Minjee Lee bags third Major title at KPMG Women's PGA Championship
Australian Minjee Lee captured her third Major title with a composed victory at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship on Sunday.
Lee carded a closing two-over-par 74 at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco for a tournament total of four-under-par 284, three shots ahead of American Auston Kim and Thailand's Chanettee Wannasaen. This was Lee's first victory on the LPGA Tour since the 2023 BMW Ladies Championship.
Earlier rounds of 69, 72 and 69 had given Lee a four-shot lead over Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul heading into the final day. Although the chasing pack managed to narrow the deficit to two shots at various stages, the Australian handled the pressure and windy conditions with poise to seal the win with five bogeys and three birdies.
'It feels pretty amazing. I feel like I really deserve this one. I put a lot of hard work into it. I had to really dig deep for today's score, but I feel like I was pretty solid over the four days to have this trophy in my hand now,' said Lee, whose previous Major wins came at the 2022 U.S. Women's Open presented by Ally and The Amundi Evian Championship in 2021.
Kim and Wannasaen both shot solid 68s to move up the leaderboard into a share of second place on one-under-par 287, two shots clear of Thitikul and Japan's Chisato Iwai.
World No. 2 Thitikul, who had led the first and second rounds, had disappointing weekend scores of 76 and 75 to settle for joint fourth place with Iwai on one-over-par 289. The popular Thai star has won five times on the LPGA Tour but is still hunting for a maiden Major title.
Lee's first LPGA Tour win since the 2023 BMW Ladies Championship took her title tally to 11. The 29-year-old now needs to win the AIG Women's Open or The Chevron Championship to complete the career Grand Slam.
Lee is the third Australian to win three or more Major championships, joining Karrie Webb (7) and Jan Stephenson (3). The KPMG Women's PGA Championship has now been won by four Australians– Lee (2025), Hannah Green (2019), Webb (2001) and Stephenson (1982).
'It's just really special. Only three other names on this trophy are Australian, so I think it's such a great privilege to be able to have my name with them as well. I guess it shows the grit of the Aussies,' noted Lee.
The next stop for the LPGA Tour is Midland Country Club in Michigan for this week's two-player team format Dow Championship. This will be followed by a one-week break before the players head across the Atlantic for the tour's much-awaited European swing, which includes the final two Majors of the 2025 season – The Amundi Evian Championship (July 10-13) at Evian Resort in France and the AIG Women's Open (July 31-August 3) at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Rugby-Pollock relishing 'big occasions' after eye-catching performance in Lions opener
PERTH (Reuters) -British & Irish Lions forward Henry Pollock said he is relishing the competition for places in Andy Farrell's line-up after a stand-out performance in the 54-7 win over the Western Force in Perth on Friday kicked off the squad's six-week Australian tour. The 20-year-old number eight, making his first Lions start, put on a lively showing in front of a big crowd at Perth Stadium, setting up one try before earning field position for another as well as picking up a yellow card in the first half. "I love the big occasions," said Pollock, who is the youngest member of the Lions squad. "What a great group and I just wanted to be here." Pollock was included in the travelling party despite playing just once for England. The Northampton Saints forward scored a pair of tries on his debut against Wales in the Six Nations in March. He was prominent from the start against the Force, and it was his line-break in the 15th minute that set up Welsh scrumhalf Tomos Williams to give the Lions a lead that Farrell's side would not relinquish. Pollock was sin-binned in the 39th minute and then put the Lions in the perfect position to score through Joe McCarthy in the 53rd minute when he chased down his own chip behind the Force defence. "It was a fun game and we all really enjoyed it," said Pollock. "It's an amazing group and environment to be part of - we're the four best nations, the best players in the northern hemisphere. "I'm honoured to be here ... this kind of campaign and this kind of group is only together for a short amount of time and we're trying to write history. "So we're just trying to get as close as we can together. "There's loads of boys fighting for positions and that's what you want." Pollock's lack of experience saw his inclusion in the squad questioned in some quarters, but Farrell is confident the Englishman will continue to improve as the tour progresses. "He is certainly a point of difference," said Farrell. "He is learning all the time." (Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Kim Coghill)
New Straits Times
7 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Joint wins Eastbourne title to end Eala's history bid
