FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Minjee Lee closed with a 2-over 74 but never gave up the lead Sunday in the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to win her third major title.
While Lee had three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine, she had started the day with a four-stroke lead over Jeeno Thitikul. And the world’s No. 2-ranked player, also in that final group, bogeyed both par 5s that are among the first three holes on Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.
Lee, ranked 24th, finished at 4-under 284, three strokes ahead of Auston Kim and Chanettee Wannasaen, the only other players under par.
“A lot of patience out there today. Obviously, I had ups and downs today,” Lee said. “It’s a battle against myself pretty much, especially with how tough the conditions were this whole week, not just today. Just amplified because it’s major Sunday.”
Kim and Wannasaen both shot 68 to match the best rounds of the day, and the tournament, after only two 68s combined the first three rounds. Kim was bogey-free, but had only pars after three consecutive birdies to wrap up her front nine.
With a record $12 million purse that was up from $10.4 million a year ago and matched the U.S. Women’s Open for the most prize money, Lee took home $1.8 million. That matches the $1.8 million Lee got for her four-stroke win in the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open.
The 29-year-old Australian who is a Texas resident, living in nearby Irving, got her 11th career win. It was her first this season, making it 16 players to win 16 LPGA tournaments this year.
Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., finished in a nine-way tie for 36th at 10 over — 14 shots behind the winner.
While still windy like it had been all week at 15 to 20 miles per hour, there weren’t the constant gusts of 30 miles per hour or more that had made the playing conditions so difficult Saturday.
Thitikul, still in search of her first major title, had the solo lead after the first and second rounds. But she fell behind shooting a 76 on Saturday, when Lee had the only bogey-free round for any player until then. Thitikul then hit her first shot Sunday into the right rough on way to a 75 to finish at 1 over 289, tied for fourth with Chisato Iwai (71).
Lee’s lead Sunday never got under two, and she preserved that with a clutch eight-foot par putt at the 170-yard 13th hole to stay at 3 under. That came about the same time Wannasaen rolled in a 14-foot eagle putt at the 235-yard par-4 15th hole to get to 1 under, though the 21-year-old from Thailand then missed the green and bogeyed the 455-yard 16th.
“Pretty much I saw every single leaderboard and knew exactly where I was pretty much all of today,” Lee said. “Just really played within myself today.”
There was a subtle fist pump from Lee when she then made a nine-foot birdie at No. 14, the only par 5 on the back nine, and followed with another birdie at No. 15. She was the only player this week with two rounds in the 60s, with 69s on Thursday and Saturday.
Lee’s first bogey was at the par-5 third after her third shot went into a deep greenside bunker, then she had back-to-back bogeys on the 441-yard fifth and 434-yard sixth hole. She didn’t have a birdie until the ninth to make the turn at 4 under — at the time three ahead of Thitikul and Kim.
Kim started the final round nine strokes back, which was two more than the record comeback for a women’s major. Several players have done that, including Lee when she won the 2021 Evian Championship in France by coming from seven back for her first major title.
The 24-year-old Kim opened her round with a five-foot birdie putt on the 528-yard par 5 first. She got within two strokes of Lee after the three birdies to wrap up her front nine. Her tee shot at the 157-yard 8th hole stopped a foot from the cup, and was sandwiched by a pair of 2 1/2-foot birdies before parring out.
Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, and semi-retired Lexi Thompson both closed with 76s.
Thompson, in the second-to-last group for the second day in a row, finished tied for 12th at 293. The 30-year-old, who played for only the seventh time in 16 tournaments this season, has gone 11 years since her only major win in the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Korda tied for 19th at 6-over 294 and still hasn’t won this year after winning seven times last season.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
