With one of the first swings of her life, China’s Ruoning Yin nearly ended her major-championship-winning career before it could begin.

Ahead of this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, the newly minted KPMG Women’s PGA champion recalled the time her father took her and her mom to the driving range for the first time. It was 2006, and Ruoning was just 4, standing beside her father while he was showing her mom how to swing a club. In the moment, dad warned Ruoning to wait her turn, but the impatient youth had other ideas.

“He goes, ‘Don’t swing,’” Yin said. “I did one swing anyway, and I just hit his head and he got I think four stitches. It wasn’t very fun.”

The crisp contact kept her from the game until she turned 10½. Instead, Yin swam, ran and played basketball. It took Yin’s mom offering to take her to a movie if she signed up for a summer camp in China to give golf a second chance.

Three months later, the competitive bug returned. Ruoning’s dad took her to her first tournament, a 27-hole affair where Yin posted a 103-46 to finish in third place. After the event, she and her dad were preparing to leave until a tournament staffer told Yin she won a trophy, setting her on a path that led to the success she’s had in the first half of 2023.

After winning her first LPGA title in April at the DIO Implant L.A. Open, Yin claimed win No. 2 two weeks ago with a birdie on the 72nd hole at Baltusrol Golf Club.

“I think that trophy motivated me to chase my dream,” Yin said.

Upon arriving at Pebble Beach, the 20-year-old Yin noting this isn’t her first time visiting the Monterey Peninsula. As a youth beginning in 2015, Yin participated in annual golf camps in the United States, including a trip to Pebble Beach eight years ago. Yin recalled hitting a 3-wood short on the famed par-3 seventh from how windy it was.

While practising basketball twice as much as her golf at the time, Yin realized her 5-foot-2 frame wouldn’t quite lead her to turn pro on the hardwood. Acknowledging her love of competition led to a focus on golf.

Yin’s sudden surge is encapsulated by the calmness she tries to emulate from her NBA idol, Stephen Curry. Yin put that into practice at Baltusrol on the final hole, having heard a roar up by the green that was Yuka Saso making a birdie to grab the clubhouse lead. Undeterred, Yin concentrated on what she could control rather than what failure might lurk.

“I know, OK, maybe I’ve got a chance to make a birdie and close the game,” Yin explained. “Yeah, it happened.”

Armed with a mentality forged through the major fire, Yin is already planning on making a legendary career for herself. That, she explained, includes winning five majors. That’s rare company on the LPGA as only 16 players in tour history have reached that mark.

Yin also eyes surpassing her inspiration, Shanshan Feng’s 10 tour wins to become the all-time winningest LPGA player from China. Yin shows no exhaustion from the major victory as she’s maintained the same workout and practice routine this week. Drawing inspiration from other legends, Yin watched highlights of Tiger Woods’s dominant 15-stroke victory at Pebble Beach during the 2000 U.S. Open.

It’s another mountain for Yin to climb in order to etch her name alongside legends of golf this week. Yet Yin’s presence displays self-belief in her ability and mentality to hold up under the duress of Pebble Beach.

“For me to be a major champion is pretty exciting, but that’s the past,” Yin said. “I’m looking forward for the next one.”

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China’s Ruoning Yin got her breakthrough LPGA win in March. Three months later, she’s now a major champion.

With a 10-foot birdie on the par-5 18th hole on the famed Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club, Yin closed out a bogey-free four-under 67 to reach eight-under 276 and defeat Yuka Saso by one shot at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

Ruoning Yin birdies No. 18 to take the outright lead!!!#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/LXr9NYGNiV

— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 25, 2023

Yin started Sunday in Springfield, N.J., three shots off the lead held by Leona Maguire. She then played a methodical final round, a round interrupted for nearly two hours by a passing thunderstorm.

When play resumed, Yin was at five under through eight holes, trailing countrywoman Xiyu Lin and South Korea’s Jenny Shin by two shots. From there, Yin made 13th and 14th holes to grab a share of the lead, before claiming it outright with her birdie on the closing hole.

At the DIO Implant L.A. Open, the 20-year-old became just the second golfer from China to win an LPGA event, joining Shanshan Feng. Yin is also now the second to win a major championship.

Saso, the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open champion, made a birdie on the 18th to get to seven under for the tournament, closing out a five-under 66 and hoping she’d done enough to get into a playoff.

With the victory, Yin claimed the first-place prize money payout of $1.5 million from the record-breaking $10 million purse.

Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut at Baltusrol. Come back shortly after the tournament’s finish and we’ll update the list with individual names and specific paydays.

