As Minjee Lee took control of Women’s PGA, 1 word and 3 holes told story

FRISCO, Texas — As players stumbled off Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco on Saturday following a grueling six-plus-hour third round of the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the mental and physical exhaustion was evident. The combination of the winds, heat, firm greens and setup had battered and bruised the world’s best. All they could do was try to hang in.

“Trust me, it’s so brutal out here,” world No. 1 Nelly Korda said in her post-round television interview after shooting an even-par 72.

“It’s definitely testing you. I thought Erin Hills was a mental test, but jeez, this one is a real mental test.”

Added Ruoning Yin after her 72: “Was brutal out there.”

Yealimi Noh, who shot 74 with two eagles, could only smile and shake her head. “Crazy day,” Noh said.

If major rounds are prize fights, PGA Frisco delivered haymaker after haymaker to the world’s best.

Korda opened with back-to-back bogeys. Lexi Thompson topped her second shot and shanked her third into the penalty area en route to an opening triple-bogey.

As the nerves frayed and contenders went on tilt, one player was unbothered by it all — by the gusting winds, the glacial pace of play, the rock-hard greens and diabolical pin placements.

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The leaderboard shuffled like a deck of cards as bogey after bogey went up, but Minjee Lee didn’t blink.

Starting the day three shots back of 36-hole leader Jeeno Thitikul, Lee faced PGA Frisco’s “brutal” test with the patience of someone who has experience in the cauldron — someone who can find peace in the chaos.

She made an easy par at the par-5 first hole, which played 0.60 shots over par on Saturday with the wind blasting directly into the players’ faces, and followed that with seven more pars before making her first birdie at the par-5 ninth.

As Thitikul rode the major rollercoaster, Lee was steady. She didn’t force anything, took her medicine when she hit a shot into trouble and let her short game and putter bail her out when required.

By the time Lee and Thitikul got to the 14th tee, Lee had turned a three-shot deficit into a one-shot lead over the world No. 2. She had a five-shot cushion over the third place. That’s when Lee took control of the tournament.

On the par-5 14th, Lee hit three pure shots into the green before rolling in an 18-foot birdie putt. Thitikul made a sloppy bogey, and the lead was three. Next came the drivable par-4 15th, where Lee’s tee shot hit the right edge of the green and bounded into the bunker. That was no issue either. Lee executed a brilliant long bunker shot, blasting it into the wind and stopping it 14 inches from the hole for another birdie. Finally, on the par-4 16th, Lee’s second came up short of the green and nestled near the penalty area. But once again, the Australian displayed a brilliant short game as her long pitch settled six feet from the hole and she rolled in the par putt while Thitikul made another bogey.

The lead was now four.

Lee finished the day with pars at 17 and 18 to post a bogey-free 69, beating the field average by more than seven strokes. She will start Sunday’s final round at six under, four shots clear of Thitikul, who was in awe of the major-championship magic she witnessed.

“She played absolutely A-game, for sure,” Thitikul said of Lee’s stellar play. “I mean, I never saw her miss today, at all.”

All told, Lee hit 66 percent of her fairways, hit 12 greens in regulation, picked up 2.201 strokes tee-to-green and 3.534 putting. It was a major championship masterclass on a day when the wind befuddled and frustrated the rest of the field.

“I think I played really well within myself today,” Lee said. “Took the birdies when I could and made really great up and downs when I was out of position. I think I’m going to try and stick to the same game plan and get it over the line tomorrow.”

This isn’t new territory for Lee. She led the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open by three through 54 holes and closed with a 74 to win by four. At the 2021 Evian, she rode a sizzling 64 to force a playoff that won for her first major title. There was also last year’s U.S. Women’s Open, where she entered Sunday tied for the lead but shot a final round 78 as Yuka Saso conquered Lancaster Country Club.

Minjee Lee knows what awaits her on Sunday at PGA Frisco. The pressure. The chaos. The major championship cauldron.

“I mean, major Sunday is like no other,” Lee said. “So regardless of where you are, I don’t think you’re really ever in a comfortable position until you’re holding that trophy. I’ve had both experiences, and I’m sure both of them will help me tomorrow.”

On Saturday in North Texas, a U.S. Women’s Open broke out at PGA Frisco. The wind howled, nerves disintegrated and contenders evacuated the leaderboard.

Korda fought back to post even par and give herself a chance. Thompson stayed alive despite a disastrous start. Thitikul is still one of just two players under par. But all of them left Saturday at PGA Frisco exhausted and bloodied from a six-hour romp in exacting conditions.

Then there was Lee — who tamed last year’s U.S. Women’s Open through 54 holes before crumbling on Sunday — appearing to barely break a sweat. She never looked at a leaderboard and never got out of her process. She just put her head down, tamed the brutal conditions and marched through the major championship mayhem that devoured everyone else, putting a stranglehold on the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA.

One more walk in the brutal Texas conditions stands between Minjee Lee and major No. 3. Eighteen holes until the engraving begins. Of course, Lee knows a lot can happen in 18 holes. The task ahead is monumental. There’s one more “brutal” mountain to climb.

“We still have tomorrow to go,” Lee said with a smile before heading off to sleep on her four-shot lead.