Hear from Joanna Coe, PGA, at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
THE MODERATOR: PGA of America golf professional Joanna Coe joins us now at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Joanna, welcome to your sixth KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Can you tell us a little bit about what this past year has been like? You became a mom, continued to teach at Merion, and now you return to major championship golf.
JOANNA COE: I was supposed to be in last June's KPMG at Sahalee, but I informed the PGA and LPGA, and they brought my exemption to this year. So they were happy to do that. That was really nice on behalf of both organizations.
Yeah, this time last year, we were less than a week in of a newborn, so not really sleeping, trying to figure out how to keep her alive essentially, like taking care of someone new. It was a really special time frame, very different summer for me, where I was inside my house a lot taking care of her and not really playing golf.
Slowly but surely -- I live walking distance from Merion. I put her in the stroller, and I would literally walk to the driving range with her. So she would just fall asleep in the stroller and watch me hit balls. After the doctor gave me approval, I started hitting balls and kind of finding my way again. I think that really helped get me back into shape, to be honest.
After that, I started playing some golf, and then Women's PGA Cup happened, and from there it was just full busyness at Merion. We've really expanded the instructional program. I feel like we didn't have much of an off-season. Myself and my co-worker Nick Iacono have been busy since January really. Full board teaching schedule, playing schedule, and mom life.
Q. How many times have you played this golf course?
JOANNA COE: Once, yesterday. At like 3:00, played from 3:00 until 8:00 p.m.
I had a terrible travel morning, so got in pretty late but had to see it. I wanted to see all 18 holes.
Q. What do you think the challenge is going to be here?
JOANNA COE: I think it looks like it would be friendly off the tee, but I think it's such an approach golf course because the greens are actually -- most of them are pretty small, and even if they are larger, there's not really spots you can land it.
So I think it's really a second-shot golf course. Knowing what sides, if you are going to miss it, to miss it on so you don't short-side yourself. And obviously staying out of the penalty areas. There's a lot of trouble everywhere.
So it's not tree trouble. It's penalty areas. It's being on the right side of the hole. I think you have to hit it well. It's going to be long, I'm sure it will be windy, it will be hot. It's a beast of a golf course. It's a big, bad golf course for sure.
Q. Not that you are not a fantastic PGA pro and director of golf when you do that, but how much do you think playing this championship, having interactions with headquarters, with the people maybe that has helped your career and getting to the places that you got to?
JOANNA COE: The PGA and I have had a really great relationship ever since I became class A. I believe it was 2017. I think the initiatives between this championship and the Women's PGA Cup really brought me close to leadership and you all.
It's amazing the opportunities they have from the playing perspective, education, charitable efforts. So I'm happy to be 100 percent in as a PGA professional in all of their efforts.
This championship, for it to be at home, at its new home, is pretty special. Now that I've been around, I understand that it's valuable to have a place that's kind of centrally located in the country. Dallas is obviously the home of a lot of great golfers, but to have a home in Texas makes sense.
Q. Based on that, and just as a quick follow-up, what would be your advice for other women members of the PGA of America in terms of getting involved in these events, these tournaments, competing?
JOANNA COE: Actually, I was just telling Craig Kessler I spent a little time at Trinity Forest this afternoon because I wasn't in the Pro-Am and I wanted to play some golf, and the head pro was a Merion assistant pro. He set me up to play with one of their female assistants, Katrina, and we were chatting about that. She's an apprentice and she's pretty young, so she was asking me some advice.
I told her that that playing side, she played college golf at Colorado State I believe she said, and I said the playing side really opens up a lot of opportunities. To shadow instructors, if she's going to go the teaching route, play in as many things as you can, get that exposure with the PGA and the LPGA and all these wonderful organizations.
It's a small network, and it's amazing, every time I come to this place, I just know more and more people. So it feels homier.
Q. With, I would assume, less time to practice than two years ago, three years ago, what part of your game do you really focus on?
JOANNA COE: I focus on having a lot of clarity in my golf swing, where I want to keep it really simple, and I clearly understand what's going on, in a good way and a bad way. I don't get a lot of reps, so I need to be super clear with what I'm doing.
A couple years ago when I played at Baltusrol at KPMG I hit it really well and felt like I had great clarity. All of a sudden this happened a few weeks ago. I was playing in a section event, and I remembered some feels I have, and I looked back at golf swings when I used to play for a living, like 2014, like what did I do back then? That's really the practice I do.
Then a couple weeks ago I found that clarity again, and I went to the Monday qualifier for the ShopRite, the LPGA event in Atlantic City, and won the Monday qualifier and played in an LPGA event surprisingly, like with zero practice, just understanding what I need to do with my golf swing to make the golf ball have a reliable golf flight.