Win: Ruoning Yin, -8, $1,500,000
2: Yuka Saso, -7, $875,130
T-3: Carlota Ciganda, -6, $423,070
T-3: Megan Khang, -6, $423,070
T-3: Xiyu Lin, -6, $423,070
T-3: Stephanie Meadow, -6, $423,070
T-3: Anna Nordqvist, -6, $423,070
T-8: Rose Zhang, -5, $214,811
T-8: Ayaka Furue, -5, $214,811
T-8: Jenny Shin, -5, $214,811
T-11: Nanna Koerstz Madsen, -4, $168,170
T-11: Leona Maguire, -4, $168,170
T-11: Perrine Delacour, -4, $168,170
14: Grace Kim, -3, $147,571
T-15: Allisen Corpuz, -2, $125,531
T-15: Lauren Coughlin, -2, $125,531
T-15: Sarah Schmelzel, -2, $125,531
T-15: Jodi Ewart Shadoff, -2, $125,531
T-15: Brooke M. Henderson, -2, $125,531
T-20: Linn Grant, -1, $104,451
T-20: Hyo Joo Kim, -1, $104,451
T-20: Minjee Lee, -1, $104,451
T-20: Jin Young Ko, -1, $104,451
T-24: Gabriela Ruffels, E, $86,483
T-24: Mina Harigae, E, $86,483
T-24: Ariya Jutanugarn, E, $86,483
T-24: Mel Reid, E, $86,483
T-24: In Gee Chun, E, $86,483
T-24: Marissa Steen, E, $86,483
T-30: Cheyenne Knight, +1, $68,115
T-30: Esther Henseleit, +1, $68,115
T-30: Narin An, +1, $68,115
T-30: Lee-Anne Pace, +1, $68,115
T-30: Angel Yin, +1, $68,115
T-30: Celine Boutier, +1, $68,115
T-36: Daniela Darquea, +2, $56,538
T-36: Haeji Kang, +2, $56,538
T-36: Amy Yang, +2, $56,538
T-39: Madelene Sagstrom, +3, $45,217
T-39: Pajaree Anannarukarn, +3, $45,217
T-39: Celine Borge, +3, $45,217
T-39: Yuna Nishimura, +3, $45,217
T-39: Danielle Kang, +3, $45,217
T-39: Pornanong Phatlum, +3, $45,217
T-39: Ashleigh Buhai, +3, $45,217
T-39: Lindsey Weaver-Wright, +3, $45,217
T-47: Nasa Hataoka, +4, $35,071
T-47: Jeongeun Lee6, +4, $35,071
T-47: Yu Liu, +4, $35,071
T-47: Min Lee, +4, $35,071
T-47: Lexi Thompson, +4, $35,071
T-52: Samantha Wagner, +5, $29,705
T-52: Alison Lee, 5, $29,705
T-52: Mariah Stackhouse, +5, $29,705
T-52: Emily Kristine Pedersen, +5, $29,705
T-52: Hye-Jin Choi, +5, $29,705
T-57: Linnea Strom, +6, $25,395
T-57: Gina Kim, +6, $25,395
T-57: Moriya Jutanugarn, +6, $25,395
T-57: Lydia Ko, +6, $25,395
T-61: Maria Fassi, +7, $22,040
T-61: Albane Valenzuela, +7, $22,040
T-61: Gemma Dryburgh, +7, $22,040
T-61: Alexa Pano, +7, $22,040
T-61: Stephanie Kyriacou, +7, $22,040
T-61: Soo Bin Joo, +7, $22,040
T-61: Eun-Hee Ji, +7, $22,040
T-68: Hannah Green, +8, $19,644
T-68: Lauren Stephenson, +8, $19,644
T-68: Jasmine Suwannapura, +8, $19,644
T-71: Morgane Metraux, +9, $18,685
T-71: Elizabeth Szokol, +9, $18,685
T-71: Stacy Lewis, +9, $18,685
74: Annie Park, +10, $18,206
75: Charlotte Thomas, +13, $17,987
76: Aditi Ashok, +14, $17,759
T-77: Sung Hyun Park, +15, $17,422
T-77: Matilda Castren, +15, $17,422
79: Lucy Li, +18, $17,089

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Rose Zhang returned to the Tri-State area this week to compete in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship—just three weeks after her historic first win in her first pro start at LPGA’s Mizuho Americas Open.

“​​The week at Mizuho, it felt a little bit just surreal,” Zhang said. “I didn’t feel like I was a professional. I was straight-up coming from NCAAs, and it was kind of just a trial run in my opinion.

“Even this week, I didn’t have any sort of expectations on myself but at the same time, I wanted to see where my game ended up with the professionals and to really see if I am able to be in contention.”

Much like the weather at Baltusrol Golf Club, Zhang’s performance heated up as Sunday rolled around. The 20-year-old newly minted pro started her final round at one under par—six shots off the lead—but fought her way back into contention with a stellar four-under 31 on the front nine.

Her momentum continued despite a two-hour rain delay coming as Zhang was playing the 11th hole. When play resumed, Zhang stuck her approach close to the green and followed the shot by making the putt for birdie. At that point, Zhang was tied for the lead for the first time in a major championship.

“I’ve been in the position before as an amateur, but this week was pretty special for a little new career start,” Zhang said.

Tension grew as Zhang made par on 12 to maintain the lead.

“I knew that the groups in front of me and the groups behind me were playing super well, and alongside me [Xiyu Lin] was playing amazing,” Zhang said.

Rose Zhang is officially in the hunt. ????#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/Zc8cpCmtgF

— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 25, 2023

The 20-year-old sensation was coming for the trophy—and she wasn’t coming quietly.

Zhang drew quite the gallery all week and Sunday was no exception. The excitement and roars from the crowd grew as Zhang climbed the leaderboard. Some fans began walking immediately after Zhang hit, leaving before her playing partners could finish, in hopes of getting a good spot on the ropes.

“I heard so many cheers and felt so much love and support, it was really incredible,” Zhang said.

Ultimately, Zhang’s game fell short down the stretch. A bogey on the par-3 16th dropped her back to five under, and an errant tee shot on the par-5 18th found water and led to a frustrating final par. Still, she shot a final-round 67 to tie for eighth place, three shots behind winner Ruoning Yin. And that didn’t stifle cheers from her fans—the “Rose Buds,” a name they’ve given themselves—as she walked off the 18th green.

When asked about her performance, Zhang replied, “I’m content with the result. I’m not content with how I played.

“Losing a little bit of focus causes you to have errors, and that’s just something you can’t afford at a major championship.”

