The week is finally here. Last year’s winner, Amy Yang, at last gets to defend her title this week at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco.
The 35-year-old won her first major last year at Sahalee by three shots, after successfully converting the 54-hole lead in her 75th major championship start.
“I was very excited to come back, and it is even more exciting that the tournament days are coming,” Yang said in her Wednesday presser. “I’ve been preparing really well with my team and really looking forward to teeing off tomorrow.”
Yang is joined in her opening round by the previous two KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winners from 2023 and 2022 — Ruoning Yin and In Gee Chun. The trio will tee off at 2:06pm CT in the championship’s afternoon wave off the tenth tee box.
STARTING TIMES: See the full list of Round 1 and 2 starting times
It’s often interesting to delve into the psychology of how a first-time major champion eventually broke through, what they needed to tweak to ultimately get the job done. In Yang’s case, she was very aware of how many times she’d been firmly in the hunt for her first major win. Yang had already notched 21 top 10s in majors as she went to sleep with a 2-shot lead that Saturday night at Sahalee, including seven in an eight-year stretch in just the U.S. Women’s Open from 2010-2017.
“I came very close to many major championships and never won before, so on Saturday night I was very nervous and I was questioning myself, can I do to this time?” Yang said.
Then she did something, well, refreshing and got herself out of her own head just a bit.
She waited years for this moment, and when Amy Yang finally became a major champion, the people who mattered most were right there 🍾
— KPMG Women's PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 18, 2025
This is what the #KPMGWomensPGA is all about. pic.twitter.com/5pK10n2Cf9
“I distracted myself calling my friends and family and just told myself, you know, go out tomorrow and just every hole, every shot, just embrace everything and see what's going to happen. That experience taught me that I can do it. I can still do it. If you have dream and goals achieve and you work hard at it, you can get it. Yeah, that's what I learned from last year.”
Sounds like a post-LPGA career in motivational speaking may be on her horizon. In the immediate aftermath once she got drenched with champagne by friends and fellow competitors on Sahalee’s eighteenth, Yang got to reflect on how the perception of her major breakthrough would be versus the reality.
“(Winning a major) was one of my biggest goal as a professional golfer and it took a long time, but it feels extra special because it took a while,” Yang said.
Well, she’s earned it now, and will get the introduction as defending champ in her gallery when she’s announced Thursday at 2:06pm.
