23 Major Champions Converge upon Westchester Country Club

Two-time defending champion Inbee Park and World No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko lead a field representing 29 countries in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which begins Thursday, June 11, at Westchester Country Club’s West Course in Harrison, New York.

Overall, 99 of the top 100 in the LPGA Official Money Earnings make up the 156-player field, including 23 major champions.

Ko, 18, is making her third consecutive Women’s PGA Championship appearance, and second as a professional. The LPGA’s leading money-earner and youngest of any gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf, she finished third last year.

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship features a $3.5 million purse, among the highest in women’s golf. The Championship will be operated by the PGA of America in partnership with the LPGA.

Park captured back-to-back titles in 2013 and ’14 among her four career majors. She will be joined by nine past Women’s PGA Champions: Laura Davies (1994, ’96); Se Ri Pak (1998, ’02, ’06); Juli Inkster (1999, 2000); Karrie Webb (2001); Suzann Pettersen (2007); Yani Tseng (2008, ’11); Anna Nordqvist (2009); Cristie Kerr (2010); and Shanshan Feng (2012).

A closer look at the field and Thursday’s first-round pairings:

SWEET SIXTEEN TITLES
World Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, 2015 Hall of Fame inductee Laura Davies and former world No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng own a combined 16 major championships, while each having won two Women’s PGA Championships. The threesome begin play Thursday at 1:20 p.m. on No. 10.

FOLLOW THE HALL OF FAME LEADER
World Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb of Australia is joined by Paula Creamer and Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist off the No. 10 at 1:00 p.m.

PETTERSEN MOMENTUM
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, the 2007 Women’s PGA Champion, wrapped up a one-stroke victory Sunday in the Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada. She travels 490 miles southeast to begin play Thursday at 8:30 a.m. on the No. 1 tee, with Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.

DEBUT AMONG THE STARS
England Charley Hull, 19, the youngest to compete on a Solheim Cup Team, makes her debut in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She joins reigning U.S. Women’s Open Champion Michelle Wie and 2007 ANA Inspiration Champion Morgan Pressel at 1:40 p.m. off No. 10.

ONLY MAJORS GET YOU TO THIS CLUB
23 Major Champions who own a combined 53 major championships make up the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship field. They are: Na Yeon Choi; Paula Creamer; Laura Davies; Shanshan Feng; Juli Inkster; Eun-Hee Ji; Cristie Kerr; Hyo Joo Kim; Stacy Lewis; Brittany Lincicome; Mo Martin; Catriona Matthew; Anna Nordqvist; Se Ri Pak; Inbee Park; Suzann Pettersen; Morgan Pressel; So Yeon Ryu; Lexi Thompson; Yani Tseng; Karrie Webb; Michelle Wie and Sun Young Yoo.

PGA/LPGA CLUB PROFESSIONALS
Jean Bartholomew of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, an LPGA Professional, won last summer’s LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals National Championship. She leads a group of eight LPGA/PGA Professionals in the field. The group includes PGA of America members Alison Curdt of Woodland Hills, California; Karen Paolozzi of Atlanta, Georgia; and Laurie Rinker of Stuart, Florida; and LPGA Professionals Elizabeth Caron of West Hartford, Connecticut; Lisa Grimes of Gold Canyon, Arizona; Amanda Moore of Southern Pines, North Carolina; and Charlotta Sörenstam of Reunion, Florida. Rinker, 52, tied for third in the 1987 LPGA Championship, and returns to the Women’s PGA Championship for the first time since 2009.

Broadcast Schedule
The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is broadcast in partnership with NBC and Golf Channel. Golf Channel will televise the first two rounds Thursday, June 11 and Friday, June 12, from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET. NBC coverage of the final two rounds is Saturday, June 13, and Sunday, June 14, from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET.

Carrying on the 60-year legacy of the LPGA Championship, KPMG, the PGA of America and the LPGA have joined forces to create the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the first-of-its-kind major championship. The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship brings together a world-class, annual major golf championship with a women’s leadership summit and an ongoing charitable initiative to inspire and develop new generations of female leaders.

Powerful Field Set for KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

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