FRISCO, Texas — The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is on deck this week for the LPGA Tour’s top talent, as 156 athletes descend upon Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco for the 71st playing of this prestigious championship. As is typical for LPGA major tournaments, the field is chock full of the world’s best athletes, including 12 past winners of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and the top 10 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, which should make it anyone’s game this week in the Lone Star State.

Take a look at three players to watch as they compete in this event for a share of a $12 million purse and the glory that comes with being crowned a major champion on the LPGA Tour.

Nelly Korda

Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda is the favorite in the field this week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East. She earned her first major title at the 2021 edition of this major championship, winning by three strokes over Lizette Salas at Atlantic Athletic Club in Georgia, and has picked up one other top-three finish in her eight other starts – a tie for third that she posted at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota in 2019.

Korda has yet to win on the LPGA Tour this year, a bit of a surprise considering she captured seven total victories during the 2024 season, but 2025 has been anything but a wash for the 15-time LPGA Tour winner. In her nine starts ahead of this week, the two-time major champion hasn’t finished worse than T28, collecting four top-10 results, three of which are top fives that Korda recorded at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions (2), the Mizuho Americas Open (T5) and the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally (T2). She also has three other T16 or better performances on her 2025 resume, the most recent of which is a tie for 15th that came at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer in Galloway, N.J.

According to KPMG Performance Insights, Korda is currently leading the LPGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee (+1.11), ranks second in strokes gained approach (+2.54) and also ranks second in strokes gained tee to green (+1.97), additionally ranking 12th in strokes gained approach (+0.85). In major championships this season, Korda is first in strokes gained ball striking (+3.26), first in greens in regulation (73.6 percent), second in strokes gained off the tee (+1.49) and second in strokes gained approach (+1.77), a lethal combination of statistics that should point to more success for the world No. 1 this week if her putting in even halfway decent. Korda is also leading the LPGA Tour in scoring average (69.07), birdie percentage (27.96 percent), birdie or better percentage (28.32 percent) and birdie or better average per round (5.10).

Hyo Joo Kim

Hyo Joo Kim won the last edition of the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America that was played back in 2023, capturing the final title at the long-standing event that was held at Old American Golf Club in The Colony, Texas, which isn’t too far from this year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco. Outside of her success in Texas, Kim also won in balmy conditions earlier this season at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass at Whirlwind Golf Club in Arizona, beating Lilia Vu in a playoff to capture her seventh career LPGA Tour victory and first since her win in the Lone Star State a couple of years prior.

Along with that title, Kim has collected three other top-10 finishes this season, tying for 10th at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, tying for seventh at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and most notably tying for second at The Chevron Championship in April after falling in a five-way playoff to eventual champion Mao Saigo at The Club at Carlton Woods. She hasn’t teed it up since missing the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills a couple of weeks ago, but considering how well she has fared in Texas in recent seasons, Kim shouldn’t be counted out at a venue such as this one.

Statistically, Kim is ranked inside the top 25 of two major strokes gained categories this season, according to KPMG Performance Insights, currently sitting at sixth in strokes gained around the green (+0.52) and ranking 25th in strokes gained total (+1.40). The 29-year-old is also third in putts per round (28.47), third in bogey avoidance (11.28 percent), fifth in birdie to bogey ratio (1.97), seventh in scoring average (69.97) and tied for seventh in putts per green in regulation (1.74).

Kim is the type of well-rounded athlete who ultimately captures at least one major championship trophy in their career, and while the Republic of Korea native hasn’t won a major since earning The Amundi Evian Championship as a non-member in 2014, expect her to be contending at some point throughout this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, as she has plenty of potential to hoist the trophy come Sunday afternoon at this venue.

Patty Tavatanakit

When it comes to promising dark horses in the field at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, look no further than Patty Tavatanakit. This is her sixth start in this major championship, and while she has only finished in the top 10 once, tying for fifth in 2021 at the Atlanta Athletic Club, the two wins that Tavatanakit has on her LPGA Tour resume have one common denominator – heat.

The Thailand native became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2021 Chevron Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., what was traditionally an incredibly hot week when the event was still contested in Palm Desert. Tavatanakit’s second LPGA Tour victory came in 2024 at the Honda LPGA Thailand at the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club, another venue that often sees temperatures of the balmy variety, an energy-sucking heat that can drain an athlete both mentally and physically over the course of 72 holes, conditions that are also expected to plague the 156-player field this week at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.

This week marks the UCLA alum’s 10th start of the 2025 LPGA Tour season, and in her nine tournaments ahead of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the 25-year-old has collected five top-20 results, the best of which is a tie for fourth that she recorded in her title defense at the Honda LPGA Thailand and the most recent of which is a tie for 15th that came at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer.

Statistically, Tavatanakit ranks inside the top 30 of two major strokes gained categories on the LPGA Tour this season, currently sitting at 21st in strokes gained around the green (+0.31) and 27th in strokes gained tee to green (+0.88). She is also third in birdie percentage (24.89 percent), fourth in both birdie or better percentage (25.33 percent) and birdie or better average per round (4.56) and tied for fourth in putts per green in regulation (1.73).

Players to Watch: 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

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