{"id":753726,"date":"2026-06-22T22:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/753726\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T22:00:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:00:29","slug":"2026-kpmg-womens-pga-championship-11-players-to-watch-at-hazeltine-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/753726\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: 11 players to watch at Hazeltine \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can Nelly Korda make it three majors in a row?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the big storyline heading into this week\u2019s KPMG Women\u2019s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National. The world No.1 claimed a five-shot triumph at the Chevron Championship in April and then continued her winning ways with a one-shot victory at the US Women\u2019s Open, arguably the biggest win of her 19 career LPGA titles.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Lexi Thompson withdraws from KPMG Women\u2019s PGA Championship<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s come during a dominant 2026 campaign in which she\u2019s made nine starts, won four times and finished no worse than T-8 in an individual event. And should she win this week, the 27-year-old will leave herself just one victory shy of earning a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

Korda makes winning look easier than it actually is, but the rest of the field isn\u2019t going to conceded anything to her. The top players in the women\u2019s game return to a course that hosted this same event in 2019. That\u2019s when our own Hannah Green secured her first LPGA title<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s PGA continues a steady stream of women\u2019s majors, with the Amundi Evian Championship and AIG Women\u2019s Open two of the next three events on the LPGA schedule. It\u2019s time to find your game, and these 10 players to watch (listed based on their Rolex Ranking) all seem ready for the stretch run.<\/p>\n

Yana Wilson \"2282552454\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Raj Mehta<\/p>\n

Age: 19
Rolex Rankings: 191
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: Debut<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let Wilson\u2019s world ranking fool you. She recently teamed with Gina Kim to win the Dow Championship for her first career LPGA title, but it didn\u2019t count for world-ranking points, so her ranking didn\u2019t change with the victory. She\u2019s one of the longest hitters on tour, averaging 276.25 yards (252.60 metres) off the tee. More importantly, she\u2019s coming into Hazeltine with newfound confidence.<\/p>\n

Lauren Coughlin \"2276423150\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Dylan Buell<\/p>\n

Age: 33
Rolex Rankings: 14
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 5\/3
Best finish: T-15, 2023
2025 finish: Missed Cut<\/p>\n

Coughlin has had an up-and-down season. She won the Aramco Championship in April, but has missed the cut in three out of her past four events. The one cut she made in that stretch was at the US Women\u2019s Open, where she finished T-14. Coughlin was born in Minneapolis, just half an hour from Hazeltine. Her family moved when she was young, and she grew up in Virginia. But there aren\u2019t many LPGA players from Minnesota, so Coughlin might find herself some crowd support at Hazeltine.<\/p>\n

Haeran Ryu \"2276614620\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Dylan Buell<\/p>\n

Age: 25
Rolex Rankings: 12
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 3\/2
Best finish: T-9, 2024
2025 finish: T-61<\/p>\n

The South Korean has three top-five finishes in 2026, but is still looking for win No.1. Her long game has been impeccable: she\u2019s gaining 3.11 strokes on the field tee-to-green in 2026. But her short game, especially her putting, has lagged behind. If she were to have a good week with the putter, she\u2019ll certainly be a factor at Hazeltine.<\/p>\n

Lydia Ko \"2281117311\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Raj Mehta<\/p>\n

Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 11
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 13\/12
Best finish: 2nd, 2016
2025 finish: T-12<\/p>\n

Yes, I know she missed the cut at the US Women\u2019s Open. But the incentive to win this week is big for the New Zealander; if she were to win, she\u2019d complete the Grand Slam. (The LPGA has five majors, so if a player wins four, they complete the Career Grand Slam. If they win all five, they complete the Super Career Grand Slam.)<\/p>\n

Sei Young Kim \"2280060750\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Ryan Sirius Sun<\/p>\n

Age: 33
Rolex Rankings: 10
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 11\/9
Best finish: Win, 2020
2025 finish: T-52<\/p>\n

Her KPMG Women\u2019s PGA victory in 2020 is her lone major among 13 career LPGA titles. She\u2019s earned three top-10 finishes in 2026, one of which was a fifth place at the US Women\u2019s Open. Her ball-striking remains excellent, but the one part of her game that\u2019s been holding her back is her putting, where she\u2019s losing 0.54 strokes to the field.<\/p>\n