If there was one area of Zhang’s game that was undeniably good this week it was her putting.

“I felt really confident with my putter the whole day, and the last couple of days I feel like that really saved me this entire week,” Zhang said.

Rose Zhang fist bumps caddie Jason Gilroyed on the 18th green during the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Christian Petersen

When asked about the differences between competing in a major championship as an amateur—which she did eight times, her best finish a tie for 11th at the 2020 ANA—and competing as a professional, Zhang explained that “it’s definitely a different dynamic when you’re a professional versus an amateur, and when you’re playing your game, you really have to be precise with your numbers, really understand what your swing is doing, and there is no room for error.”

Although she’s leaving New Jersey without hardware, Zhang remained optimistic after her professional major debut saying, “It was just a really fun experience to be in the hunt, especially at my first major.

“I’ve been in major weeks before, so I understand that the entire week is just a long game instead of a sprint. Especially being out on these difficult golf courses, you really have to stay in the moment, so I really tried my best to do that.”

Zhang looks forward to playing in her next major championship, the U.S. Women’s Open, and says that the KPMG Women’s PGA helped prepare her for what’s to come in two weeks at Pebble Beach, where she holds the women’s competitive course record of 63 set during a college event last fall.

“I learned a lot, especially with [caddie Jason Gilroyed] on my bag,” Zhang said. “I’m excited to keep working on my game and make sure that it’s pristine when I go to the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble.”

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It was all worth the wait.

With a 10-footer for birdie on the par-5 home hole of the famed Lower Course, the 20-year-old from China closed out a final-round 67 to post an eight-under 276 total, one stroke clear of 2021 U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso. In turn, Yin had claimed her second career LPGA title and her first major championship victory, joining Shanshan Feng (2012 Wegmans LPGA Championship).

“I’m glad that I can be the second Chinese player after Shanshan won a major. She is the person who inspired me the most,” Yin said. “I think it’s going to push a lot of kids to play golf.”

Yin, a second-year LPGA Tour pro who won for the first time in March at the DIO Implant L.A. Open, was statistically the best ball-striker in the field this week. Two of her four rounds were bogey-free, including her Sunday performance, no small accomplishment given the two-hour rain delay that she and the field had to endure. The six bogeys she did make—four in her second round and two in her third—each came on three-putts.

Yin’s winning score was largely due to her performance on Baltusrol’s nine par 5s, which she played in seven under for the week. That final birdie on the 72nd hole came after her second shot failed to carry the ridge in the middle of the green, sending her ball some backwards some 30 yards short of the green. With Yin’s third shot settling 10 feet away, and Saso in the clubhouse at seven under after a closing 66, a playoff look likely.

Until Yin’s putt rolled squarely into the middle of the hole.

Ruoning Yin birdies No. 18 to take the outright lead!!!#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/LXr9NYGNiV

— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 25, 2023

“I actually kind of felt that I was going to make it, and I made it,” she said. “It’s a very weird feeling, but I felt it on that putt.”

Much like Scottie Scheffler’s recent performances on the PGA Tour, it was the kind of hot ball-striking/lukewarm putting display that is often good enough for a high finish, but not necessarily a victory. But you don’t win major championships without a bit of luck, the saying goes, and for that, Yin had those around her on the leaderboard to thank.

Andy Lyons

Leona Maguire, who won on the LPGA Tour the week prior, had been leading most of the tournament and took a one-shot advantage into the final round. She had hit 83 per cent of her greens in regulation in her previous seven rounds and was the player many expected to capture her first major at Baltusrol. But perhaps suffering under the scrutiny of playing in the final group for the first time of her career, or maybe just tired from a busy two-week stretch, Maguire never got comfortable. Her three-over 74 dropped her to T-11.

Instead, it was Maguire’s playing partner and longtime friend Stephanie Meadow—“I’ve known her since she read Harry Potter books,” Meadow said of Maguire coming into Sunday—who mounted the more formidable challenge. Meadow has yet to win on the LPGA Tour, but she was flirting with the lead for most of the day after a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole. Another one from off the green on the par-5 17th, and a combination of late blunders from other players, meant Meadow could match Saso’s score with a birdie on the 18th and book her place in the presumed playoff. When Yin’s birdie putt drop in the group ahead, Meadow’s task became making an eagle to tie, and that’s where her luck ran out.

“Sometimes the golf gods are in your favour and sometimes they’re not,” she says. “Obviously it’s not the outcome that either Leona or I wanted today, but we fought hard, and we did our best.”

Rose Zhang and Xiyu Lin, playing in the group ahead of Yin, each made charges of their own, but both stumbled on the 72nd hole. Needing birdies to post seven and eight under, respectively, both Zhang and Lin pulled their drives into the hazard left.

It was an uncharacteristic mistake for Zhang, in particular, but the player who came into this year’s tournament with so much attention managed to save par anyway. Her final round 67 was enough for her first major top 10.

“It’s been incredible,” she said of the tournament. “I felt so much support and love from the crowds out here. It’s super special, and I took it all in for sure.”

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After a stellar 67 on Friday, Mel Reid was high up on the leaderboard going into the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She had a slow start out of the gates on Saturday, making two bogeys in her first four holes.

But a mental mistake on the fifth hole may have been enough to shake her confidence and take her out of contention completely.

On Reid’s fifth hole at Baltusrol, her approach shot landed off the back of the green, approximately four inches from the putting surface. Unaware that she was on the collar, Reid marked, lifted, cleaned and replaced her ball.

