KPMG Women's PGA Preview: 3 Early Storylines to Follow

While all eyes are on Oakmont for the men's U.S. Open, Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco is gearing up to host its first women's major—it previously hosted the 2023 Men's KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. The 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship kicks off next week, marking the LPGA's return to Texas for the third women's major of the year.

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Just like it's twin, the PGA Championship, KPMG serves as a test of grit for all pros—aka the women of the PGA of America and LPGA professionals. Ten PGA of America/LPGA Professionals will tee it up this week alongside the world's best players headlined by world No. 1 Nelly Korda—who won this championship in 2021, her first major title.

It'll be a hot week in the Lone Star state, I'll have my boots on the ground pre-tournament—but here's what you should know as we prep for the next major ahead.

A test for PGA Frisco

A new course means new challenges. While the players are locked in on trying to figure this new venue out—all eyes will be on Fields Ranch East and how it'll hold up as a major venue.

PGA Frisco has two courses, an East and a West, each presenting their own unique challenges. Designed by Gil Hanse, the East course is said to be a strategic test that forces players to tap into their short-game creativity. The big Texas terrain is visually appealing but carefully hides an assortment of bunkers and false edges. The small greens are protected by fast runoffs and landing areas are tight—the margins are small and accuracy is everything.

The course is set up to play a par 72, sitting at around 6,600 yards for the week.

It'll be interesting to see how the course and competition play out especially as Fields Ranch East is set to host the Men's PGA Championship in 2027 and the women again in 2031.

The physical test of this major is only enhanced by a forecast of temps in the mid 90s most of the week. Comparatively to the stormy Chevron Championship, which was hosted right outside of Houston, the forecast doesn't appear to be calling for too much rain or summer storms.

The forecast was a major storyline for Chevron especially during practice rounds. Nelly Korda spoke about her preparations for Chevron feeling "disrupted" between travel, the weather, and the pro am—hopefully this time around, the weather stays at bay and players get a true feel of the place before Thursday's opening round.

10 Years of KPMG

It was 10 years ago, when the LPGA Championship became the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Tour along with the PGA of America and KPMG (an accounting firm) looked to elevate what this event could really be.

This year in Frisco will be the 11th championship since the, sort of, renaissance and there's a lot to show for the tour dropping its namesake tournament to make way for a new title sponsor.

For starters, the venue upgrades have been apparent. From Hazeltine to Baltusrol—the name recognition of courses can do wonders for women's events (as seen with Pebble Beach and Erin Hills). Majors need to feel like majors, and that begins with venues.

Prize money has steadily increased. While the U.S. Women's Open leads the way for the biggest major purse at $12 million, but KPMG isn't anything to sneeze at. Last year's purse totaled out to $10.4 million, up from $4.5 million in 2021.

KPMG is also the leading stat tracker for the LPGA Tour, providing insights into individual athlete stats like strokes gained, driving distance, greens and regulation, and more. The data and analytics for the tournament have improved as well. In 2024, KPMG introduced "CHAMPCAS", which gave fans the same ShotLink Pro technology used by the PGA Tour.

As we saw with the U.S. Women's Open, upgraded tech and TV graphics enhance the TV product significantly—so for continued reach investing in tech is a strong, and smart move.

The Final Field

With all this talk about the broadcast and watching the tournament, you're probably wondering who will be playing—and who am I to gate keep such information?

The LPGA and the PGA of America announced earlier this week that all 100 players on the Race to the CME Globe list are confirmed for the KPMG Women's PGA. As a reminder, the Race to the CME Globe is a season long competition that determines which players make the field for the LPGA's tour championship in November.

Last year's winner, Amy Yang, is headlining the field along with 11 other previous winners including Nelly Korda (2021), Ruoning Yin (2023), and Brooke Henderson (2016).

Amy Yang of South Korea poses with the trophy after winning the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club on June 23, 2024 in Sammamish, Washington. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

And just like the PGA Championship, a group of PGA of America and LPGA Pros will also be in the field this week. Meet them here.

Joanna Coe, the Director of Instruction at Merion Golf Club will be competing in her sixth KPMG Women's PGA Championship and her first since becoming a mom.

She'll be a fun story to watch next week!