot putt connected the 72nd spread of the U.S. Open astatine Oakmont Country Club extracurricular Pittsburgh connected Sunday.

"I cried aft J.J. Spaun won due to the fact that I was truthful excited for him," Stark said. "Just similar erstwhile you spot the absorption and however blessed helium was, proceeding helium astir discontinue past twelvemonth and conscionable similar him crying, finishing with 2 birdies and finishing successful this fashion, that was conscionable crazy.

"Seeing his kids, you know, hug him. That conscionable makes maine affectional for anyone. I'm conscionable similar a small crybaby."