5 Things We Learned: Saturday at the Women’s PGA (2024)

The 2024 Women’s PGA Championship features a return to Sahalee, near Seattle, where Brooke Henderson won her first major title. Henderson defeated Lydia Ko in a playoff, and the tournament featured play over the club’s North and South nines. This year’s tournament will showcase the same 18 holes, with expectations high for another dramatic finish.

Sahalee runs against the grain of golf’s current championship trend. The northwest USA course is known for its well-treed fairways and its narrow fairway corridors. You’ll not find the land-and-release style of architecture and conditioning that featured so prominently last week’s US Open at Pinehurst. Instead, players will have the opportunity to strategize carry-and-hold distances, more closely associated with the American style of play.

Regardless of your preference, welcome to another major championship week. The Women’s PGA championship celebrates its 10th playing this year, and it won’t be too heavy a lift to learn a quintet of news items each day from the field’s play. Settle in with a nice cup of coffee and enjoy the five things we learned on day one at the 2024 Women’s PGA Championship.

1. Lexi will not go quietly into that good night

Lexi Thompson has been, on many occasions, the featured competitor in the resolution of major titles. At far too many of those events, victory has fallen away, to the opposition. In Lexi, we see ourselves. She experiences in front of the camera, what often happens to us each weekend. She rises, time and again, to confront the impossibility of closing a tournament, of claiming glory. No matter how easy it may seem, it isn’t remotely easy to do.

When Lexi announced that the 2024 season would be her last, we both understood and regretted. She has taken time away from competition over the last five years, to recenter her life and balance her emotions. She has been vocal and public about the challenge and the struggle of growing up in competitive golf, and playing so hard, for so long. The announcement, and fate, have made us desperate for one final and great victory for the Floridian, so that she might ride off into this sunset with a triumphant smile.

On Thursday at Sahalee, Lexi rose to the first-round lead, thanks to six birdies. A pair of bogeys brought her back to minus-four, but she stands one shot clear of Nelly Korda and Patty Tavatanakit. Lexi isn’t one to fear the bogey lady, so her performance this week will depend on her ability to seek the birdies, and not hold back. Aren’t all of our fingers crossed?

Lexi Thompson with the field high!

Make it 6?? birdies on the day ???#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/VZTp8qlslD

See Also

Tour Rundown: In non-major news…Who is playing in the 2024 Women’s PGA Championship? Field and top players2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: R2 Tee Times & Pairings Explored2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship: Round 1 Tee Times & Pairings Explored

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 21, 2024

2. The Chasers

Nelly needs no introduction; she is the top-ranked player in the world, with six wins (one of them a major) thus far in 2024. Tavatanakit burst onto the LPGA circuit with a 2021 major championship win at the ANA. Her second tour title came this year, at Honda Thailand. Last month, Nelly missed the cut at the US Open, while Patty did not figure in the outcome. One is at the top of her game, while the other seeks a return to the elite tier of women’s professional golf. Sahalee plays right into both golfers’ hands, so expect both to around through Sunday.

Like Lexi, Nelly had six birdies on the day. Her engine was momentarily derailed by a double bogey at the fourth hole, but she returned to the tracks and finished off a minus-three 69 on day one. Patty offered a streamlined round of three birdies and zero bogies, to match Korda’s performance. That’s what makes Sahalee so compelling: there will be rounds of high drama, with many birdies and a fewothers, alongside others with clean cards but fewer shots saved. We have no idea how this one will play out, and we’re engulfed by intrigue and mystery.

Nelly Korda looked comfortable in Round 1??

She takes the lead with a birdie on 9?#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/anLXAi9CaR

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 20, 2024

3. Eleven is a lucky number

Eleven golfers are tied at two-under par, a pair of shots off the lead. Among that assemblage are European golfers Celine Boutier (the Nelly Korda of wins in 2023) Leona Maguire, Charley Hull, and 2023 US Open champion Allisen Corpuz. That quintet of golfers sits at either one or zero major championships over their career arcs. Asaficionados of the game know, majors elevate you to a higher strata, and each opportunity offered is a chance to ascend.

Among the Sahalee’s Eleven, Madalene Sagstrom offered the most interesting tour of the high 18. She posted five birdies, offset by three bogeys. Hinako Shibuno arrive next, with four birdies on the day, including a run of three in five holes, over the second nine.

Charley. Hull. ?

We’ll let the audio do the talking here ?#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/ANFbxp5V3E

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 20, 2024

4. Who struggled?

That’s the part of tournament coverage that no one relishes … finding out who didn’t have her best game, and what the second day might have on offer. Minjee Lee appeared to have one hand on the US Open trophy last month, only to lose her way over the final nine. She opened with 74, and has work to do to make the cut and contend.

Lydia Ko is one win away from the earned LPGA hall of fame, a hall like no other. Votes don’t get you in; wins do. 75 in round one doesn’t help her cause, but she has history with Sahalee, going back to that runner-up finish in 2016. A comeback from Ko would be an amazing story for the Return to Sahalee.

Lilia Vu has been on the PUP list for a few months, and was champing at a return to competition. Like Ko, she posted 75 and will need to reverse course to be around for the final 36 holes. Most confusing of all is the 76 turned in by Rose Zhang. Despite bursting onto the tour with a first-event win in 2023, and following that with a victory at the 2024 Founders Cup, the former, world top amateur has struggled to find her game in major championships. Perhaps that’s part of the learning curve. The curve continues this week for Zhang.

WHAT. A GROUP!

Brooke Henderson.
Lydia Ko.
Ariya Jutanugarn. #KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/wrtxZnxQr4

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 20, 2024

5. What’s in store for round two?

Despite hosting major championships adjacent to the LPGA, PGA, and Champions tours, Sahalee is an unknown commodity. Out of the public eye for vast stretches of time, it doesn’t boast signature holes and familiarity, as happens with other tracks. What is known is this: the putting surfaces will reward a true roll of the rock, so the emphasis will continue to be on the driver. Bomb and gouge doesn’t play well in Washington, due to the influence of the abundant tree population. Your accurate driver will have the best opportunity to stand tall through 36 holes. We’re going to pull out a surprise, second-round leader, by the name of Cheyenne Knight. We see the Texan reversing course in round two, with way more birdies than bogeys, with her reward being a place at the main table.

Have a day at the beach, Cheyenne Knight! ?? She birdies from the bunker!

Coverage of the @KPMGWomensPGA continues on @GolfChannel pic.twitter.com/mFIMph6s7F

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 20, 2024