Short game-wise, because I coach so much, I understand short game concepts more than ever. If I -- my chipping, pitching, bunker play is better than it's ever been, and I don't practice it just because I really understand the coaching and the science behind it.
I even helped that young assistant at Trinity Forest today. She chunked a couple chips. I was like, come here, girl. We've got to clean that up. I showed her a shot, and she was like, ooh, that was nice, kind of ball first, it spun a bunch, so she was happy about it.
That's what I love to do. Yeah, just clarity, and as long as I can get golf course reps, like play the game of golf -- I played Merion before the ShopRite qualifier, a few days before, and I played quite well. If you play well at Merion, you're good. You're good to go. So that's my practice.
Q. As a woman golfer, when you hear the news they announced today, $12 million purse here, what comes to your mind? What is your reaction to that? How good is that?
JOANNA COE: Just happiness. Just happiness that women's sports is -- we're getting there. It's in a great place. Between the momentum of Nelly Korda and Caitlin Clark and just -- and incredible athletes before them. You think about what Serena Williams had to go through and your Lindsey Vonn, they were really the trailblazers, and there were trailblazers before that. We're building on all that momentum.
Women's golf is in a great place. There's great leadership, great momentum with women around the country. Golf is in. Golf is cool. Golf is bigger and better than ever. So I think the purse reflects that.
Q. You mentioned your limited reps. You had an interesting moment where you had that full circle moment of qualifying for the ShopRite for the first time in a long time. What do those reps do for your game, being in the competitive spotlight and being on the LPGA stage in preparation for a major this week?
JOANNA COE: I couldn't have asked for better prep to be in an LPGA event two weeks ago. And I work full-time. That was pretty special. I learned a lot those two rounds. I played really well on Friday. I struggled on Saturday.
We brought our baby girl to Seaview, and she didn't sleep very well. It was our first time in a hotel room. So I didn't -- she's not here this week, and I love her so, so much, but mommy needs sleep to prepare.
It's just what you have to do. You have to juggle all these things. Sometimes you have to set aside the mom guilt and do what's best. She's well taken care of, so we're okay. So yes, I need my sleep. I need to be able to concentrate and focus.
And then the weather came in the ShopRite the second round. I shot 71 the first round, and weather came in and she didn't sleep. I just got a little cranky. I need to keep playing with joy and honestly just not -- it's a balance of not caring, but just keeping it really lighthearted and joking around and just kind of joking that I'm just a club pro.
Because, when I keep it light I swing well and I can play well. I did it that first round. Had six birdies and played pretty well.
I learned a lot from that second round. I can't take it too serious. I need some sleep, and to just keep it light.
Q. I guess, if you make it to the weekend, we can say mommy did sleep, huh?
JOANNA COE: Right, mommy slept. The PGA Cup is in Oregon and I was 12 weeks postpartum, and it was hard -- maybe four months, and we didn't bring her. It was the first time I slept eight hours. I was leader after the first round bogey-free.
My teammates were, you just had a baby. What's going on? I was like, I slept.
Q. How much do you know about the other PGA pros playing this week, and who do you think has a chance to be in contention?
JOANNA COE: I've known Sandra Changkija since college, and I always say no one has played more golf with Sandra than Joanna Coe on the planet. So Sandra, she was an LPGA Tour pro for a long time. Kept her card for, what, eight, nine years.
She knows what to do out here. She's really steady. Boring golf. That's what you need in a major championship or any golf tournament.
Dr. Alison Curdt is at this point one of my best friends. She's a wonderful person, a very impressive human. She understands the game. She's just unbelievable from the mental side, physical side. She has her own sports psychotherapy practice and I send her my students for mental coaching. So she's a really good friend of mine.
Ashley Greer, I've been on three PGA Cup teams with her. She was in Philly, I was in Maryland, and then we swapped. She's in Maryland, and now I'm in Philly. So we have a lot of common friends.
And I was on the PGA Cup team with Allie Knight this past year; got to know her a little bit.
Then I don't know the other girls well because I didn't have to go to the LPGA National Championship in August because I knew I was going to be exempt this year because I was 12 weeks post-baby. So I don't know about the other women that qualified really.
Q. What is your daughter's name?
JOANNA COE: Jenny.
Q. She's a year and --
JOANNA COE: She's a year and a couple days. We had her birthday party on Saturday.
Q. Did you celebrate her birthday before you came here?
JOANNA COE: Yeah, on Saturday. I had quite a week.
