SAMMAMISH, Wash. — The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship marks the third major championship of the 2024 season on the LPGA Tour. This year’s event is being contested at Sahalee Country Club, which also held the 2016 edition of the tournament won by Brooke Henderson, who captured her second career LPGA Tour title that week. The 156-player field features all of the top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give winner Lilia Vu and U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally champion Yuka Saso, as well as 17 of the 2024 LPGA Tour rookies and eight LPGA and PGA Professionals competing as part of the Corebridge Financial Team. Twenty-eight athletes will make their tournament debuts, most notably 2023 Epson Tour graduates Isabella Fierro, Minji Kang, Auston Kim and Roberta Liti.
Take a look at just a few of the featured groups at this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship using KPMG Performance Insights:
Thursday, 8:11 a.m.* – Nelly Korda/Ruoning Yin/Hannah Green
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda will be looking for her seventh victory of the 2024 LPGA Tour season this week at Sahalee Country Club. Korda has won six times already this year, capturing the LPGA Drive On Championship, the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, the Ford Championship presented by KCC, the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards, The Chevron Championship and the Mizuho Americas Open, all before June 1. With her five consecutive victories from January to April, Korda became the third known player since 1978 to win five straight times on the LPGA Tour, joining Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. And after her triumph at Liberty National Golf Club, Korda became the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to win six times in a single LPGA Tour season and is the first American to accomplish the feat since Beth Daniel won seven times in 1990. The 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner missed the cut in her last two starts on the LPGA Tour at the U.S. Women’s Open and the Meijer LPGA Classic but has been fairly unfazed by that recent adversity, coming to Washington ready to once again contend for a major title. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the 25-year-old is the only player on Tour who ranks in the top 30 in every strokes gained category, most notably sitting at first in strokes gained total (+2.53), second in both strokes gained off the tee and strokes gained tee to green (+1.83) and third in strokes gained around the green (+0.49). She is also ranked first in scoring average (69.71), second in greens in regulation (74.92%), second in rounds in the 60s (21) and second in putts per green in regulation (1.75). Korda has won in every type of condition so far this season, so expect her to fare well once again at this week’s difficult venue.
Ruoning Yin collected her first major title at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course, winning by just a single stroke over Yuka Saso. Earlier last season, after winning the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, Yin had joined Shanshan Feng as the only other LPGA Tour winner to hail from the People’s Republic of China, and with her major victory, she again joined Feng as the only other Chinese LPGA Tour major champion. Since her breakthrough win in New Jersey, the now 21-year-old ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for the first time last September and has recorded eight top-10 finishes, four of which were T3s or better in the fall of 2023 and two of which have come this season, as Yin tied for eighth at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship and tied for fourth at the Cognizant Founders Cup. The key to Yin’s KPMG win was her ball-striking, as she ranked first in strokes gained approach, greens in regulation and proximity to the hole en route to victory, according to KPMG Performance Insights. And it’s that long-game consistency that is oh-so critical to her on-course success week in and week out on the LPGA Tour. After finishing the 2022 and 2023 seasons ranked 16th and second, respectively, in strokes gained approach per round, that trend has continued for Yin in 2024, as she is currently 14th (+0.92) in the metric through the first half of this season. Additionally, Yin is also ranked 13th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.25).
Hannah Green is the only other player on the LPGA Tour this season besides her groupmate Korda to earn multiple victories, collecting her fourth Tour win at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and then successfully defending her title in April at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. This year marks the second season that Green has earned more than one victory on the LPGA Tour, as the 27-year-old also did so in 2019 when she took home the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship title at Hazeltine National Golf Club and then won the Portland Classic that September by one stroke over Yealimi Noh. The Australian’s good form this year can be explained by the significant statistical improvements she has made over the last couple of seasons. Data provided by KPMG Performance Insights shows that Green has moved from 35th to sixth in strokes gained total from 2023 to 2024, also improving from 36th to sixth in bogey avoidance, 36th to a tie for sixth in greens in regulation and 35th to 13th in strokes gained approach. This is Green’s seventh start in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and in addition to her 2019 victory, she has recorded one other top-five finish, tying for fifth at Congressional Country Club in 2022. It’s Green’s 11th tournament of the 2024 season, and along with her two wins, she has racked up three other top-20 results, including a runner-up showing at the Mizuho Americas Open, where she fell to Korda after a gritty back-nine battle in New Jersey.
Thursday, 1:28 p.m. – Lexi Thompson/Jin Young Ko/Yuka Saso
Lexi Thompson has announced that she will step away from professional golf at the conclusion of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, making the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship her last start in the major championship. The 29-year-old has teed it up in this tournament 13 times before this week, earning three top-10 finishes in 2015 at Westchester Country Club (3), in 2017 at Olympia Fields Country Club (T7) and in 2022 at Congressional Country Club (T2). She finished in a tie for 22nd in 2016, the last time the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was held at Sahalee Country Club, and will be looking to improve upon that result this week in Sammamish, Wash. Considering she nearly captured her 12th LPGA Tour title last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, falling in a three-way playoff to eventual champion Lilia Vu and finishing in a tie for second, that might not be too tall an order for the 11-time Tour winner. This event marks her ninth start of the 2024 season, and in her eight previous tournaments, Thompson has earned one other top-three result in addition to last week’s runner-up, tying for third at the Ford Championship presented by KCC in March.
