Can Minjee Lee or Hannah Green add to Australian KPMG PGA success?
Minjee Lee holds the 2025 KPMG Women’s Championship trophy – image PGA of America
Seven Australians and one New Zealander will tee it up in this week’s 3rd major of the year in women’s golf, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, now established as the richest tournament in women’s golf, with prizemoney boosted to US$13 million (the largest purse in the women’s game).
Hannah Green, Minjee Lee, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Grace Kim, Karis Davidson, Cassie Porter, Robyn Choi, and Gabi Ruffels get the chance to tee it up and compete for a portion of that lucrative purse.
The Hazeltine Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, hosts the event for the second time, having first hosted the championship in 2019, when Hannah Green defeated Sung Hyun Park by one shot to win her first and only major to date.
Green has, of course, been in fine form in 2026, more especially earlier in the year when she won four titles in Australia, Asia and the USA. As a result of that great start to the year, Green reached an all-time high of #5 in the Rolex Rankings, but since she has slipped to 8th, although given her standing in the game and obvious love of Hazeltine Golf Club, she must be considered a good chance to contend again.
Minjee Lee arrives as the defending champion, having defeated Channettee Wannasaen and Auston Kim by three shots last year. Lee also finished runner-up to In Gee Chun in 2022.
“I mean, really, the only thing that I remember mostly is the heat and the wind,” said Lee when asked to look back on last year. “I just remember it being such a gruelling week, and for it to be a long week, it went by really quickly, I think just because it was so hot, and I was really tired after every day.
“Also I remember holding that trophy come Sunday. So it was very nice to have all my family and my friends there celebrating with me afterwards, too.”
Lee has not recorded a top twenty in her last five starts this season, so there is concern as to her current form.
Lydia Ko played the event well in her earlier years on the LPGA Tour, recording a 2nd and 3rd place finish, but in more recent years, she has had just one top ten in her last nine starts. Ko’s form has been mixed in recent starts, with two missed cuts in her last four, but a solid 10th-place finish here in 2019 suggests she could do better this week.
Grace Kim played well in Michigan last week when she finished tied for 7th, and she does have a major championship to her name, albeit a lesser one. But while her most recent starts have been encouraging, it is hard to imagine the Sydneysider contending for this title.
Cassie Porter continues to establish herself on the LPGA Tour, finishing an impressive 5th last week in Michigan. She has three top tens on the LPGA Tour this season, and while contention in a major might be a little beyond her at present, she is on track for that to be a reality in the future. She is a much better and more experienced player than was the case when she missed the cut on debut in the event last year.
Karis Davidson has played well in recent weeks and was the leading Australasian, along with Grace Kim, when 22nd at the US Women’s Open and played well when 12th in Michigan last week.
Robyn Choi and Gabi Ruffels round out the numbers amongst the Australasians, Ruffels struggling with her game in 2026, while Choi has mixed her form this year with several missed cuts but a top ten a few weeks ago. Choi has missed the cut in her two starts in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Perhaps surprisingly, Stephanie Kyriacou has not made the field, her disappointing year on the LPGA Tour in 2026, where she has missed 9 of 12 cuts after a great start to the year, when winning a Webex Series event in Sydney, working against her chances of playing the event.
Hazeltine National Golf Club – image PGA of America / Gary Kellner
