HIGHER scores have been on full display at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in Frisco, Texas. That makes Minjee Lee’s performance so far even more impressive.
The Australia native fired a 3-under-par 69 on Saturday, her second round under par, to take a commanding four-stroke lead going into the final round.
Just five rounds total at the tournament have been in the 60s, and Lee has owned two of them.
“I just try to stay patient out there,“ Lee said. “You can’t get ahead of yourself, especially in these conditions. It’s just only getting harder and harder just with I think pressure of a major championship, and also just the course just demands so much from you.”
The 10-time LPGA Tour champion is pursuing her third major title, having previously won the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship.
“I know what it takes to win and I know just kind of what to feel and what to expect now that I have two under my belt,“ Lee said. “So, yeah I just think the experience that I’ve had is really going to help me hopefully get over the line tomorrow.”
Lee avoided the ever-present bogey, which has haunted most of the golfers on this course, and instead grabbed three birdies, on Holes 9, 14 and 15 to distance herself from the competition.
That came on the heels of an opening round 69, which featured birdies on Holes 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14 and 15.
The Fields Ranch East course at PGA Frisco was especially unkind Saturday to World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who is pursuing her first major, and who enjoyed a three-stroke lead coming into the weekend.
The 22-year-old from Thailand suffered six bogeys while scoring two birdies to shoot a 4-over 76 and fall from 6 under to 2 under.
Despite that disastrous round, she still sits in a better position than everyone else as one of two golfers currently under par, and she holds a three-shot lead on the rest of the field.
The three golfers in the best position to make a potential run on the two leaders Sunday sit in a tie for third at 1 over. South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi had the best round of the three (72), but Japan’s Miyu Yamashita (73) and American Lexi Thompson (75) are technically still in the hunt.
Thompson shook off a triple bogey on her first hole and a bogey to follow to shoot 1-under golf the rest of the round.
“Yeah, definitely proud of how I just stayed strong,“ Thompson said. “It was kind of a nightmare of a start, but I knew coming into the day it was going to play very difficult. I don’t know really what happened on my first hole, but happy I got it out of the way and stayed positive out there and just made pars and a few birdies here and there.”
World No. 1 Nelly Korda (72) is tied with three others in sixth place at 2-over-par 218. Yealimi Noh (74), Ireland’s Leona Maguire (72) and Japan’s Chisato Iwai (75) are the others.
