CHASKA, Minn. – It didn’t take long for Ina Yoon’s five-shot advantage to disappear at Hazeltine National. The nerves got to her, she admitted. She had the shakes, felt the butterflies, lost the feel in her hands. That part, at least, didn’t surprise her.
Going into the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA, Yoon is two strokes behind fellow South Korean Hae Ran Ryu, who holds the solo lead at 11 under. Two-time major winner Brooke Henderson, who is playing with a joyful heart as a new aunt, might have a date with destiny as she heads into Sunday in solo second at 10 under.
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A decade after Henderson’s first KPMG title at Sahalee, which happens to be the name of her newborn niece, she’s in position to do it again.
“It’s been an awesome week,” said Henderson, who found out before teeing off in the first round that older sister Brittany had her baby. “Honestly, I think it’s just all thanks to my niece coming into this world. I’ve just been really happy.”
Henderson now has her cousin Ryan on the bag, who played quite a bit of golf with her growing up in Canada.
“He was into, like, renovations, so carpenter and anything like that. He was really good at it, and I’m sure he’ll go back to it at some point,” said Henderson. “But I’m just really grateful that he’s on the bag, and he’s going to be with me until probably the end of my career.”
Brooke M. Henderson of Canada and her caddie Ryan Henderson line up a putt on the 17th green during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2026 at Hazeltine National Golf Club on June 27, 2026 in Chaska, Minnesota.
Lurking four shots back is the No. 1 player in the world, who is attempting to become only the third player in LPGA history to win the first three majors of the season. Asked to point to one thing in the round that didn’t go as she wanted, a smiling Nelly Korda shot back, “What do you think?”
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“Putting,” the veteran scribe replied.
“OK, thank you,” said Korda. “Yeah, just left a few putts out there.”
Korda is just 7-of-11 on putts from 3-5 feet this week, according to Elias Sports Bureau, which puts her at 65th from that distance among the 68 players who made the cut. During her U.S. Women’s Open victory at Riviera, she was 19-for-20 from that range.
Joining Korda in a share of sixth is new mom Alison Lee, who made a run at Riviera and is playing her fourth consecutive week. Lee woke up on Saturday with a kink in her neck, but said it might have helped her to slow things down and stay more grounded.
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“My body is just falling apart,” she said, half-jokingly, as anyone with a toddler knows.
Lee hit one of the day’s most exciting shots on the drivable par-4 16th, hitting her 3-wood to 16 inches.
Dane Dewi Weber recently announced that she and her wife, Jentrie Weber, are pregnant with their first child. Impending motherhood, turning 30 and hard work have led to a shift in perspective. Last week, she said, something clicked.
“Sometimes I have a hard time accepting shots,” said Weber. “I don’t really have a hard time with that right now, and I really like that about myself.”
Weber shot 4-under 68 on Saturday to move into a share of fourth with A Lim Kim, three shots behind Ryu. Her best finish in a major is a share of 30th at the 2025 Chevron Championship.
Haeran Ryu of South Korea walks to the ninth tee during the third round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2026 at Hazeltine National Golf Club on June 27, 2026 in Chaska, Minnesota.
Leader Ryu played the front nine at Hazeltine National in 31, highlighted by an eagle on the seventh, and slowed down a bit on the back nine as the wind picked up. Should Ryu go on to win this week, it would be an incredible comeback given that she was 10 back after an opening 73, making the cut on the number. A second-round 64 – aided by a putter change – pushed her up to a share of second, five back.
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Ryu took the last month off after having a minor surgery in South Korea and admittedly was out of fighting shape.
“I felt more tired than front nine,” she said, “so that’s why I felt more harder the back nine today.”
A three-time winner on the LPGA and one of the game’s best ball-strikers, Ryu’s best major finish is a solo fifth, which she achieved twice in the same year, at the 2024 Chevron and the 2024 Evian Championship.
As for Yoon, the player who was once banned from the KLPGA for cheating, a major championship victory is still within her grasp if she can figure out how to conquer the nerves.
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“It’s just golf,” she said. “It’s not killing me.”
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA. Follow her on Twitter/X (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Brooke Henderson, Nelly Korda among those chasing Haeran Ryu at KPMG Women’s PGA
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