Realzing her potential error, Reid then called for a rules official, who confirmed her ball was not on the putting green.

She was immediately issued a one-stroke penalty as this was in violation of Rule 9.4b which states, “A player who lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move when not permitted to do so, gets one penalty stroke.”

Reid ended up shooting six-over 77—10 shots worse than the day before and now stands in tied for 35th.

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The scores atop the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship leaderboard mostly stayed the same from Thursday to Friday. Leona Maguire’s five under remains the lead at Baltusrol, and 15 players are under par heading into the weekend, instead of 16 players following the opening round. The on-and-off rain of Springfield, NJ., remain another constant.

The names near the lead, however, have changed. Maguire, seeking back-to-back LPGA Tour victories, and Celine Borge, in a three-way tie at four under par, are the only two players to post consecutive rounds in the 60s. Two of the three 67s Friday, the best rounds of the day, were scored by Mel Reid, who’s T-2, and Minjee Lee, two behind at T-5.

As the second major of the LPGA seasons heads to the weekend, here are six takeaways ahead of the third round.

Maguire is a GIR Machine

Baltusrol’s layout has proven quite challenging, with the over 6,500-yard setup’s difficulty compounded by rain. Overall, the field is hitting 66.5 percent of greens in regulation.

Maguire, however, has only missed two greens through two rounds. It’s fitting that the leader noted her approaches were the best part of her game Friday as part of a three-under-par 68.

“I think this golf course demands that,” Maguire said. “I think you can’t think more than one shot ahead, let alone a hole or a round ahead. Just really taking it shot by shot and trying to hit as good of shots as I can.”

Consistently reaching greens in regulation isn’t a new development for the Irishwoman. Maguire hit 81 percent of greens last week in her victory at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Her stellar ball striking is fueling a run of seven straight rounds in the 60s, dating back to a 67 on the final day of the Mizuho Americas Open.

Lee-Anne Pace maintains her out-of-nowhere run

Seemingly, everything would work against the profile of Lee-Anne Pace, 42, maintaining her cadence near the top of the leaderboard with a two-over-par 73 to sit at three under for the championship. The South African primarily plays on the Ladies European Tour, with her only start on the LPGA this season a T-30 at the Shoprite LPGA Classic two weeks ago. In Pace’s six previous starts in Women’s PGA, Pace’s best career finish is a T-62 in 2015. Her last LPGA top 10 was in 2018 at the ASI Scottish Open.

Yet, Pace explained Thursday evening she felt confident because over the COVID-19 pandemic, she rediscovered her passion for competition.

“Now I’m to the point where I love it,” Pace said. “I love being out here. I find it a challenge. It’s much better.”

That confidence got tested multiple times Friday. Off a quick turnaround following walking off the course at 8 p.m. ET to complete the one-time LPGA winner’s first round, Friday’s cool temperatures impacted her to back. Then, on the 15th, her ball found a lone divot in the heart of the fairway. The punch shot stung her wrists and she had to shake it off as her ball ran up toward the green. She made par there but ended up three over on her closing side to finish with a 73 and in a tie for second.

Rose Zhang walks off the first tee. Icon Sportswire

Rose Zhang closes with colorful scorecard

Zhang, starting on the 10th hole in Round 2 after opening with a 70, continued holding steady at the Baltusrol test through her opening side, posting a birdie and a bogey.

However, Zhang’s round turned chaotic following her final par of the day on No. 4. The rookie who won in her pro debut at Liberty National closed bogey-birdie-bogey-double bogey-birdie, ending up with a scrambling three-over-par 74. While Zhang discussed viewing each day as a learning opportunity, she plans to change her strategy going into the weekend, tied for 29th and trailing the lead by eight.

“I do want to make a couple of adjustments, just because I feel like the game plans that I’ve been having the past two days have been a little iffy,” Zhang said.

Mel Reid tees off at No. 1. Icon Sportswire

Reid turns from pondering retirement to major contention

Reid turned to her wife, Carly Reid, last September while fighting through a wrist injury and trying to save her LPGA card, and said she was considering quitting. Now, 10 months after choosing to give professional golf one more go, Reid tied for the low round of the day with a 67 to sit T-2.

Reid credited not fighting her tendencies anymore, playing a cut that led the 35-year-old to hit all 18 greens Friday. Last year, she returned to work with longtime coach Jorge Parada, who is based at Liberty National.

After struggling to start 2023, Reid’s work with Parada paid off by stringing together four top-30 finishes leading into this week. The British woman, however, isn’t trying to get ahead of what a win could mean for staving off retirement.

“It’s only halfway, isn’t it, so just try to stick to the game plan the next couple days and see what happens,” Reid said.

Lexi Thompson’s charge gets her into weekend

The 2022 Women’s PGA runner-up’s challenging season seemed likely to continue with eight holes to play. Having made one cut in four starts this season, Thompson sat at eight over par with the cutline at five over.

But as the streaky Thompson has done throughout her career, she strung together a four-straight birdie surge from the fifth to the eighth to make her second cut of the year.

“I’ve been working probably harder than ever in my whole life on the golf course and when I’m home practicing,” Thompson said. “Just to be able to come through towards the end and make those birdies, it’s nice to see hard work pay off, even though I’m still at four over. I’m taking it. I’m taking the small win right now and building it.”

Marquee names miss the cut

The 12th major hosted by Baltusrol figured to be a clash of the game’s top golfers. It still may be. But multiple past champions and top players aren’t making the weekend, and some weren’t particularly close.

