M. Lee wins Women's PGA for third major crown

FRISCO, Texas -- Minjee Lee closed with a 2-over 74 but ne'er gave up the pb Sunday successful the last circular of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship to triumph her 3rd large title.

While Lee had 3 bogeys successful a four-hole agelong connected the beforehand nine, she had started the time with a four-stroke pb implicit Jeeno Thitikul. And the world's No. 2-ranked player, besides successful that last group, bogeyed some par 5s that are among the archetypal 3 holes connected Fields Ranch East astatine PGA Frisco.

Lee, ranked 24th, finished astatine 4-under 284, 3 strokes up of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the lone different players to decorativeness nether par.

Kim and Wannasaen some changeable 68 to lucifer the champion rounds of the time and the tourney aft lone 2 68s combined the archetypal 3 rounds. Kim played without a bogey, but she had lone pars aft 3 consecutive birdies to wrapper up her beforehand nine.

With a grounds $12 cardinal purse that was up from $10.4 cardinal a twelvemonth agone and matched the U.S. Women's Open for the astir terms money, Lee took location $1.8 cardinal -- the aforesaid magnitude she earned for her four-stroke triumph successful the 2022 U.S. Women's Open astatine Pine Needles.

The 29-year-old Australian who is simply a Texas resident, surviving successful adjacent Irving, got her 11th vocation win. It was her archetypal this season, making it 16 players to triumph 16 LPGA tournaments this season.

Lee, who besides won the 2021 Evian Championship successful France, present needs either the AIG Women's Open oregon The Chevron Championship to implicit the vocation expansive slam, which is defined successful women's play arsenic winning 4 antithetic majors (there are presently five).

While inactive windy similar it had been each week astatine 15-20 mph, determination weren't the changeless gusts of 30 mph oregon much that had made the playing conditions truthful hard Saturday.

Thitikul, inactive successful hunt of her archetypal large title, had the solo pb aft the archetypal and 2nd rounds. But she fell down shooting a 76 connected Saturday, erstwhile Lee had the lone bogey-free circular for immoderate subordinate until then. Thitikul past deed her archetypal changeable of the last circular into the close unsmooth connected mode to a 75 to decorativeness astatine 1 implicit 289, tied for 4th with Chisato Iwai (71).

Lee's pb Sunday ne'er got nether two, and she preserved that with a clutch 8-foot par putt astatine the 170-yard 13th spread to enactment astatine 3 under. That came astir the aforesaid clip Wannasaen rolled successful a 14-foot eagle putt astatine the 235-yard par-4 15th spread to get to 1 under, though the 21-year-old from Thailand past missed the greenish and bogeyed the 455-yard 16th.

There was a subtle fist pump from Lee erstwhile she past made a 9-foot birdie astatine No. 14, the lone par 5 connected the backmost nine, and followed with different birdie astatine No. 15. She was the lone subordinate this week with 2 rounds successful the 60s, with 69s connected Thursday and Saturday.

Lee's archetypal bogey was astatine the par-5 3rd aft her 3rd changeable went into a heavy greenside bunker, past she had back-to-back bogeys connected the 441-yard 5th and 434-yard sixth hole. She didn't person a birdie until the ninth to marque the crook astatine 4 nether -- astatine the clip 3 up of Thitikul and Kim.

Kim started the last circular 9 strokes back, which was 2 much than the grounds comeback for a women's major. Several players person done that, including Lee erstwhile she won the 2021 Evian Championship by coming from 7 backmost for her archetypal large title.

The 24-year-old Kim opened her circular with a 5-foot birdie putt connected the 528-yard par 5 first. She got wrong 2 strokes of Lee aft the 3 birdies to wrapper up her beforehand nine. Her tee changeable astatine the 157-yard 8th spread stopped a ft from the cup, and that eagle was sandwiched by a brace of 2 1/2-foot birdies earlier finishing with 9 consecutive pars.

Nelly Korda, the world's top-ranked player, and semi-retired Lexi Thompson some closed with 76s.

Thompson, successful the second-to-last radical for the 2nd time successful a row, finished tied for 12th astatine 293. The 30-year-old, who played for lone the seventh clip successful 16 tournaments this season, has gone 11 years since her lone large triumph successful the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Korda tied for 19th astatine 6-over 294 and inactive hasn't won this twelvemonth aft winning 7 times past season.