Today was the windiest of days thus far at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Those lucky to go off early in the morning fared a little better, but the strong wind gusts were present all day. Grace Kim, who teed off in the third group, shot an impressive 68 (-4), the lowest round of the day. Despite two bogeys, Kim is T12 heading into the final day.
One of the bigger shocks on the scorecard today was Lexi Thompson’s first hole. It’s rare to see an 8, lovingly called a “snowman,” on a professional’s scorecard, but they’re only human. Despite Thompson’s rough start, she battled back and ended the day 3-over, making her 1-over overall and T3 heading into the final day. She’ll be in the second-to-last pairing off hole 1 at 10:39am CT with Miyu Yamashita and Nelly Korda.
Korda, currently T6, also had a colorful scorecard today that resulted in an even-par round, making her 2-over overall. She hit an incredible greenside bunker shot on 18 to a foot, allowing her to secure her par and one of the lowest rounds of the day.
The biggest upset, however, happened in the final pairing today. Jeeno Thitikul started the day at 6-under and found the wind understandably challenging. She shot 76 (+4) today like many of her competitors. With her ultimately dropping to 2-under, Thitikul left the door open. Rio Takeda, who started the day 3-under, had a chance to overtake Thitikul, but she shot 80 (+8), another common score today.
Minjee Lee took advantage of the opening. The only player to have a bogey-free round this week, M. Lee made amazing par saves throughout her round and three birdies, bringing her to 6-under overall, four strokes ahead of Thitikul and 7 strokes ahead of those tied for third. M. Lee was one of only three people to shoot under par today, Kim (-4) and Andrea Lee (-1) being the other two.
M. Lee has won two major championships throughout her LPGA Tour career and has a good chance of adding a third tomorrow.
With the complex design of the Fields Ranch Golf Club, the gusty conditions, the long rounds (averaging 6-6.5 hours for various reasons) and the fact that all top 100 LPGA players are in the field this week, anyone can go low or high tomorrow. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is still anyone’s title.
Tee times will begin at 8:38am CT off hole 1 and 8:43am off hole 10. There will also be three players per pairing in an effort to finish at a reasonable time on Sunday.
The final pairing – Minjee Lee, Jeeno Thitikul and Hye Jin Choi – will tee off hole 1 at 10:50am CT.