Headlining the surprises was Nelly Korda’s 76-77, 11-over-par performance. Korda returned this week after a month away from the LPGA due to a back injury, and how she has her first missed cut ever in the Women’s PGA. It marks back-to-back missed cuts for the top American in the world.

Joining Korda were this year’s Chevron Championship winner, Lilia Vu (+6), past Women’s PGA winners Anna Nordqvist (+6) and Sei Young Kim (+8), major champions A Lim Kim (+6), Jennifer Kupcho (+6), Patty Tavatanakit (+8) and Georgia Hall (+9), and former World No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul (+10).

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The LPGA’s return to Baltusrol for the first time since 1961 was rainy, cold and wet. With the course playing 6,500 yards, scores reflected the challenging conditions. Leader Lee-Ann Pace’s five-under-par 66 was one of only 16 players posting a red number.

Impressively, it’s Pace’s first start at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship since 2019, where the now 42-year-old missed the cut. She walked off the course at 88pm and was asked if she believed a 66 was out there.

“No,” Pace answered. “Did you?”

With tough conditions forecast for the rest of the week in Springfield, New Jersey, it feels like the winning score will be closer to 2022 winner In Gee Chun’s five-under then 2021 champion Nelly Korda’s 19-under.

Leaderboard: Lee-Anne Pace (-5), Ruoning Yin (-4), Xiyu Lin (-4), Brooke Henderson (-4), Wichanee Meechai (-3)

Lee-Anne Pace tops the leaderboard with several chasing. Here's how things sit heading into Round 2.@ROLEX | #ROLEX pic.twitter.com/m7A5YXFrJO

— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 23, 2023

Have to use a caddie? Hire local
Asking LPGA rookies about the most challenging part of playing on tour usually points to travel, lack of practice, or limited playing opportunities in non-full-field events. But for Celine Borge, three off the lead following an opening two-under 69, her answer stands out.
It’s using a caddie.

Celine Borge hits her tee shot on the 18th hole during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. Darren Carroll/PGA of America

“I’m not used to having a caddie,” Borges said. “I just try to do what I’ve always been doing, just play my own game and just someone to carry the bag.”
When Borges, 24, was on the Epson Tour, the Norwegian carried her own bag. The developmental circuit didn’t require caddies. The LPGA, however, requires players to use them.
Borge’s solution? Using a local caddie in each of her LPGA starts, resulting in her using a different looper every week on tour. It’s proven effective, as she has three top-20 finishes, highlighted by a T-14 at the LPGA Drive On Championship in March.
“I tried to stay focused on every shot and hit fairways and greens and just to do my best,” Borge said.

Landlord and tenant tied for second

Ruoning Yin hits her tee shot on the fourth hole during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club. Darren Carroll/PGA of America

Xiyu Lin, 27, and Ruoning Yin, 20 are good friends. Yin called Lin like a big sister and was happy their names tied for second after shooting bogey-free 68s. But the two from China are not only close friends — Yin rents Lin’s old house in Orlando.
“After she wins [the DIO LA Implant Open in April], I’m like: ‘I need to raise the rent,” Lin joked. “It was way too low for you now.’”
Lin felt bad that, with playing on tour, she couldn’t keep up with maintenance issues at the house, such as a drainage problem with a clogged toilet that was finally fixed three weeks ago. They met when Yin was 16 and asked Lin the best way to make it to the LPGA.
“The more I talked to her, the more I feel like she’s definitely way more mature than her age, and she has very clear goals, and she’s very aggressive,” Lin said. “She’s not scared of anything.”
Lin lost to Hannah Green in a playoff at the JM Eagle LA Championship at the start of May. After recovering from a back injury and COVID-19, Lin finished T-3 at the Meijer LPGA Classic last week. Lin maintained perspective for her and Yin saying they’ll chat about anything other than golf while spending time together Thursday evening.
“We set a good start,” Lin said, “but there’s still plenty of hard work to do, so we’re just going to get some rest and come out bright and early tomorrow.”

Zhang continues success in pro major debut
Following her historic win at the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National three weeks ago, Rose Zhang, 20, returned to Stanford to take her finals. Zhang’s exams haven’t slowed down her golf game, as she started her first appearance at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and first major as a professional with a one-under-par 70.
“I don’t think any round at a major championship is casual,” Zhang said. “I definitely had to grind out there. I will say it was pretty much like a roller-coaster.”
The Baltusrol test challenged Zhang quickly. She went two-over through her first four holes. Zhang responded with clutch answers, burying lengthy par saves on the fifth and sixth holes to stay at two-over and play bogey-free the rest of the round. Zhang’s first of three birdies on Thursday came on the seventh.
Zhang had a chance to end the day with fireworks on the 498-yard, par-5 18th hole. Zhang’s self-described easy 3-wood from 219 yards out settled eight feet from the cup. Instead of punctuating the round with an eagle, she left her putt short, settling for a one-under opening act to sit tied for 12th place.

Rose Zhang had a front-row seat and she was taking notes. ?#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/evFdXdTT2x

— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 22, 2023

Her comfort level on the course matches her comfort with the onslaught of media attention.
“I’m not sick of you guys, if you guys aren’t sick of me at that point,” Zhang joked.

There’s always time to make new friends
The par-5 17th hole went disastrously for Minjee Lee. She had to take an unplayable penalty from the greenside bunker, settling for a double-bogey that put the two-time major champion back to one-over. However, that didn’t stop the Australian from a heartwarming chat with one of the youngest fans at Baltusrol, soothing former LPGA player and current commentator Amanda Blumenhurst’s crying baby after Bulumenhurt handed her to Lee on the 18th hole.

