Leona Maguire may be happy to see the end of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club as the 31-year-old couldn’t seem to find her form all weekend, posting just one under-par round.
The swirling winds in Minnesota were a forced to be reckoned with in the final round, and unfortunately for Maguire it was a losing battle. Maguire made three bogeys on the front nine, coming at the third, fifth, and eighth.
The two-time LPGA winner made her first and only birdie at the par-5 15th but it was over-shadowed by the two bogeys Maguire made at the 14th and 17th as the Cavan native posted a four-over-par 76 final round, finishing her week at +5 in T53. Maguire couldn’t seem to calculate her irons in the windy conditions, hitting just nine out of 18 greens.
At the top of the leaderboard, Haeran Ryu recovered from a rough start to secure her first career major title with a final score of 13-under, winning the Women’s PGA Championship by two strokes over fellow country woman Ina Yoon.
The two Korean’s posted a two-under-par final round but it was Ryu’s hard work in the third round that secured the title.
Ryu was 10 strokes behind the leader after the first round, as she becomes the first player in at least the last 60 years to win from such deficit.
“Yeah, on the first round I just thought like this is the comeback tournament so I just want to play on the weekend. But on the second round it was amazing play because I had eight birdies and then bogey-free round on the second round. I mean, just feels like dream right now,” said an ecstatic Ryu.
23-year-old Yoon had her best finish on the LPGA Tour, bouncing back from a disappointing a 75 on Saturday and a double bogey on the third hole on Sunday.
“Little disappointed yesterday and today, but I think I did pretty good job being under pressure and it’s just part of golf,” Yoon said. “I think it’s going to be a really big lesson in the big picture.”
Canadian Brooke Henderson shared T3 with Netherland’s Dewi Weber at 10-under. Weber became only the fourth women’s player from the Netherlands to finish in the top 20 at a major tournament, with Anne van Dam the most recent at the 2024 British Women’s Open. Only one player on the men’s side has ever done so.
“I don’t think I fully processed what’s happened this week. I think I need like a few hours for that and like how I did that,” said Weber.
Nelly Korda’s dream of becoming the first woman to win the first three majors in a season was a near reality early on in the final round as the world no.1 was just three-strokes back with nine to play but fell short with a poor finish. She three-putted five different times at Hazeltine.
“I was just kind of disappointed in the way that I played this week, not that I came up short really,” said Korda.
With the Evian Championship and Women’s British Open next month, Korda can still add a grand slam to what has been a superb season despite some setbacks this week in Minnesota.
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