FRISCO, Texas – Minjee Lee began the final round of the KPMG Women`s PGA Championship holding a four-stroke lead and kept close watch on every leaderboard visible on the course. Despite some early challenges with bogeys, she remained in the lead all day, culminating in her third major championship win.
“I was fully aware of my standing in terms of scores,” Lee commented. “But I want to be clear, I was definitely feeling nervous at the start of the day. I wasn`t sure if the heat was just making my heart race faster… I might have appeared calm, but I wasn`t as composed as people might think.”
Lee concluded the round with a 2-over 74, maintaining at least a two-stroke advantage throughout the final day. Her total score of 4-under 284 placed her three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the only other competitors to finish under par on the windy Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco.
Lee, the 29-year-old Australian and local Texas resident living in nearby Irving, earned her 11th career victory. She joins Karrie Webb (seven wins) and Jan Stephenson (three wins) as the only Australian women with three major titles.
While Lee recorded three bogeys across a four-hole stretch on the front nine, her playing partner, world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, bogeyed both par 5s early in her round. Thitikul, still seeking her first major win, hit her opening drive into the rough on Sunday and finished with a 75, tying for fourth place at 1-over 289 with Chisato Iwai (71).
Lee, currently ranked 24th, received $1.8 million from the record $12 million prize purse. This amount represents the highest prize money, matching the U.S. Women`s Open purse, and is an increase from $10.4 million last year. She also received $1.8 million for her four-stroke victory at the 2022 U.S. Women`s Open.
Kim and Wannasaen both posted rounds of 68, which were the best scores of the day and matched the best scores of the entire tournament, as only two 68s were recorded in the first three rounds combined. Kim`s round was bogey-free, but she only made pars after a sequence of three consecutive birdies to conclude her front nine.
“I`m truly pleased with how I managed myself, my emotions, and faced the challenges,” Kim stated. “There was certainly a lot at stake today, but I was in a chasing position, which I believe relieved some pressure in the moment.”
Although it remained windy, similar to earlier in the week with speeds of 15-20 mph, the constant gusts of 30 mph or more experienced on Saturday, which made conditions very difficult, were absent.
Thitikul held the outright lead after the first two rounds but dropped back with a 76 on Saturday, the day Lee played the only bogey-free round up to that point.
Lee is the 16th different winner in 16 LPGA tournaments held this year. However, top-ranked Nelly Korda, who won seven times last year, was not among the winners, finishing tied for 19th at 6-over 294 after a final round 76.
A pivotal moment occurred at the 170-yard 13th hole, where Lee sank a crucial 8-foot par putt to maintain her two-stroke lead at 3 under. Around the same time, Wannasaen holed a 14-foot eagle putt on the 235-yard par-4 15th to reach 1 under, though the 21-year-old Thai player then missed the green and bogeyed the 455-yard 16th.
Lee showed a subtle fist pump after then making a 9-foot birdie on No. 14, the sole par 5 on the back nine, and followed it with another birdie on No. 15. She was the only player this week to post two rounds in the 60s, with scores of 69 on Thursday and Saturday.
“I focused on keeping things simple out there. The wind made it incredibly challenging,” Lee explained. “Some of my drives were quite poor, but I managed to get up and down, make bogeys instead of worse scores, and stay within contention. I believe I handled myself very effectively today. I knew holes 14 and 15 offered birdie chances, so I just aimed to stay patient and make pars until reaching those holes.”
Lee`s first bogey occurred on the par-5 third hole after her third shot landed in a deep greenside bunker. This was followed by consecutive bogeys on the 441-yard fifth and 434-yard sixth holes. Her first birdie didn`t come until the ninth hole, leaving her at 4 under at the turn, three strokes ahead of Thitikul and Kim at that point.
Kim started the final round nine strokes behind, which was two strokes more than the record comeback in a women`s major. Several players have achieved comebacks from seven strokes down, including Lee herself when she won the 2021 Evian Championship in France for her first major title.
The 24-year-old Kim began her round with a 5-foot birdie putt on the 528-yard par 5 first hole. She narrowed Lee`s lead to two strokes after her three birdies to finish the front nine. Her tee shot on the 157-yard eighth hole came to rest just a foot from the cup.
