Australian Minjee Lee conquered the heat, the wind and the cream of the LPGA crop to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Sunday in Frisco, Texas. It was Lee’s 11th win on the LPGA Tour and her first since 2023.
With her victory on the Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco, Lee became the third Australian woman to win three major championships. She’s now tied with Jan Stephenson and only has to chase Karrie Webb, who has seven.
“It’s really cool,” Lee said. “Especially being only a few of us who have done it so far. It’s just a really special feeling.”
“I’m constantly practicing in windy conditions. Obviously having grown up in Australia it’s always windy, especially where I practice.”
Minjee Lee
Lee finished 4-under par (69-72-69-74) and three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen. Wind played a major factor over the weekend, gusting at times to more than 30 mph. While contenders fell down the leaderboard, Lee thrived on Saturday to build a four-shot, 54-hole lead and played well enough to close on Sunday, despite a few hiccups. Lee, who now lives in Texas, says she’s used to the wind.
“I’m constantly practicing in windy conditions,” Lee said after the third round. “Obviously having grown up in Australia it’s always windy, especially where I practice.”
After the first two rounds, it looked like world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul was well on her way to winning her first major championship. She led the tournament at 6-under, three strokes clear of Lee and Rio Takeda. Then the wind started howling.
Thitikul played the third round 4-over with six bogeys and two birdies. Meanwhile, Lee had a clean scorecard with three birdies and no bogeys. She was 7-for-7 when scrambling. Lee’s 3-under 69 was one of only three rounds under par on Saturday. Thitikul found herself at 2-under, four strokes behind Lee going into the final day.
“It was so tough condition-wise to be honest,” said Thitikul, who shot 75 Sunday and finished T4. “You need [to be] 100 percent trusting where you’re going to aim. I think the hardest part is the putting.”
On Sunday, a Thitikul bogey on the first hole gave Lee a five-shot lead. But then Lee started making mistakes. Bogeys on the third, fifth and sixth holes dropped her to 3-under. Meanwhile, Kim, who started the day nine strokes back at 3-over, made four birdies on the front nine and cut the lead to just two.
The margin remained slim for a few more holes, but Lee’s back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15 expanded her lead to four and essentially sealed the tournament.
“I saw every single leaderboard and I knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today,” Lee said. “I just tried to check the scores and come back to each shot and try and execute it the best I could.”
Everett Munez