News

Five Things we Learned: Thursday at the Women’s PGA Championship

Published

12 months ago

Jun 20, 2025

As major championship golf continues its geographic shift from the northeast USA to other regions, the PGA of America looks to make a statement with its selection of sites. The men’s tournament, now in May, certainly needs sites with less weather impact, and looks south and westward. The women’s tournament is a bit freer, as it takes place in mid-June.

One site that both will utilize is the PGA of America’s new, two-course headquarters, Fields Ranch in Frisco, Texas. The East course, a Gil Hanse design, will host six PGA majors in the next dozen years. The men and the senior men will visit the course twice, but it is the women who christen the course this week, with their PGA Championship. Fields Ranch plays a bit like a Scottish links, a bit like west Texas hardpan, and it will take creativity and patience to have yourself a week.

It is appropriate that the ladies should usher in a new era of PGA Championship golf, and we are happy to share the five things that we learned on Thursday at the Women’s PGA Championship 2025.

1. We’ve been expecting you

There are four players, tied for third place at two-under par, who merit our attention. Hae Ran Ryu has LPGA wins each of the past three seasons. Rio Takeda has wins in 2024 and 2025. Yealimi Noh has one LPGA win, and Somi Lee has yet to ascend the victor’s podium. Each must be considered for contention, as each navigated her way around a course that beguiled some, frustrated others, and conquered more.

Takeda, Ryu, and Noh each amassed four birdies against two bogeys, while Lee posted three against one. What this tells us is … very little. None of the four demonstrated the potential to light up the course with a low-60s round. Until they get to know the course, the competitors will need to be content with strategic strikes, and not an all-out assault. Too many hazards and too much rough lay in wait for the risky plays.

Somi Lee goes back-to-back with birdies on 7 & 8!

Scoring: https://t.co/bjEQKZhEU2 #KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/KzKRhgvyRo

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 19, 2025

2. Scratching our heads

Not everyone with pedigree found Fields Ranch East to their liking on day one. Lydia Ko, the superstar of 2024, opened with a birdie, then played the rest of the round in +4. She was joined at 75 by Maja Stark, winner of the US Open earlier this month. Stark was plus-five after six holes, including a triple bogey at the second. She clawed her way back, making four birdies against two bogeys over the final segment of the course.

Joining them in the What Happened? echelon are Celine Boutier and Jennifer Kupcho (+4), Patty Tavatanakit and Nasa Hataoka (+5), and Lilia Vu and Charley Hull (+6 and beyond.) Fields Ranch East is precisely the sort of course that asks you to limit miscues and bad judgment. It offers a few birdie opportunities, but essentially demands a healthy respect for regulation figures and Grandma Par.

3. Pleased to meet you

Take your pick of the following names: Yuna Nishimura; Peiyun Chien; Chisato Iwai; Kumkang Park; Shinsil Bang. If you aren’t familiar with one or more of them, welcome to the LPGA and its constant and consistent influx of new talent. Two of the aforementioned quintet are from Japan, one from Chinese Taipei, and two from Korea. All have a score of 71 in common, after one day of the 2o25 Women’s PGA Championship. None of them should be in contention, but here they are, three shots behind the leader.

As with all the other segments of this installment, none of the fivesome signed for an extraordinary number of birdies. The common thread throughout the first day was: limit the bogeys, avoid the big numbers, and make a few birdies to stay in red figures. I’ve a feeling that at least two of these five will be inside the top seven after day two of this championship.

4. Minjee Lee

Minjee Lee began and ended round one with a bogey. The two-time major champion added another pair of whoopsies along the way, but managed to scratch seven birdies from the firm fairways and greens north of Dallas. On the opening hole, Lee was forced to pitch out from the rough after her tee shot strayed left. A wayward third left her scrambling, and her fourth sailed past the hole by sixteen feet. That bogey ignited something, as Lee made five birdies from holes three through ten. Her march to the finish was checkered, with a bit of everything. Three pars, two birdies, and three bogeys brought her to the clubhouse at three-under par, good for solo second after one round. She enters day two one shot behind the leader.

Minjee owns an Evian and a US Open, and a third, unique major would elevate her to a new level of champion. We’ve seen the necessary game, and we believe that she might have it this week. Does she believe it? Does she have faith?

