Ina Yoon opens the Women's PGA
Championship at Hazeltine with a record-tying 63
[June 26, 2026]
By DAVE CAMPBELL
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Ina Yoon matched the best score in the history
of the Women's PGA Championship with a 9-under 63 to take a
two-stroke lead over Karis Davidson on Thursday in the third major
of the season.
Yoon, a 23-year-old South Korean seeking her first LPGA Tour
victory, birdied five of her last six holes at Hazeltine National
Golf Club with a putter that was consistently on point.
Nelly Korda, who’s aiming to become just the third woman to win the
first three major tournaments on the schedule, had a 70.
Davidson, who finished more than four hours after Yoon, had eight
birdies on the way to a career-best 65 on a calm and partly cloudy
afternoon that yielded a bevy of low scores on the long course on
the prairie southwest of Minneapolis that requires accuracy and
muscle off the tee.
Alexa Pano and A Lim Kim were tied for third at 67. Aline Krauter,
Hye-Jin Choi and Megan Kang followed at 68. Five Americans landed
among the top eight scores, including ties.
“Just trying to go out there and make solid swings,” said Pano, who
had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine. “My goal for this
week was just to really focus on where my feet are and focus on the
shot at hand.”
Korda (second round in 2021) and Patty Sheehan (third round in 1984)
also posted 9-under 63s at previous Women’s PGA Championships.
Yoon logged the fourth-best first-round score at any major since at
least 1980, trailing Hyo Joo Kim at the Evian Championship in 2014
(10-under 61), Mirim Lee at the Women’s British Open in 2016
(10-under 61), and Lorena Ochoa at the Kraft Nabisco Championship
(10-under 62).
The 39th-ranked player in the world, Yoon sounded like she surprised
even herself with the stellar start.
“I just hit the golf ball and it just dropped in the hole and it was
really an awesome experience,” Yoon said, later explaining her
mental approach: “Just try to think nothing. Focus on what I need to
do. Focus on process. That part I think I did great today.”
Davidson, who has made cuts in 15 straight tournaments for the
third-longest active streak on tour behind Korda (31) and Celine
Boutier (20), is also seeking her first career victory.
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Nelly Korda walks onto the 16th green during the first round of the
Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026,
in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt York)
“Hit a lot of fairways. Hit a lot of greens. Putting was pretty on
today. Really felt like I was going to hole everything,” Davidson
said. “So it was a pretty perfect round.”
Davidson, a 27-year-old Australian, had her best finish earlier this
year with a tie for fifth at the Aramco Championship in April.
Fellow countrymate and close friend Hannah Green won the Women’s PGA
Championship in 2019, the last time it was at Hazeltine.
Jeeno Thitikul, the second-ranked player in the world who's seeking
her first career major, shot a 69. This is the fifth time she has
finished the first round in the top 10 in a major, including the
Women's PGA Championship last year. The Thai star broke 70 in
official regular stroke play last season 45 times, the
second-highest total on tour.
The runaway LPGA tour scoring leader at the midpoint of the season,
Korda double-bogeyed the lakeside 16th hole with “one bad swing”
that landed in a pond to the left for a first-shot penalty stroke.
“I just overturned it. By now you just feel it when it’s bad. So the
wind was off the right and I actually I think just made a too fast
of a swing and I was kind of in between clubs,” Korda said. “It’s a
pretty intimidating tee shot, and I just didn’t really like the way
I hit it off the start.”
Korda's 19-foot putt on the 18th green stopped an inch from the hole
before she tapped in for par, finishing about the same time as Yoon,
who wrapped up nearby on the ninth hole. Inbee Park (2013) and Babe
Zaharias (1950) are the only women in golf history to win the first
three majors in one calendar year.
Amanda Doherty had hole-in-one on the 17th in a 72.
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