5 Things to Know After Round 1 at Hazeltine National

It was a memorable opening round on Thursday at Hazeltine National Golf Club. South Korea’s Ina Yoon tied for the lowest round in Championship history with a 63.

Here are 5 [other] things to know following the opening round.

Pano in Good Position

At 21, Floridian Alexa Pano is already making her fourth appearance in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

And after a 5-under par 67 on Thursday, she’s in a position early to have her best result in the Championship. Her best finish through three appearances is T61 in 2023.

“[I] felt really confident out there. Practice rounds felt really good,” said Pano. “And this is just a beautiful golf course and I'm really happy to be out here. Felt like I put myself in some really good positions out there, whether it was off the tee or just playing it a little safe on the greens and kind of hit all my marks.”

The round was highlighted by a hole-out eagle on the par-5 11th.

“Yeah, so I knew I kind of wanted to get down there a little bit on the left, good angle to the pin, but there is a bit of a tier so you can't really see much. My goal was to just kind of land it over that. It was kind of funny. I hit it and I thought it was really good, but I said go and my caddie, Kyle, said sit. And then as soon as I said, no, go, it dropped in and you could hear everyone cheer.”

Pano already won on the LPGA Tour at the 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational. She was a golf phenom at a young age – a three-time national finalist in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition, the youngest player in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, a member of the 2018 U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team and was featured in the 2012 Netflix documentary “The Short Game.”

After all the early success, what’s been the biggest thing she’s learned?

“Definitely a lot of patience. You lose a lot more than you win out here and that's kind of a change from like junior golf and even amateur golf. You're not at the top of the leaderboard as much as you think you should be. You really have to trust the process and just keep putting in the work. But it's worth it for days like today where it pays off or weeks where it pays off.”

Henderson and Lang: Low KPMG Women’s PGA Champions

Brooke Henderson, the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Champion, who earlier in the day shared that her sister and caddie, Brittany had delivered a baby girl with a familiar name – Sahalee – leads all KPMG Women’s PGA Champions with a 69.

“[I] felt like my ball striking was in a really good spot today so, hit a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of good birdie looks, which is always really fun, especially at Major Championship and on a tough golf course.”

“So really happy with the 3-under. Ina was on fire. I have some work to do to try to catch her, but I'm really happy with my round overall.”

Amy Yang, the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Champion from Sahalee Country Club — the same location where Brooke Henderson won the title in 2016 — also opened with a 69.

Yang is making her 18th appearance in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

Yani Tseng Dunks Epic Shot while Standing in the Water

Yani Tseng is a two-time winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in 2008 and 2011, and held the number one spot in the Women’s World Golf Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013.

But she hasn’t made a cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship since 2014.

Tseng decided to throw it back a bit on Thursday. With her feet in the water and the ball in the deep rough, Tseng dunked it for birdie.

Take a look!

Kim Paez Pulls Through

Kim Paez, one of eight members of the Corebridge Financial Team competing in this major championship, said she was nervous at the start of her round – and fully expected to be, too. For the most admirable of reasons, too.

As a PGA of America Golf Professional in the Frisco, Texas area who works remotely in player development for PING, she has a lot of students she teaches and who follow her avidly.

“The nerves were as if this was my first major again,” said Paez, who signed for 3-over 75. “I would say it’s just because I really care about doing my best and making everybody proud at home, my whole team.”

After she bogeyed the fifth, Paez birdied No. 6. Then she followed bogeys at 13 and 14 with a birdie at 15.

“In the past I could have gone down a little dark tunnel,” said Paez. “But (those birdies) gave me some encouragement to keep going.”

Guseva Gets it into Gear

Playing in just her 10th major championship and third KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 23-year-old Nataliya Guseva was in the first group off the 10th tee and conceded the unseasonably cool temperatures were unsettling.

Her play was indicative of that, two birdies and two bogeys through seven holes.

But once the sun popped out and temperatures went up, things started percolating for the former University of Miami standout. She played the final 11 holes in a bogey-free 2-under to shoot 70, one of 19 sub-par rounds in the morning wave.

“I know that the course really suits my game because it’s pretty long,” said Guseva. “I would say it’s a big girl’s golf course. A lot of ‘carry’ numbers out there.”

Even with her length, Guseva doesn’t think all the par-5s are reachable in two so her strategy remains what it always is – “play the par-5s in 2-under,” she said.

And on this day, she did just that, so all in all, things have started quite well for the Miamian.