It's been a quiet season for former Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko, as the Republic of Korea native has recorded just two top-10 finishes so far this year, tying for eighth in her title defense at the HSBC Women's World Championship and tying for fourth at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. She has also carded a pair of T12s at the Cognizant Founders Cup and the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, but Ko has yet to really contend for her 16th LPGA Tour title this year. She’s also been quiet statistically, only ranking in the top 20 in two strokes gained categories in 2024, sitting at seventh (+1.04) in strokes gained approach and 17th in strokes gained total (+1.18), according to KPMG Performance Insights. This is Ko’s sixth start in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and in her five previous appearances, she has never finished worse than T46 and has earned two top-15 results, tying for 11th in 2018 at Kemper Lakes Golf Course and tying for 14th in 2019 at Hazeltine National Golf Club. This is her first time teeing it up at Sahalee as Ko had yet to earn LPGA Tour membership in 2016.
Yuka Saso claimed her second LPGA Tour victory and second U.S. Women’s Open title just a few weeks ago at Lancaster Country Club, winning in impressive fashion by three shots over her fellow countrywoman Hinako Shibuno. She understandably missed the cut the next week at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, and now comes to Sahalee with a week and a half of invaluable rest, time away that should see her feeling refreshed and ready to go this week in Washington. The Rolex Rankings No. 6’s putting has been in solid form this year, as evidenced by her second-place ranking in putts per green in regulation (1.75), her sixth-place ranking in strokes gained putting (+0.96) and her 11th-place ranking in one-putts per round (7.2), according to KPMG Performance Insights. Saso is also fifth in rounds in the 60s (16), seventh in strokes gained driving (+0.64), seventh in strokes gained total (+1.53), eighth in scoring average and ninth in putting average (29.06). This is her fourth KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and in her three previous appearances, Saso has never finished worse than T30, earning a tournament-best result of solo second in 2023 at Baltusrol Golf Club.
#KPMGInsights for a major test in Seattle.
— KPMG Golf (@KPMGGolf) June 19, 2024
Here are the Pre-Tournament Intelligence numbers ahead of the @KPMGWomensPGA. pic.twitter.com/VIi9y0Lw0w
Thursday, 1:39 p.m. – Brooke Henderson/Lydia Ko/Ariya Jutanugarn
Brooke Henderson won the last edition of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to be held at Sahalee Country Club, defeating her groupmate Lydia Ko in a playoff in Sammamish, Wash. It was her second career LPGA Tour title at the time, and in the eight years since that stellar performance, Henderson has added 11 more titles to her LPGA Tour resume, becoming the winningest Canadian golfer ever, male or female. The 26-year-old hasn’t won on Tour since the 2023 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, a drought she will be working to end this week at a venue that holds so many fond memories. But despite her lack of recent victories, Henderson has been playing solid golf so far this season, earning five top-10 results in 13 total starts in 2024, three of which are T3s or better and the most notable of which is a tie for third that came at The Chevron Championship. This week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship marks Henderson’s 10th start in the event, and in addition to her win, she has earned four T6 or better results – tying for fifth in her tournament debut at Westchester Country Club in 2015, coming second at Olympia Fields in 2017, tying for sixth at Kemper Lakes Golf Course in 2018 and finishing sixth in 2020 at Aronimink Golf Club. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the Rolex Rankings No. 13 is gaining strokes in every key statistical category this season, ranking in the top 10 in strokes gained driving (9, +0.63) and strokes gained total (10, +1.39). Henderson is also second on Tour in birdies (183), rounds under par (30) and subpar holes (187), as well as third in rounds in the 60s (19) and seventh in scoring average (70.48) so far this year.
Lydia Ko referred to Sahalee Country Club as “Sahallway” in her pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and considering she nearly won this event when it was last held at the venue in 2016, Ko is more than qualified to make that assessment of this golf course. She fell to her groupmate Henderson in a playoff that year in Sammamish, Wash., and in the years since, Ko has only found the top 20 twice at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, tying for 10th at Hazeltine and tying for 18th at Aronimink. This week marks her 11th tournament of the 2024 season, and after winning right out of the gate at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and finishing second the week after at the LPGA Drive On Championship, Ko has cooled slightly. She recorded four straight top-20 results in the Blue Bay LPGA (T4), the Ford Championship presented by KCC (T13), the T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards (T18) and The Chevron Championship (T17) before finishing T35 at the Cognizant Founders Cup and missing back-to-back cuts at the Mizuho Americas Open and the U.S. Women’s Open. But Ko is still looking pretty solid statistically, ranking eighth in strokes gained total (+1.51), 16th in strokes gained around the green (+0.35) and 17th in strokes gained approach (+0.76). A win this week would not only be significant for Ko as it would be her third career major title, but it would also give her the last point necessary to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, a goal Ko has been working to accomplish since earning her 26th Hall of Fame point in January at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club.
Ariya Jutanugarn is making her 10th start in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee and is returning to a venue at which she has good memories from competing in 2016. The Thailand native finished solo third that year, carding rounds of 70-75-68-66 to earn her tournament-best result in the major championship and her first of two top-10 finishes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 28-year-old has not won on the LPGA Tour since capturing the Dow Championship title in 2021 alongside her sister Moriya Jutanugarn and will be working this week to put another solid result on the board in what’s been a mixed bag of a season for Jutanugarn. In 12 events, she has missed six cuts but has still recorded three top-20 results, the best of which was a tie for third that came at the Mizuho Americas Open. Jutanugarn’s most notable statistical ranking this season is in strokes gained approach, a metric in which she is 12th on the LPGA Tour, picking up an average of 0.93 strokes on the field with her approach game, according to KPMG Performance Insights.
*Off No. 10
For a full list of tee times, please click here.
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