Amy Yang has waited a long time to hoist a major championship trophy. And she finally got to do just that on Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Yang won the third major of the 2024 LPGA Tour season at Sahalee Country Club, carding an even-par 72 in the final round to win by three shots and become a major champion in her 75th major start.
“I’ve lost the words right now,” said a teary Yang on the final green after a champagne shower for the ages. “It’s all the hard work our team did together, and I’m so grateful for that. All four rounds, it was tough out there, but I just trusted what I prepared, and just I did my best all week.”
She began the day at 7-under with a two-shot lead over Lauren Hartlage and Miyu Yamashita, grabbing a birdie right out of the gate to move three ahead at 8-under overall. Hartlage and Yamashita both birdied the second hole to once again sit two behind Yang, and after the Republic of Korea native bogeyed the par-4 3rd hole, her advantage was cut to one shot with 15 holes to play.
But Yang wasn’t about to let her chasers back into the conversation. She chipped in for birdie on the par-3 5th hole to get back to 8-under, making another birdie on the difficult par-4 8th hole to get to 9-under. And when Hartlage double bogeyed holes seven and eight and Yamashita also made a double of her own on eight, Yang was all alone out at the front of the pack.
Turning in 34, Yang dropped a shot on 10 but birdied 11 to quickly erase that mistake. Two holes later, on the par-3 13th, she stuffed her tee shot to four feet and cleaned up the birdie opportunity to get to 10-under for the tournament, seemingly too far out of reach for anyone to catch.
She parred 14 and 15 before bogeying 16, and then Yang hit her tee shot in the water to ultimately double bogey 17, coming to her final hole with a three-shot lead. Steadying her nerves, the 34-year-old hit the fairway and the green in regulation on the par-5 18th hole at Sahalee Country Club, two-putting her way to her sixth LPGA Tour victory and her first dream-come-true major championship title.
“I always wanted to win a major, and I came close several times, and I started doubting myself if I ever going to win a major before I retire because I’ve been on Tour quite a while,” Yang said. “I am so grateful and very, very happy to win a major.”
Two-time major champion Jin Young Ko, Japan’s Miyu Yamashita and last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic champion Lilia Vu finished in a tie for second at 4-under. Americans Lauren Hartlage and Ally Ewing round out the top five, tying for fifth after finishing with four-day totals of 3-under. Lexi Thompson, who announced at the U.S. Women’s Open that she’d be stepping away from professional golf at the end of the 2024 season, finished in a tie for ninth at 1-under overall after shooting 43 on the front nine and 31 on the back nine at Sahalee in the final round.
