Talk about making up for a late-starting relationship. The PGA of America didn’t start holding its premier competitions at Hazeltine National Golf Club until the 2002 PGA Championship, when Rich Beem defeated Tiger Woods for his lone major title.
Less than a quarter century later, the 72nd edition of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will be held at Hazeltine on June 25–28, marking the fifth PGA of America spectator championship to be hosted by the Chaska, Minnesota, course.
And, oh yeah, Hazeltine also hosts the 2029 Ryder Cup.
The list of PGA of America-Hazeltine partnerships includes the 2002 PGA Championship, the 2009 PGA Championship (when Y.E. Yang became the only player to catch Woods in a major), the 2016 Ryder Cup (the United States’ 17–11 victory tied the record for the biggest American margin of victory on home soil since 1979) and the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (Hannah Green won by a shot over 2018 Champion Sung Hyun Park).
One can say the PGA of America and Hazeltine fit together like an interlocking grip.
“It’s really a great facility to host major championship golf,” says Kerry Haigh, PGA of America Chief Championships Officer, who has provided masterful course setup at Hazeltine for the two PGA Championships, Ryder Cup and both KPMG Women’s PGA Championships. “It is not only a great golf course, but it has the infrastructure and space to accommodate any-sized major championship. It’s in the club membership’s mission statement to be a part of major championship golf.”
Adds PGA of America Vice President Nathan Charnes, “Our goal with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is to take it to some unbelievable venues, and Hazeltine certainly falls into that category as a great championship golf course.
“I think it’s going to be a really special championship, and it’s a fantastic time of year for the Championship to be played in Minnesota, which is such a great golf community.
“And, of course, our partnership with KPMG and the LPGA is very important to the PGA of America, so we’re always excited to work together on this great Championship.”
When Hazeline started hosting major championships 60 years ago, it was with a different partner: the United States Golf Association. Starting in 1966, the USGA held a pair of U.S. Opens (won by Tony Jacklin in 1970 and Payne Stewart in 1991), a pair of U.S. Women’s Opens (won by Sandra Spuzich in 1966 and Hollis Stacy in 1977), a U.S. Senior Open (won by Billy Casper in 1983) and a U.S. Mid-Amateur (won by Tim Jackson in 1994).
There was a reason for the Hazeltine-USGA connection: One of Hazeltine’s founders was Totton P. Heffelfinger, a former President of the USGA whose goal was to host major championships at the course.
The pendulum switched to the PGA of America in the late-1990s when the 2002 PGA Championship was agreed upon, and it has accelerated since. Kyle Brandt, PGA, who has spent five years as the Head Professional at Hazeltine, says the connection has worked well for both sides.
“It’s been just a great partnership,” Brandt explains. “The PGA of America has great leaders, and they understand we have a major championship golf course. The golf course speaks for itself. We also have more than 100 undeveloped acres that give the PGA plenty of room for parking, concessions and suites to entertain people. When you look at what we have to offer, why would you not partner with Hazeltine?”
The familiarity makes Haigh’s job of setting up the course easier because he knows every blade of grass on Hazeltine. But he says it’s not a case of “rinse, repeat” when the PGA of America returns to Hazeltine.
“We try to come with a fresh, blank sheet of paper, as if we’re looking at it for the first time,” Haigh says. “We identify everything that needs to be done to make the Championship better. We’re looking for the best hole locations, based on weather and course conditions, not the same ones.”
Green wouldn’t mind repeating as the KPMG Women’s PGA Champion at Hazeltine, where she posted a 9-under 279 in 2019. The 29-year-old Aussie started this year with two victories in her first four starts as she now aims to secure her second career major.
Last year’s KPMG winner, Minjee Lee, finished tied for 30th in the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeline and calls the course “an amazing test of golf.” She faces difficult odds in defending her title: Only five players have done so – Inbee Park, Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster, Patty Sheehan and Mickey Wright – and each is in the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame.
The 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship boasted a $12 million purse – tied with the U.S. Women’s Open for the largest in women’s golf – and the 2026 purse will be announced Championship Week.
A major change for this year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is a new tee at the 16th hole that has been elevated by 30 feet, giving players (and fans) a panoramic view of Lake Hazeltine.
The course remains the focal point of the week’s activities. Brandt says the four par 5s are “strong, for sure, each one of them having its own challenge.” Two of them run in opposite directions to neutralize wind advantages.