The best shots from PGA Frisco, at your fingertips, on Champcast.
@TMobile | @KPMG pic.twitter.com/QujScR95P3

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 19, 2025

5. Jeeno Thitikul

If Minjee’s round was filled with excitement and drama, Jeeno Thitikul provided the counterpart. After four pars to open her round, Thitikul fired a loose drive into the right-side hazard on number five. Four swings later, she had a mind-numbing double. She did not cave. At seven, she began a string of five consecutive birdies, to reach three-under par. Over the final stretch, Thitikul was rock-solid, posting one birdie and five pars to close her day.

One might extrapolate that LPGA stands for Ladies Parity Golf Association, as no one dominates the tour and its majors for more than one or two years. Of the younger players, Jeeno Thitikul certainly has the game to put together a 4-5 win season, with two majors. The question is, what will it take to awaken that dominance? Perhaps this week, we’ll find out.

Bonus

It’s the scrambling (and the need to do so) that will ultimately determine the winner of the 2025 Women’s PGA Championship. Fields Ranch East is a bump-and-run Elysian Field around the putting surfaces. Bunker floors are situated well below green surfaces, and all recovery shots will need room to run out. It’s quite easy to seep five to ten feet past the hole, forcing a par-saving putt from beyond tap-in distance.

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open

Published

6 hours ago

Jun 3, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX Tour Photographer made the trip from the Memorial Tournament across the country to the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera. Check out links to all the photos below!

General Albums

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2026 Memorial Tournament

Published

2 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is on site this week at the Memorial Tournament, with both Alistair Cameron and Tour Photographer Greg Moore on the ground in Dublin, Ohio, where a strong field is assembled to pay homage to the Golden Bear.

In addition to WITB galleries, we’ve already been treated to an in-hand look at Tommy Fleetwood’s new TaylorMade Spider putters.

Check out links to all our photos below.

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News

Tour Tech Rundown: Heroic Henley

Published

3 days ago

Jun 1, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Around the world, the golf wheel spun this final week in May of 2026. From New Jersey to Austria, with stops in Korea, Texas, and North Carolina (don’t let me route your next trip) the world’s finest put their golf games on display. There were three playoffs, some known commodities and some new talent. It was the sort of week that we hope to have at this point in the seasons. June and July afford double-digit major events, and perhaps, one of this week’s champions will use this success as a springboard to new heights. Time to run it all down, tech style, in this week’s Tour Tech Rundown.

Thanks to WITBHub, Today’s Golfer, GolfWRX, and Inside Tour Golf for initial research into equipment.

PGA Tour @ Charles Schwab Challenge: Heroic Henley denies Cole

Eric Cole did nearly everything that a fellow can do, to secure a first PGA Tour title. He stayed one shot clear of Ryder Cup player Ben Griffin. He kept US Open champion Gary Woodland and wunderkind Michael Brennan two shots distant. He posted 70 on day four to reach twelve under par. And then, Russell Henley revealed his Dr. Strange cloak. Henley made 47 feet of birdie putts on holes 16, 17, and 18, to jump from minus-nine to twelve-deep, and secured a spot in a playoff with Cole. The duo returned to the final tee, and put on a stripe show.

Both golfers found the fairway off the tee, and Henley improved on his regulation play with an approach to four feet. Cole did himself proud, tucking an iron to a dozen feet, but he was unable to convert the putt for three. Henley is one of the best putters on tour, and he proved it once more by draining a putt for a fourth consecutive birdie, and a sixth PGA Tour title. For Eric Cole, that first victory should come, and soon. He has done everything necessary to earn the chalice lift.

Henley’s Suitcase

Driver: Titleist TSi3 at 10 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 70g 6.5 TX
Metal: Titleist TS3 at 16.5 degrees. Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2 at 21 degrees. Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT hybrid 100 TX
Iron: Titleist T250 4-iron. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 5-6 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf AMT Tour White X100
Irons: Titleist T100 7-9 irons. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 48 and 50 degrees. Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 at 54 and 60 degrees. Shaft: rue Temper Dynamic Golf Tour Issue S400
Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron T5 Tour Prototype

LPGA @ Shoprite LPGA: Welcome back, Celine!

