Kemper Lakes to Play at Record Yardage and More from KPMG Women's PGA Championship

LONG STORY SHORT

Kemper Lakes Golf Club will present the longest test in the 64-year history of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Playing at 6,741 yards, Kemper Lakes will break the record previously held by Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, N.Y., which measured 6,720 yards in 2014.

WIN, WIN?

This week, reigning champion Danielle Kang looks to join five other players who have successfully defended their KPMG Women’s PGA Championship victory: Mickey Wright (1960-61); Patty Sheehan (1983-84); Juli Inkster (1999-2000); Annika Sorenstam (2003-05); and Inbee Park (2013-15).

IT’S BEEN A WHILE

Danielle Kang and Brooke Henderson have captured the last two KPMG Women’s PGA Championships, winning at Olympia (Ill.) Fields and Sahalee, respectively. Both wins were the initial major championship victories of their careers, so with that in mind, it should be noted that the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last yielded three consecutive first-time major winners from 2007-09 (Suzann Pettersen/2007, Yani Tseng/2008, Anna Nordqvist/2009).

TWO DOZEN TO DEBUT IN KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

Of the 156 players teeing it up in Thursday’s first round, 24 will be making their KPMG Women’s PGA Championship debut. The last player to win this Championship in her first attempt was Yani Tseng, who emerged from a playoff to best Maria Hjorth in 2008 at Bulle Rock Golf Club in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

GLOBAL GAME

Through 17 tournaments in 2018, there have been 16 different winners representing eight different countries – Republic of Korea leads the Tour with five wins on the season, followed by the United States with four and Thailand with three.

In the last 27 major championships, dating back to 2013 when The Evian Championship was added as the LPGA’s fifth major, seven countries have been represented in the winner’s circle (Republic of Korea-12; USA-7; Thailand-2; Sweden-2; New Zealand-2; Canada-1; Norway-1).

EXTRA TIME

The last three LPGA major championships have required a playoff finish to determine a champion (2017 Evian Championship, 2018 ANA Inspiration, 2018 U.S. Women’s Open). Ten of the last 27 major championships have been decided in playoffs, dating to 2013, when The Evian Championship was added as the LPGA’s fifth major.

There have been twelve playoffs in the 64-year history of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, including three in the last five editions of the event (2016/Brooke Henderson; 2014-Inbee Park; 2013/Inbee Park).

HUNTING THIS MAJOR

There are 19 players at Kemper Lakes this week that have won a major championship, but not claimed the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Six of those 19 have multiple career majors, exactly two in fact. They are: In Gee Chun (2015 U.S. Women’s Open, 2016 Evian Championship); Ariya Jutanugarn (2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open, 2018 U.S. Women’s Open); Lydia Ko (2015 Evian Championship, 2016 ANA Inspiration); Stacy Lewis (2011 ANA Inspiration, 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open); Brittany Lincicome (2009 ANA Inspiration, 2015 ANA Inspiration); and So Yeon Ryu (2011 U.S. Women’s Open, 2017 ANA Inspiration). Incidentally, Patty Berg has the most majors (15) without winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

THREE OLYMPIANS SHARE THEIR WISDOM

Three United States Olympians – Nancy Kerrigan, Hilary Knight and Maia Shibutani, who represented 26 years of competition (1992-2018) and collected a combined seven medals – visited the Media Center at Kemper Lakes today. They were in town participating in the Women’s Leadership Summit. Shibutani was a two-time bronze medalist in 2018 in ice dancing. Kerrigan won the bronze in '92 and the silver in '94; while Knight was an ice hockey silver medalist in 2010 and 2014, and a gold medalist in 2018.

Knight used women’s sports for all they were worth. “I see sport as a fantastic vehicle to empower not only the people around you, but the next generation. It's crazy, if you told me I'd be able to travel around the world, meet amazing people and get an education through hockey, I would have told you you're crazy. So, to be able to do all that just through sport, I now understand the value of playing and being an ambassador both on and off the ice.”

Will Knight be interested in golf? “It's a humbling sport, and there's always something to learn, and when I found out someone carries your bag for you, I am like, sign me up." 

11 HAVE JUNIOR RYDER CUP EXPERIENCE

Modeled after the Ryder Cup, the Junior Ryder Cup is the premier international competition for youth between the United States and Europe. There are 11 former Junior Ryder Cup players in the field this week at Kemper Lakes: five played for the U.S. Team, six for Europe:

IF YOU’RE NOT AT KEMPER LAKES, JUST TUNE IN

NBC and Golf Channel will combine to show more than 40 hours coverage from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which includes 14 televised hours of live coverage, along with re-airs following each round (17 additional hours). In all, the 2018 Championship will be broadcast in 165 countries and territories worldwide, reaching 484 million households.