Brandt also favors the 10th hole – where the field starts its round once on the first two days. It’s no friendly handshake start.
“You have to hit your drive to the top shelf to look down to a green that runs front to back and right to left,” says Brandt. “The second shot will be as important as the start.” And he actually believes the fifth hole may be the most challenging.
Fittingly, Laura Frick, is the first woman PGA of America Member to serve as Championship Director for any of the Association’s spectator championships. Her task is to showcase the best women golfers in the world, on and off the golf course.
“Our focus remains on providing a world-class Championship experience for one of the strongest fields in women’s golf,” says Frick.
“We are incredibly proud to be back at Hazeltine, and look forward to welcoming spectators to witness the best women players in the world compete at this iconic venue.”
The 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Champion ship field includes eight PGA of America Golf Professionals on the Corebridge Financial Team: Kim Paez of Ping Golf in Frisco, Texas; Allie White of Lancaster (Ohio) Golf Club; Natalie Vivaldi of Goat Hill Park in Oceanside, California; Nicole Felce of Countryside Country Club in Clearwater, Florida; Allie Knight of Fairways and Greens Golf Center in Knox ville, Tennessee; Sandra Changkija of Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida; Loretta Giovannettone of Loblolly in Hobe Sound, Florida; and Joanna Coe of Merion Golf Club in Haverford, Pennsylvania.
“It’s such a cool experience,” Giovannettone says. “We are treated like queens for the week. It’s great to experience tough conditions and see how our game competes with the best women golfers in the world. But it’s really cool not to have the pressure to do it for a living.”
Giovannettone admits the pressure got to her when she played in the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey. She triple-bogeyed her first hole, though she recovered to shoot 2-over in the second round to miss the cut by five shots.
“The biggest takeaway was how anxious I was on the first tee,” she recalls. “That experience will help me be a little calmer. I just want to play as well as I can. Expectations are the biggest killers of joy.”
In addition to the change at the elevated 16th tee, the par-3 13th hole will be played from a forward tee that will decrease the yardage from 200 yards to 178.
“It’s a very solid golf course with a lot of variety,” says Haigh. “It makes you have to use almost every club in the bag.”
Brandt’s advice to the newcomers in the field is simple: Acceptance.
“From the first tee to the last putt, you’ve got to know birdie opportunities will be presented, pars are still a win and you know you’re going to make bogeys,” Brandt says. “Bogeys will come and they’ll come fast. Don’t get down on yourself and just keep fighting.”
Golf has given birth to very few highly competitive sibling rivalries during the past 50 years. But after Australian Minjee Lee won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on June 22, 2025 on the windswept Fields Ranch East Course at PGA Frisco in Texas, a new chapter was written in the friendly brother-sister rivalry in professional golf.
To refresh your historical perspective, the Lee sister-brother rivalry gained traction when Minjee won the U.S. Girls Junior Championship in 2012. Then her younger brother, Min Woo Lee, won the same USGA title in 2016. The family affair grew when both represented their native Australia in the men’s and women’s Olympic golf competition. Then Min Woo earned his first PGA TOUR title in April of 2025 when he ruled the Houston Open.
Fast forward to the longest days of the year in 2025 (June 21–22) when Minjee painted a masterpiece amid trying conditions at Fields Ranch East to secure a three-shot victory in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her third major championship and 11th LPGA Tour victory. That performance put the ball back in Min Woo’s court.
“I’m older, so I should have more professional wins than him,” beamed Minjee after rounds of 69, 72, 69 and 74 left her three shots superior to American Auston Kim and Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen in the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
“I don’t know that it’s really a rivalry since we play on separate tours,” said Minjee Lee, who collected $1.8 million for her KPMG Women’s PGA victory while joining Jan Stephenson and Karrie Webb as the only Australian women to win three or more majors. “We (Minjee and Min Woo) are very supportive of each other in everything we do and wherever we play.”
While Minjee was birdying the 14th and 15th holes in the final round at Fields Ranch East to take control of the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Min Woo was finishing up at The Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR in Connecticut (he finished 63rd) and said he predicted months before that his older sister was ready to win again on the LPGA Tour.
“It doesn’t surprise me that her first win (in 2025) was a major,” said Min Woo. “Her game is built for the majors. She’s very solid and her mental side is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Mix that in with good putting and a good short game and, yeah, she’s going to win.” —Roger Graves
