South Korea’s Amy Yang wins first major golf title at Sahalee

There were many surprises at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at the Sahalee Country Club last week, but the biggest may be the winner – Amy Yang – who took home her first major title over her 17-year pro golf career.

The tournament took place from June 20 to 23, with four days that went off without a hitch. Aside from a little rain Saturday afternoon, the greater Seattle area stayed beautiful, dry, and reasonably comfortable.

After Friday’s cut-off round, half of the players were sent packing. A surprise amongst those cut was Nelly Korda, the number one ranked woman golfer in the world. Despite a strong start on Thursday with a score of 69, Korda could not maintain her groove. On Friday, she shot her highest score of her professional career with an 81, ending her bid for the PGA Championship title.

Korda was not the only notable golfer cut. Others included Anna Nordqvist, Alexa Pano, Robyn Choi, Stacy Lewis and Roberta Liti.

On Friday, American Sarah Schmelzel surprised everyone by taking the lead for a portion of the day from Yang. But in the end, Yang began asserting her dominance. She was the only player to go bogey-free for the entire round.

Saturday was a bit of a tussle for Yang as she scrambled to maintain her lead. Lucky for her, Schmelzel fell off as her game faltered on the greens. While Yang’s putting also waned in the third round with three bogeys, she held on with two birdies to end the day ahead of the pack.

Yang began the final round on Sunday with a two-shot lead that stretched to seven. Despite two setbacks toward the end of the round, she held on for her first major championship title with a three-stroke victory, which came with a $1.56 million payday.

And as an added bonus, her rise in the rankings qualified her for a spot on South Korea’s Olympic golf team, which means she will tee-off for her country in Paris next month.