FRISCO, Texas – Two-time major champion Minzie Lee took over the lead in the first bogeyless round for anyone during the windy week at the 69-year-old KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Saturday, the third round, moving a four-stroke before Jeeno Thitikul.
Lee reached 6 under 210 after starting his third stroke behind world number two Thitikul, who led alone at the end of each of the first two days.
Lee, an Australian who lives in nearby Irving, came forward on a 2-foot par on the 405-yard 12th hole, and entered the fourth day with Thitikul’s second consecutive bogeys on his way to the 76th round.
Far from the trees lined Saharry outside Seattle, where female PGA existed last year, Fields Ranch East in PGA Frisco is much more open and exposed to the strongest Texan winds of the week. There were more than 30 miles of gusts on Saturday, with roughly the same predictions in the final round. The temperature was again in the mid-90s.
Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, started with consecutive bogeys after 72 rounds, but ended with two birdies. She had five birdies and five bogeys, finishing sixth in 218 overs.
Lee and Chitickle were still the only players in the standard. Lexi Thompson (75) tied for third place with Haejinchoi (72) and Yamasita Palace (73) after a triple bogey start.
Thitikul scored the only birdie out of 78 players in the par 3, 8th hole for 172 yards. This is generally downwind, with only 29% of tee shots remaining on the green throughout the week. That 13-foot birdie was the first of the day, and before Lee he made her five under, two strokes.
However, Thitikul’s lead disappeared after Bogeys behind his back. She pushed her 4-foot perch past her first mistake, 383 yards 11 hole this week. Her drive on hole 12 for 417 yards then proceeded towards the penalty area, with Lee moving forward.
Lee, who won the 2022 US Women’s Open and the 2021 Evian Championship in France, was steadily on eight consecutive pars before a 4-foot birdie on the ninth hole of 487 yards. Her other birdies were 18 feet for 515 yards, 14th in par 5 and 1½ feet on the 236-yard par 4 15th hole surrounded by bunkers.
Thitikul is no. He had a third bogey on a four-hole stretch when he putts three times from 50 feet at 14.
In the second group, semi-retired Thompson hit a tee shot into the fairway on a 517-yard par-5 first hole and a 517-yard par-5 that was windy on a 207-yard drive. However, she broke through the second shot, which was only 117 yards, showing the caddy that the wind had lost her balance and shank the next shot to the right. She continued with another bogey in the second hole, but the rest of the road had only two birdies and one bogey.
Thompson, who played for the seventh time in 16 tournaments this season, won the only major at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, but his 13 top-five finishes in the majors since 2013 was the most of the 20 top-10 finishes in these events.
LPGA rookie Rio Tekeda opened with a bogey six in the first hole after starting the round tied up with Lee in second place. Takada later had a double bogey. This includes a 315-yard par-four hole. There, a drive got caught up in the top of the greenside bunker, leaving him with a troublesome stance and unable to get the ball out on the first try.
Grace Kim had the best rounds at 68, including 68 birdies and two bogeys, tied up from 68 to 10th. Minjee Lee and Andrea (71) had the only other standard round.
Among the 11 players who arrived on the weekend with seven over-cuts, Kim was tee-off at 6:55am local time, six hours before Chitickle and Lee’s final group left the first hole.
There was even a hole-in-one, and Brianna had a fourth hole for 150 yards. It was the third female PGA in the last four years.