Minjee Lee \"2267141282\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Al Chang\/ISI Photos<\/p>\n

Age: 30
Rolex Rankings: 9
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 11\/11
Best finish: Win, 2025
2025 finish: Win<\/p>\n

The Aussie\u2019s win a year ago at PGA Frisco gave her three career majors and 11 LPGA titles overall. Surprisingly, she is yet to win in 2026 and her two top-five finishes both came before the end of March.<\/p>\n

Hannah Green \"2264314090\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Kate McShane<\/p>\n

Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 6
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 8\/6
Best finish: Win, 2019
2025 finish: 68th<\/p>\n

Green returns to Hazeltine with a flood of positive memories, and the Aussie has already won four times this year \u2013 including twice this LPGA Tour season, which is quite an accomplishment given how Nelly Korda has claimed four titles, not leaving much space for other repeat winners. Green\u2019s gaining on the field in every category except around the green. It\u2019s interesting, because when she won in 2019, she did it with deft scrambling.<\/p>\n

Ruoning Yin \"2274611394\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 5
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 4\/3
Best finish: Win, 2023
2025 finish: T-23<\/p>\n

She\u2019s a five-time LPGA Tour winner, but hasn\u2019t been victorious since the Maybank Championship in October 2024. In other words, she seems to be due for a victory. And she\u2019s already won this one, in 2023 at Baltusrol. In her most recent major start, the US Women\u2019s Open, she finished T-8.<\/p>\n

Charley Hull \"2280397207\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Ryan Sirius Sun<\/p>\n

Age: 30
Rolex Rankings: 4
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 11\/7
Best finish: T-6, 2018
2025 finish: T-12<\/p>\n

Hull said it herself: she feels a different level of motivation for the majors. In the year\u2019s first two, she finished T-10 at Chevron and T-2 at the US Women\u2019s Open. \u201cIf it\u2019s a normal week-to-week, I struggle sometimes getting the motivation,\u201d she said earlier this month. \u201cBut when it comes to major weeks, I just love it. If I just even just make the cut, I feel like at the weekend I can make a massive charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeeno Thitikul \"2275492561\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Sarah Stier<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 2
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 4\/3
Best finish: 4th; 2002, 2025
2025 finish: T-4<\/p>\n

When will Jeeno finally claim the breakthrough major that everybody has been waiting for? It could very well be this week at Hazeltine, but the burden of expectations isn\u2019t getting any easier for the former world No.1. Her major run in 2026 is also a bit shaky, with a missed cut at Chevron and a T-28 at the US Women\u2019s Open. With nine career top-10s in majors, a win has to be coming soon\u2026 doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Nelly Korda \"2268701879\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Christian Petersen<\/p>\n

Age: 27
Rolex Rankings: 1
KPMG Women\u2019s PGA starts\/Cuts made: 9\/7
Best finish: Win, 2021
2025 finish: T-19<\/p>\n

The most remarkable part about her performance in the US Women\u2019s Open at Riviera Country Club was the fact that she made a grip change mid-week<\/a> and went on the claim the title. She\u2019s proven that she\u2019s capable of winning every tournament she enters. And as a little added boost of confidence, the last time the KPMG Women\u2019s PGA Championship was at Hazeltine, in 2019, Korda finished T-3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can Nelly Korda make it three majors in a row? That\u2019s the big storyline heading into this week\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4225,64,63,36444,1379,755,138747,327243,29527,302808,121700,204891,146409,58251,30658,20776,21225,44,118557,146408,87399,85,361263],"class_list":["post-753726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-charley-hull","tag-features","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-haeran-ryu","tag-hannah-green","tag-hazeltine-national-golf-club","tag-jeeno-thitikul","tag-kpmg-womens-pga-championship","tag-lauren-coughlin","tag-lpga","tag-lydia-ko","tag-minjee-lee","tag-nelly-korda","tag-news","tag-pga-of-america","tag-ruoning-yin","tag-sei-young-kim","tag-sports","tag-yana-wilson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}