KPMG Women's PGA Championship Rd 3 Notebook

PARK (-14) BUILDS 2-STROKE CUSHION ENTERING FINAL ROUND

Inbee Park fired a 7-under 66 on Saturday afternoon, building a two-stroke lead in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York. In the process, Park not only had the best round of the day but also tied her best 18-hole performance in the Championship. She is aiming for her sixth career major championship.

PARK’S PLACE

Park, currently ranked No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, is the two-time defending champion, having won previously at Locust Hill Country Club (2013) and Monroe Country Club (2014). Six women, including Park, have won this Championship in consecutive seasons, but of the six, only Annika Sörenstam (2003-05) claimed three straight titles. Park can match Sörenstam’s three-peat with another title defense this week. At the same time, Park can reclaim the No. 1 ranking. Park has been here before, “When you're trying to [win] the second, third time in a row, it just feels like you've done your homework already. So you feel a little bit more relaxed and you kind of know how it feels like and how it's going to play like.” 

HAS BEEN SIX YEARS?

At 12-under, two shots off the lead, 22-year-old Sei Young Kim (-12) has already won twice (Lotte Championship, Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic) during her rookie season, but she is also gunning to become the first rookie to win a major championship since Anna Nordqvist accomplished the feat in 2009 at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Havre de Grace, Maryland.  It should be noted that at last year’s Evian Championship, Hyo Joo Kim won the title in the first major of her career, but at the time, she was not a member of the LPGA Tour. Sei Young Kim, when reminded that she is known as the “Comeback Queen” in Korea, replied “I don't mind my position right now because I feel comfortable. Sounds like I have done this before. So tomorrow I will be aggressive and I will do my best to try to win.” 

THEY’VE BATTLED BEFORE, YOU KNOW

This is not the first time in 2015 that Seoul, South Korea natives Inbee Park (-14) and Sei Young Kim (-12) have dueled.  In mid-April in Oahu, Hawaii, Kim “stole” the LOTTE Championship from Park by chipping in on the 18th hole to force a playoff, then holed out for eagle on the 73rd hole to claim the victory.    

LINCICOME’S DRIVE FOR FIVE

Brittany Lincicome enters tomorrow’s final round at six-under par (tied-seventh). She surged up the leaderboards after recording five consecutive birdies on holes 9-13. “I was trying not to look at my scorecard, and trying not to look at the standard bearer because you're trying not to think about, I birdied two in a row, I birdied three in a row; you want to keep it going. But yeah, it's really fun,” said Lincicome, who won the LPGA’s first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration, back in April. 

FENG BACK IN THE TOP 10 THANKS TO STRONG BACK NINE

Shanshan Feng posted the second-best round of the day, a 5-under 68, to surge up the leaderboard (only leader Inbee Park went lower at 66). “I think my putting really improved compared to two days ago,” said Feng, who needed just 12 putts en route to a five-under par 32 on the back nine.” Feng, who won this this tournament in 2012 at Locust Hill Country Club, is currently tied for seventh place, eight shots behind Park.

EAGLES FOR A CAUSE

Seven total eagles were made at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Saturday and players raised $7,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project as part of the season-long Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends.

Today’s seven eagles push the season-total to $134,000. Wounded Warrior Project® Weekends is a season-long charity program that will be tied into the Race to the CME Globe. Each Saturday and Sunday at LPGA tournaments, CME Group will donate $1,000 to Wounded Warrior Project® for each eagle that is recorded. This amount will increase to $5,000 for each eagle during the weekend of the CME Group Tour Championship and a formal check will be presented to the Wounded Warrior Project® during the trophy ceremony at the CME Group Tour Championship. To get involved and learn more, visit woundedwarriorproject.org

PGA SECRETARY SUZY WHALEY SERVES AS “PLAYING MARKER” 

PGA of America Secretary Suzy Whaley has made history several times in her golf career, and got another opportunity Saturday morning. The first female national officer in PGA of America history got the invitation to become a playing “marker” for Korea’s Hee Kyung Seo, who was slated to tee off alone at 7:30 a.m., after Friday night’s 36-hole cut resulted in an odd-numbered 73 players. “I got the call (from PGA Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh) at 9 p.m. last night, asking me, “Can you be the marker?’” said Whaley, the PGA Director of Instruction at Suzy Whaley Golf in Cromwell, Connecticut. “I said, ‘Absolutely, I can be the marker.’ I’ve never been a marker before.” Whaley, who last competed in a major in 2005 at the LPGA Championship, hurried to find a caddie. She called Chris DeJohn, 28, of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, who is a member of the Latino American Tour and has received lessons since he was 12 from Whaley’s husband, PGA Professional Bill Whaley at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut. Seo finished with an even-par 73, while Whaley, who did not disclose a score, said “I did all I could to keep out of Seo’s way.” Whaley will again serve as a marker for Sunday’s final round.

LOOKING FORWARD TO SAHALEE

The PGA of America announced that the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be played at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. The championship will be played June 9-12 and will again be a collaborative effort between the PGA of America, the LPGA and KPMG. Sahalee, site of the 1998 PGA Championship and the 2010 U.S. Senior Open, becomes the second Washington state site to host a U.S. women’s major, following the inaugural U.S. Women’s Open in 1946, in Spokane.

Designed by Ted Robinson in 1969 and renovated by Rees Jones in 1996, Sahalee Country Club takes its name after the Chinook phrase, “High Heavenly Ground.” The par-72 layout was carved out of the tall majestic Cedar and Douglas Fir native to the Pacific Northwest and is consistently ranked among America’s greatest courses. During the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Sahalee will play to 6,692 yards. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, broadcast in partnership with NBC and Golf Channel, brings together a world-class, annual major golf championship with a women’s leadership summit and an ongoing charitable initiative to inspire and develop new generations of female leaders.