EASTBOURNE, United Kingdom: Australian teenager Maya Joint saved four match points to clinch the WTA title at Eastbourne with a dramatic victory over Alexandra Eala that ended the Filipina's history bid on Saturday. Joint survived a tense clash lasting two hours and 26 minutes, emerging with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12/10) win to seal her second WTA Tour title. In the youngest Eastbourne final since 1981, world number 51 Joint staved off the four championship points in a gripping final-set tie-break. She finally wrapped up the title by drilling a backhand winner before collapsing to the turf in delight. "I'm very happy right now, feeling very relieved as well. It was a very difficult match, I'm proud of myself for coming back and staying in the match," Joint said. "I'm glad I was able to find a way back. Alex played really well today. She definitely tested me and after the first set she got very aggressive. "What an amazing crowd, you guys came and supported me every day so thank you." Having also defeated former Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur and 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu at Eastbourne over the last week, Joint has underlined her status as one of the rising stars of the women's tour. After winning on clay in Rabat in May, the 19-year-old has proved she can thrive on grass as well ahead of the start of Wimbledon on Monday. Joint was unable to make it two trophies in one day as she and partner Hsieh Su-wei were beaten 6-4, 7-5 by Marie Bouzkova and Anna Danilina in the doubles final. It was a painful defeat for Eala, who was so close to becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA Tour title. The 20-year-old wiped away tears of frustration during the on-court trophy presentation. Eala had become the first Filipina to reach a WTA final after beating Varvara Gracheva in the last four at Eastbourne on Friday. "I want to congratulate Maya for a great match and great tournament," Eala said. "This is my first WTA final, it's a big deal for me and for my country too because it's historic. I guess that's also why I'm so emotional. "Wimbledon is next week so hopefully I'll forget about this match soon." Eala's run to the final has made the world number 74 one to watch in the coming months. After progressing through qualifying to make the main draw, Eala beat Lucia Bronzetti, former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, Nottingham Open finalist Dayana Yastremska and France's Gracheva. She had burst onto the scene with three shock victories over Grand Slam winners Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek to reach the Miami Open semi-finals in March. Eala is due to face reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon first round on Centre Court on Tuesday.
The Star
15 hours ago
- The Star
Motor racing-Stella proud of Norris after 'best qualifying of the year'
Formula One F1 - Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria - June 27, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris during practice REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger SPIELBERG, Austria (Reuters) -McLaren team boss Andrea Stella said he was proud of Lando Norris's performance after the Briton took a dominant pole position in Austria in what he called his best qualifying of the year. Norris led every phase, going fastest in Friday and Saturday practice, a decisive response to a poor qualifying in Canada and his collision with championship-leading teammate Oscar Piastri in that race two weeks ago. That incident, which he accepted blame for, left Norris 22 points behind Piastri. "Even in Canada, after reviewing the weekend with Lando and his engineers, we always said the speed was there," Stella told Sky Sports television. "When he had the little contact with the wall in qualifying, he was on track for a pole position. And in the race, he was one of the fastest, if not the fastest car. The speed was always there. We needed to polish the execution. "I'm really proud of Lando today. Not only he scored a pole position, but it's a dominant pole position, a pretty remarkable lap time." Norris was more than half a second faster than his closest rival, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, on the shortest lap of the season. The Briton said the upgraded car felt strong and quick. Qualifying, a strong point last year, has become more of a problem this season, but Norris seemed to have rectified some of the issues. "It was easily my best qualifying of the year from a delivery point of view from every single lap I did. I still made a couple of mistakes here and there, but none that cost me a lap or anything," he said. "I think on deliveries, consistency and of course putting it in when it counts in Q3 (it) was easily the best lap I've done for this whole season, probably even better than Monaco, honestly. "Maybe not as exciting a lap as Monaco, but definitely a better put-together lap than I did there." Norris won from pole in Monaco, with the fastest lap, as he did in the Australian season-opener. "It shows that the feelings I've been requiring, the feelings that I've not been getting as easily, when they are more my way and more where I want them to be, I can put in better performances and have days like today," he said. (Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Ed Osmond)
