CHASKA, Minn. — The LPGA’s June gauntlet is almost complete. Over the last four weeks, the Tour’s biggest stars have pushed through a four-event sprint that included a U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera, a two-week stop in Michigan, and now the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National. And for a month that has already asked a lot, finishing here feels especially cruel. It’s a proper championship golf course—one that demands thoughtful strategy, full commitment, and near-perfect execution on almost every shot.
That challenge starts with sheer scale. When Hazeltine hosted this championship in 2019, it played at more than 6,800 yards with howling winds and a setup that pushed players well outside their comfort zones. The size of the property is felt almost instantly, which is what makes it such a fun throwback major venue. It’s big and beautiful in the way so many classic championship courses are, but it’s also exacting. Fairways are framed by thick corridors of trees, water lurks on several key holes, and the greens demand the kind of precision that can make a round unravel quickly if you’re even slightly out of position.
Seven years ago, Hannah Green handled it better than anyone, leading wire-to-wire for her first LPGA win and first major title while this beast of a course steadily chipped away at almost everyone around her. Now she returns to the site of that breakthrough with a very different resume (with a few more wins under her belt), while Nelly Korda arrives chasing history and the rest of the field gets another crack at one of the best major tests in women’s golf.
Hannah Green of Australia blasts from a bunker for her third shot on the 18th hole during the final round on her way toward winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Course on June 23, 2019 in Chaska, Minnesota. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
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And because apparently this week needed even more weight, the championship will also be played for a record-breaking $13 million purse—the largest in women’s golf history. As if the golf itself wasn’t going to be enough, it’s another signal of where the women’s majors are headed: bigger stages, bigger expectations, and now, bigger checks than ever before.
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Let’s dive into the story threads that have the potential to make the biggest impact on the third women’s major of the year.
Nelly’s Hat Trick?
The World No. 1 is chasing history this week after collecting the first two majors of the season—and the question that everyone seems to be asking is: can she go for a third? And dare I say…it seems highly plausible.
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If Korda were to capture the title come Sunday, she’d join a very short and elite list as just the third player to win the first three majors of the year, alongside Inbee Park who did it in 2013 and the legendary Babe Zaharias in 1950. Pat Bradley won three majors in a single season in 1986, but not the first three majors of that year.
And the thing is…Korda’s been here before—winning the KPMG Women’s PGA in 2021—but this time the stakes feel a lot bigger with the Hall of Fame very much in sight and her form appears to be sharper. This could very well be one of the most historical weeks in modern women’s golf history.
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Hannah Green’s Saturn Return
Usually, I’m not one to dabble into astrology, but for the sake of being dramatic, here’s my attempt. A Saturn return is a phrase that describes the phenomenon of the planet Saturn orbiting back to the exact place as when you were born, usually occurring between the ages of 27-30. It takes about 29 years for Saturn to make one full revolution around the sun, and it signifies this next phase or chapter of someone’s life. A transitional period, where who you are becomes more revealed to you, and the foundation of your legacy is being cemented.
That all seems rather fitting for the 29-year-old Aussie (see what I mean?), who broke through with her win here in 2019. And who are we to go against the cosmos?
She had a red hot start to her 2026 season collecting 4 wins in just as many starts early this year, but has since stalled a bit—her last top-10 came at the Chevron Championship in April.
I wouldn’t be so quick to write her off, though. Muscle memory (and the universe) are quite powerful and being back in the place where it all began for her is the right kind of confidence boost to kick things into high gear.
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Hazeltine…Then and Now
At its core, Hazeltine National has long been a place that showcases the best women’s golf has to offer. The club’s first major championship was the 1966 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Sandra Spuzich, and since then, has emerged as one of golf’s best big-stage venues, hosting two PGA Championships, the 2016 Ryder Cup, and a handful of other USGA championships.
That history is part of what made the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship feel so significant. It wasn’t just another stop on the LPGA calendar; it was one of the clearest examples of the women’s game being put on a course with real championship gravitas, the kind of venue golf fans already associate with pressure, prestige, and major moments. And Hazeltine still feels like a fitting home for this championship seven years later, even if the test will look a little different than what players saw a year ago at Fields Ranch East in Frisco.
Last year’s major was shaped by Texas heat and an admittedly bad setup that asked players to survive the elements as much as the golf course itself. Hazeltine possesses a different kind of stress—it’s longer, more enclosed, and more traditional in the way it applies pressure. In 2019, that challenge showed up immediately as the course stretched beyond 6,800 yards and forced players into a week of uncomfortable decisions and long-iron execution. This time around, the bones of the test are familiar, but the context is bigger: a deeper field, a richer purse, and a championship returning to a venue that already proved it can bring out both the beauty and brutality of major golf…and I can’t wait.