?@minjeegolf makes a new friend at Baltusrol pic.twitter.com/Xr2jYtHJN6

— LPGA (@LPGA) June 22, 2023

The bow-tied baby intently watched as Lee, 27, talked. It’s a moment the young fan won’t likely remember but will always have on tape to look back on. Lee ended up with a par on the last hole for a round of 72.

Thompson finishes up-and-down day outside cut line
Lexi Thompson started Thursday with three straight bogeys. It felt like the 2022 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship runner-up turned the day around by fighting back to even-par through seven but the roller-coaster round went south quickly, starting with a double-bogey on the 10th and finishing the side with a five-over-par 41 to card a 76 and sit T-106.
In 2023, she has made one cut in four LPGA starts, with her best result being a T-31 at the Cognizant Founder’s Cup (she finished T3 in her season-opening Aramco Saudi Ladies International in Jeddah). The 11-time winner has one round in the 60s this year, a 69 to begin the Meijer LPGA Classic last week. Highlighting the drastic change in her season, over Thompson’s 12-year career, she’s finished in the top-25 63 per cent of the time.
Should Thompson, 28, miss the cut this week, she’ll have missed as many weekends this year as she did in 2021 and 2022 combined. She did shoot 74 to begin the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last year at Congressional but she was T-50 after that round.
Thompson isn’t the only notable player to post a 76 Thursday, with fellow top 10 players in the world Nelly Korda and Hyo Joo Kim also shooting five-over.

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The reward for competing at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship just got, well, more rewarding. In the midst of Thursday’s first round at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, tournament officials announced the prize money payout for this year’s championship was rising to $10 million, $1 million more than from 2022 and the sixth straight year that the purse had gotten a bump. The winner on Sunday will earn a pay day of $1.5 million

In those six years, the overall increase has been 185 per cent from the $3.5 million purse awarded in 2017.

“I think in really studying the history and looking at this event, in 2015 when we partnered with KPMG and the PGA of America sort of everything changed around this championship and I think it became, like Paul said, he kind of described it perfectly, a catalyst for change on the LPGA,” LPGA Tour Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said. “If you look at all the things that they do to elevate this tournament, it’s what we’re trying to do. The investment that they make in the women golfers, in the LPGA, has really taken the LPGA to new heights that we never really imagined.”

The bump marks back-to-back events with a $10 million purse, as the US Women’s Open, starting July 6, has the same purse. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship raise is the second major to increase its purse in 2023. With the Chevron Championship’s move to Carlton Woods, Texas, its purse went up from $5 million to $5.1 million.

Rising major purses is a notable trend on the LPGA. In 2022, every major grew its purse by at least $1.5 million for a total increase of $14.4 million. The continued increases in purses have led the LPGA to another record year, with the current season at $101.35 million, the first time in tour history the total has exceeded $100 million.

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Kerry Haigh is ever the optimist. In Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course, the PGA of America’s chief championships officer has got a layout that’s close to everything he could ask for when setting up a major championship test: bouncy fairways, thick rough and firm greens that make the 6,621-yard par-71 track hosting this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship feel almost links like. The one thing he doesn’t have is a forecast working in his favour, with at least a 50-per-cent chance of rain predicted for all four days of competition.

“It is 50-per-cent of sunshine is what we hear,” Haigh joked when asked about the weather.

The thing is, Haigh has experience with rain at Baltusrol, having to navigate wet weather when the Lower Course hosted the 2016 PGA Championship. Conditions got so bad, the PGA of America implemented lift, clean and place during the final two rounds that were stacked back-to-back on Sunday.

Should Mother Nature interrupt the festivities again this week, it would be a shame as the top female players come to one of the game’s most historic courses. Baltusrol has hosted nine men’s majors, but just two women’s, the 1961 and 1985 US Women’s Open. In two weeks’ time, the top female players in the game will experience another legendary major championship venue for the first time, Pebble Beach making its debut as a US Women’s Open.

For the women to compete on these stellar courses provides a unique opportunity to showcase the women’s game. Casual golf fans may be more apt to tune into the coverage to see how the women will fare on courses they’ve seen the men play previously. The curiosity factor is bound to attract more viewers.

Thankfully, they’ll have lots of opportunity to watch. Twenty-six hours of live coverage from Baltusrol will be shown. At Pebble Beach, Saturday and Sunday rounds will be broadcast during prime-time hours, a first for a women’s championship

The opportunity to compete at these venues is something Stacy Lewis, a two-time major winner and the US Solheim Cup team captain, has been longing for since joining the LPGA Tour in 2009. Since KPMG and the PGA of America came on board to help run the former LPGA Championship nine years ago, the venues have become more high profile: Hazeltine National, Aronimink, Atlanta Athletic Club, Congressional and now Baltusrol.

When asked about what the next two events will mean for the women’s game, the LPGA veteran offered an intriguing answer. Rather than lament about it taking so long for the women to visit these premier venues, she noted how exciting a time this has become as she spoke about what the players are in store for in the coming weeks. And what players are most looking forward to in the experience.

“The biggest thing for me is you walk through that clubhouse, and you see the winners of all these past champions that have won big events here, and it’s guys, it’s guys, it’s guys, and then there’s maybe one here of a US Am or something like that,” Lewis said. “But to just start a history here of women being on those pictures and being around that clubhouse, that’s the biggest thing for me of what’s changing in women’s golf, because we’re doing this every year.

“We’re doing this every golf course we go play. It’s going to happen at Pebble, too. We’re changing the history of these golf courses. I’m just glad that the powers that be picked up the phone and said that they were ready for it.”