Soo Bin Joo had her eyes on a maiden LPGA title. She held the lead after two rounds, then hit a red light at the intersection of can-I and how-To. Joo posted plus-two on day three in New Jersey, and dropped to a T4 finish, which was still a career-best for the young Korean golfer. Instead of a new face, a familiar face returned to the top of the podium.

Celine Boutier was the It Girl in 2023. She collected four victories, including a major title at Evian. Boutier reached world number one status, then simply faded into the background. No wins came her way over the next 30 months. On Sunday, she collected LPGA victory number seven, at the same trace as LPGA victory number two.

Day three saw Boutier manage the windswept Seaview Bay course with six birdies and a bogey. She was challenged in the end by Thailand’s Arpichaya Yubol, who signed for a 66 of her own. Yubol came up one shot shy of the top ladder rung. Finishing in third place at -7, two back of the winner, was Ireland’s Lauren Walsh.

Celine’s Suitcase

Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops Tour-1 at 9 degrees. Shaft: Graphite Design AD IZ-5
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops at 19 and 22 degrees. Shaft: KBS Hybrid Prototype
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Gen5.
Iron: PXG 0311 P Gen 4 5-9 irons
Wedge: PXG 0311 T Gen 4 PW
Wedges: PXG 0311 Sugar Daddy II at 50, 54, 58 degrees
Putter: Bettinardi Studio Stock 3 DASS

DP World Tour @ Austrian Alpine: KK? KK!

Kota Kaneko has a rhythmic name. It has strong vowels and a run of voiceless stops in its crunchy K sounds. On Sunday in Austria, Kaneko put a stop to a challenge from Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and everyone else, and claimed a first-ever title on the DP World Tour. Gouveia did well to reach 16-under par over four days, but Kaneko held firm, two shots in the clear.

Davis Bryant of the USA also forged a strong challenge for the win. He ended in a tie with Gouveia for second place. Kaneko began and finished his final round in a bit of a malaise, but he caught fire midway through. Birdies at 10, 12, and 13 provided the necessary cushion to cruise to the finish line without breaking a serious sweat.

Kaneko’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping Max G440
Metals: TaylorMade Qi4D at 15, 16.5, 21, and 24 degrees
Irons: TaylorMade P760 5 and 6 irons
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW 7-9 irons
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design at 46, 52, 56, and 60 degrees
Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Cruiser Arm Lock #7

Korn Ferry Tour @ UNC Health Championship: Improbably Alvaro

Alvaro Ortiz may have had a bit of scare on the outward nine on Sunday, but he came through in clutch fashion in the end. Ortiz began the day bogey-double, and added another double bogey at the 11th hole. He was mired in a downward trend, spiraling away from the top of the leader’s board. Ortiz found hope at the 14th, where his first birdie of the day tumbled home. Inspired, he closed with birdies and 17 and 18 to catch Ross Steelman at 10-under par, and the duo returned to the 18th deck for overtime.

The extra session concluded in brief time. Ortiz, buoyed by his newly-retrieved confidence, hit the fairway with driver, then approached to six feet and drained the putt. Gobsmacked, Steelman could do little more than smile and applaud, as his run at the top came to a close. The victory was the first for Ortiz on the KFT, and will implant him squarely in the chase for a PGA Tour promotion.

Alvaro’s Suitcase

Driver: Ping G430 MAX driver at 9 degrees loft
Metal: Ping G430 MAX 3W
Iron: Ping iDi Driving Iron
Irons: Ping Blueprint S irons
Wedges
Putter: Scottsdale TR Piper C

A party on the green!

Alvaro’s time comes in Raleigh with his first win @UNCHealthChamp ? pic.twitter.com/2dmtZdbSzk

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) May 31, 2026

LIV @ Korea: Me llamo Joaquin

Chile’s Joaquin Niemann had been away from the LIV winner’s circle throughout all of 2026. This week in Korea, he reminded us that he is still a force to consider. Niemann chased down Taylor Gooch over the closing holes at Asiad Country Club, then claimed victory with a hole-one birdie in extra time. Bryson DeChambeau claimed solo third, one shot in arrears at minus-eleven. Dustin Johnson finished on fourth, one putt farther back.

Niemann’s Suitcase