The 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship got underway on Thursday from the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. Here are five storylines to keep in mind.
5) Baltusrol hosting its third major in women’s golf.
Twice before the Baltusrol Golf Club has hosted a major in women’s golf. In 1961, Mickey Wright of San Diego, California was victorious at the United States Women’s Open despite a poor score of +5. Then in 1985, Kathy Baker of Albany, New York had a score of -8, to beat Judy Clark of Akron, Ohio by three strokes. Baker later went by the name of Kathy Guadagnino. Baltusrol has hosted nine majors in men’s golf. Jimmy Walker of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma won the last major as he was victorious at the 2016 PGA Championship.
4) Lilia Vu won the first major of the year.
Lilia Vu of Fountain Valley, California won the first major of 2023. She was victorious at the Chevron Championship in Woodlands, Texas. It was the first time the Chevron Championship was in Texas. The tournament was previously held in Palm Springs, California, but with the sponsorship change (previously the ANA Inspiration), there was a location change too.
3) LIV/PGA Tour story will not dominate the headlines.
Over the last month, the feud (and now alliance) between the LIV Tour and PGA Tour have been the talk of golf. It has taken away from the actual action on the golf course. We will not see that in Baltusrol this weekend. The winners will be golf fans. However, it should be noted that there were significantly more television coverage for the United States Men’s Open last week than the Women’s PGA Championship this week.
2) Top three golfers in the world in the same group.
One of the most intriguing pairings in the field is Group 49 where the top three golfers in the world are in the same group. They are world number one Jin Young Ko of South Korea, world number two Nelly Korda of the United States and world number three Lydia Ko of New Zealand. The three have combined for five major titles. Jin Young Ko won the 2019 ANA Inspiration and 2019 Evian Championship. Lydia Ko won the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration, and Korda won the 2021 Women’s PGA Championship.
1) Great intrigue surrounding Rose Zhang.
Arcadia, California’s Rose Zhang has simply been the top story of golf over the last month. At the age of 20, Zhang has won the last two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Championships with Stanford University. Then in her professional debut at the beginning of the month, she won the Mizuho Americas Open in a two-hole playoff over Jennifer Kupcho. In the process, Zhang became the first golfer since Beverly Hanson of Fargo, North Dakota to win in her LPGA debut. Hanson won the 1951 Eastern Open.
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