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The 2023 LPGA Tour season has the potential to go down as the “year of the course”. A historic change came with the Chevron Championship moving to Carlton Woods outside Houston after 51 years at Mission Hills in California. The Hanwha LifePlus International Crown returned, showcased at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. And the US Women’s Open will be held in two weeks for the first time at Pebble Beach.

But not to be overlooked, the Lower Course at Baltusrol Golf Club, site of this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, is hosting its first LPGA major since Mickey Wright won the 1961 US Women’s Open. Having held nine men’s majors, the storied Springfield, New Jersey, course could provide a lot of drama as the season’s second major plays out.

Among the storylines to follow: Lydia Ko gets her second opportunity to win her way into the LPGA’s Hall of Fame, being two points shy of qualifying and earning two points with a major victory. Rose Zhang tries to make it two professional wins in two professional starts. Jin Young Ko sits one week away from becoming the all-time leader in weeks as the world No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings, now tied with Lorena Ochoa, and further etching her name among the game’s greats.

To get you ready for this week’s major, we ranked the top 25 players most likely to be victorious at the end of the week at Baltusrol.

Hannah Green. LPGA

25: Hannah Green
Rolex Ranking: 15 Starts: 5 Best Finish: Win, 2019
The Aussie comes to the major where she’s performed best during her career following her third career LPGA victory at the JM Eagle LA Championship. The win, her first in four years, feeds into the confidence she carries after finishing T-5 in this event at Congressional in 2022, along with her win at Hazeltine National four years ago.

24: In Gee Chun
Rolex Ranking: 16 Starts: 7 Best Finish: Win, 2022
After taking time off due to an injured back, the defending champion returns in only her second start since early May. She missed the cut at the Meijer LPGA Classic, but she didn’t exactly have a sterling set of results before her victory at Congressional last year, either. Chun posted a T-72 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic and a T-67 at Meijer, then turned it on to win her third major title at Congressional.

Angel Yin. Stacy Revere

23: Angel Yin
Rolex Ranking: 35 Starts: 6 Best Finish: T-4, 2018
Since Yin’s runner-up at the Chevron Championship, the US Solheim Cup hopeful has steadily churned out strong finishes, including a T-5 at the Founders Cup in early May. It’s her best stretch of golf in two years, when she finished in the top-10 three consecutive times, including a sixth-place finish at the 2021 US Women’s Open.

22: Hae Ran Ryu
Rolex Ranking: 30 Starts: First
The 22-year-old from South Korea leads the rookie-of-the-year points race with three top-six finishes, continually knocking on the door of for a first LPGA win. Four of the last six Rookie of the Year winners won a major. Ryu, who won the LPGA’s Q-Series to earn her card, fits the talent required to win a major in her maiden year.

Georgia Hall. ASLI

21: Georgia Hall
Rolex Ranking: 8 Starts: 6 Best Finish: T-21, 2021, 2022
The Englishwoman has cooled off after opening the year with four top-10s in her first five starts. She’s posted a T-10 at the Founders Cup, her only top-10 in the last two months.

20: Celine Boutier
Rolex Ranking: 11 Starts: 5 Best Finish: T-7, 2021
Boutier, like Hall, slowed down after a terrific start to the season, which included a win at Superstition Mountain in March. Following a T-12 at the Chevron, Boutier has yet to finish better than T-31 in a stroke-play event.

Aditi Ashok. LET

19: Aditi Ashok
Rolex Ranking: 47 Starts: 5 Best Finish: T-29, 2017
This year is a breakthrough campaign for LET Rase to Costa Del Sol leader Ashok. Since missing the field at Chevron, she’s been in the top-five in half of her starts, including a playoff loss at the JM Eagle LA Championship at the end of April. Not so coincidently, she’s hitting it 253 yards off the tee this year, nearly 12 yards further than her seven-year career average.

18: Rose Zhang
Rolex Ranking: 64 Starts: First
The amateur legend had a legendary start to her pro career with a victory two weeks ago at the Mizuho Americas Open. Spent the next week taking final exams to finish up her sophomore year at Stanford. Now, Zhang faces her first major test as a pro with no more worries about finding her LPGA membership.

Anna Nordqvist. Getty Images

17: Anna Nordqvist
Rolex Ranking: 43 Starts: 14 Best Finish: Win, 2009
After missing the first major of her career at Chevron, Nordqvist has been on a tear. The 36-year-old Swede posted four straight top-20 finishes before a T-32 at the Meijer. She’s playing well enough to contend for her fourth major title and 10th career victory.

Lydia Ko. ATS

16: Lydia Ko
Rolex Ranking: 2 Starts: 10 Best Finish: 2nd, 2016
It’s been a slow 2023 after a player-of-the-year season in 2022. Following her win at the $5 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International Presented By Public Investment Fund and a T6 in Thailand in February, Ko hasn’t cracked the top 25 in any event, including two missed cuts at the Chevron and last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic. However, a win gives Ko the final two points needed to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, so the 26-year-old has plenty of incentive this week.

15: Cheyenne Knight
Rolex Ranking: 36 Starts: 4 Best Finish: T-46, 2022
Knight has posted top-25 finishes in her last six starts, and eight out of 10 in 2023. She hopes her recent form will help her overcome inconsistencies at the KPMG, having only made the cut twice in four starts.

14: Nasa Hataoka
Rolex Ranking: 18 Starts: 6 Best Finish: T-2, 2018
Arguably the best player on the LPGA without a major, Hataoka has come close multiple times at the KPMG. She lost in a playoff in 2018, finished T-3 in 2020 and T-5 last year.

