Minjee Lee of Australia steadied herself after a bumpy start, carded a final round of 74 and captured the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Sunday in Frisco, Texas.
Lee began the day with a four-stroke advantage over Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and was never seriously threatened. She finished 4-under-par 284 for the week, with key birdies at Nos. 14 and 15 of PGA Frisco’s Fields Ranch East course providing some important cushion.
“I just said, ‘Just stick to my game plan,’” Lee said. “I know it’s a battle against myself pretty much, especially with how tough the conditions were this whole week, not just today. Just amplified because it’s major Sunday. Yeah, just be patient and take every shot as it comes.”
Lee bagged her third career major following the 2021 Evian Championship and the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open. The 29-year-old moved up the all-time majors leaderboard, tying names like Nancy Lopez, In-gee Chun of South Korea, Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and Lydia Ko of New Zealand with her third win.
The only two Australian women to reach the milestone before Lee were Karrie Webb (seven) and Jan Stephenson (three).
“It’s really cool, especially being only a couple of us or a few of us done it so far. … It’s just a really special feeling,” Lee said.
Auston Kim and Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen each shot 4-under 68 Sunday to tie for second at 1 under par.
Thitikul, ranked No. 2 in the world, held the lead after each of the first two rounds before a Saturday 76 knocked her behind Lee. She bogeyed Nos. 1 and 3 to start off on the wrong foot, settled for a final-round 75 and tied for fourth at 1 over with Japan’s Chisato Iwai (71).
Lee spent time in the bunker at Nos. 3 and 5 on her way to two early bogeys, and she dropped her third shot at No. 6.
After following up a birdie at the par-5 ninth hole with another bogey at No. 10, Lee protected a two-shot margin with three straight pars, including a 9-foot putt at the par-3 13th.
That’s when she began to break away. She rolled in another 9-footer at the par-5 14th hole for birdie, and at No. 15 — a par-4 measuring just 235 yards — Lee nearly drove the green and putted her second stroke to within 6 feet of the flagstick, setting up another birdie.
A final bogey at No. 16 didn’t sour her mood. After completing a two-putt par at the final hole, she dropped her putter, placed her hands on her head and received a Champagne shower from friends and fellow Australian players.
“Pretty much I saw every single leaderboard and knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today,” Lee said. “I checked the scores and I then I just come back to each shot and try and execute it the best that I could.”
Not only did this mark Lee’s third major, but it was her first win of any kind since October 2023.
Her brother, PGA Tour player Min Woo Lee, sent her a special congratulatory message.
“I’m so proud of you,” Min Woo Lee said. “The last couple years have been tough and I’m so glad to see you back in the winner’s circle. I’m proud of you and love you.”
Kim, a 24-year-old from Florida, had never finished better than T30 at a major before Sunday and has yet to win on the LPGA Tour.
Kim shot three rounds of par or better this week. She birdied Nos. 1, 7, 8 and 9 Sunday to shoot up the leaderboard but stopped there, finishing with all pars on the back nine.
“Obviously the result was really good, but I’m really happy how I handled myself, my emotions, all the adversity,” Kim said. “The course is playing really, really tough, but I feel like this week me and my team were — my team and I were very locked in and we focused on all the right things. The result took care of itself.”
–Field Level Media
