KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Who’s hot and who’s not?
Who’s hot and who’s not heading in to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the second-longest women’s pro tournament on the LPGA schedule and the second of the LPGA‘s five major championships, dominates women’s golf this week. Brooke Henderson, coming to the tee fresh from her first 2017 win at the Meijer LPGA Classic and ranked 13th in the world, is the defending champion.
Originally established in 1955 as the LPGA Championship as Tour a professionals-only event, much like the men’s PGA Championship, the Women’s PGA Championship remains a showcase for the best among the Tour’s players.
In 2015 the Women’s PGA Championship administrative management shifted from the LPGA to the PGA of America, reflecting a three-way partnership that elevated the event’s visibility. Two-time winner of the LPGA Championship (1985, 1989) Nancy Lopez greeted the expansion and new partnership, which included the addition of playing spots for club pros, enthusiastically:
"For me, it has always been a special event that every player strives to win. But now, with the addition of network television, the awesome jump in prize money and the rotation of world-class venues — plus the opportunity to impact women in golf and in business — this is big time."
Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago hosts the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The par-71 6588 yard track has hosted two U.S. Opens (1928, 2003), two PGA Championships (1925, 1961), a U.S. Senior Open (1967) and a U.S. Amateur (2015). It’s a worthy test for the second major of the Tour’s 2017 season.
Who’s coming to Olympia Fields hot and ready to challenge for the title, and who’s not? Let’s take a look at my short list of five players primed for victory and five who should be but probably aren’t.
But first, a quick list of four players whose games are trending in the right direction, but who aren’t quite ready for my Women’s PGA Championship Who’s Hot list.