Linn Grant. LET

13: Linn Grant
Rolex Ranking: 22 Starts: First
We chronicled the Swede’s unusual start to her LPGA career a few weeks ago, and when she finally made her first start as an LPGA member in the US, she recorded a third-place finish at the Bank of Hope Match Play. Feels like more a matter of when, not if, the 23-year-old wins her first LPGA event.

Brooke Henderson. Julio Aguilar

12: Brooke Henderson
Rolex Ranking: 10 Starts: 8 Best Finish: Win, 2016
Success at the KPMG Women’s PGA comes naturally to Henderson. The Canadian star has only one finish outside the top 25 in her career in this event, including five top-10s and her maiden major title in 2016. She’ll have to rely on her talents at PGA of America’s set-ups, as she’s looking for her first top-25 at a stroke-play event since a T-23 at the Chevron.

Danielle Kang. Andy Lyons

11: Danielle Kang
Rolex Ranking: 20 Starts: 11 Best Finish: Win, 2017
Kang’s got some odd-year magic in this championship — she won in 2017 and finished T-5 in 2019 and 2021. There’s more going for her than the last number in the year, however—she’s coming off a T-10 at the Americas Open in her last start.

Jennifer Kupcho. Supplied

10: Jennifer Kupcho
Rolex Ranking: 21 Starts: 4 Best Finish: T-7, 2020
After a slow start to the season the three-time LPGA winner is starting to turn things around. Kupcho lost in a playoff to Rose Zhang at the Mizuho Americas Open and followed up with a top-10 at the Meijer. What’s the difference? Kupcho prefers bentgrass courses compared to the Poa annua tracks that dot the California swing.

Minjee Lee. LET

9: Minjee Lee
Rolex Ranking: 5 Starts: 8 Best Finish: T-2, 2022
After stuttering to get her season going, Lee turned it around into the form that’s made the Australian a two-time major champion. Despite an uncharacteristic bogey during a playoff at the Founders Cup against Jin Young Ko to lose, Lee has followed up with back-to-back T-13s at the Americas Open and the Meijer LPGA Classic.

8: Ayaka Furue
Rolex Ranking: 19 Starts: 1 Best Finish: MC, 2022
Furue has been as close as a player can get to winning without a win since Chevron. She lost to Pajaree Arannunkarn in the Bank of Hope Match Play championship match and posted T-4s at the JM Eagle LA Championship and the Americas Open. The Japanese native also held the 54-hole lead at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

Nelly Korda. Mike Ehrmann

7: Nelly Korda
Rolex Ranking: 2 Starts: 6 Best Finish: Win, 2021
This week marks back-to-back years since Korda returned from injury to play at a major. Last year, after taking three months to recover from a blood clot, Korda came back at the US Women’s Open to a T-8 finish. This year is due to a concern with her back, which might explain her first missed cut of the year at the Cognizant Founders Cup before taking a month off.

Lilia Vu. Stacy Revere

6: Lilia Vu
Rolex Ranking: 4 Starts: 1 Best Finish: T-10, 2022
Vu’s incredible start to 2023, including a T3 at the Saudi Ladies International. a first career LPGA win and then a major title at Chevron, has quieted of late, but she’s still one of just two players (along with Jin Young Ko) with multiple victories this season.

Atthaya Thitikul. Getty Images

5: Atthaya Thitikul
Rolex Ranking: 6 Starts: 1 Best Finish: Fourth, 2022
Thitikul has the most top-10s on tour in 2023 with seven in nine starts. What’s been limiting for Thitikul are her final-round scores. Thitikul’s fourth-round average of 70.9 this year is two strokes worse than her combined average from the first through third rounds (68.9). Her last fourth round in the 60s was a 67 at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in early March. It’s the opposite of her rookie campaign, where her 69.1 fourth-round scoring average was her lowest-round average of the week.

Leona Maguire. David Berding

4: Leona Maguire
Rolex Ranking: 12 Starts: 4 Best Finish: T-15, 2021
Maguire has strung three top-10s together in her most consistent stretch of the 2023 season heading into Baltusrol, capped by an impressive victory on Sunday at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

Jin Young Ko. Mike Stobe

3: Jin Young Ko
Rolex Ranking: 1 Starts: 4 Best Finish: T-11, 2018
Ko, with two wins this season, aims for her third career major title. And this week she tied Lorena Ochoa for the most weeks as the top player of the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. The KPMG is the only major Ko hasn’t finished either first or second.

Hyo Joo Kim. Lionel Ng

2: Hyo Joo Kim
Rolex Ranking: 7 Starts: 7 Best Finish: T-3, 2021
Kim has three straight top-10s in this championship (T-7 2019, T-3 2021, T-5 2022) and 10 top-10s at majors. She’s also got eight top-20 finishes in nine starts in 2023 and arrives at Baltusrol with back-to-back top-fives. Pretty good combo, don’t you think?!?

Ashleigh Buhai. Drew Hallowell

1: Ashleigh Buhai
Rolex Ranking: 13 Starts: 10 Best Finish: T-18, 2020
Buhai’s been the best player on the LPGA’s New Jersey swing. On top of her victory at ShopRite, she’s earned top-10s at the Founders Cup (third) and Miuzho Americas Open (T-7). She returns to the Garden State with a T-13 at last week’s Meijer in Michigan. The only blight on her résumé would be her lack of success at KPMG, but at 34, Buhai’s reinvented herself. Expect the top South African player to be in the heart of contention again.

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