SAMAMMISH, Wash. — Amy Yang built a huge lead and survived a couple of late mistakes to win her long-awaited first major title Sunday, a three-shot victory in the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship.
Yang closed with an even-par 72 at Sahalee to finish at 7-under 281. She was nearly flawless for the first 15 holes and reached 10 under for the tournament for a seven-shot lead before running into a little bit of trouble. But none of her pursuers was able to mount a significant charge.
At age 34, Yang is the oldest major winner on the LPGA Tour since Angela Stanford won the 2018 Evian Championship at age 40. Anna Nordqvist had recently turned 34 when she won the Women’s Open Championship in 2021.
This was Yang’s 75th major start, the most before a player’s first major title since Stanford, who was playing her 76th.
Yang’s sixth LPGA victory was her first since last year’s CME Group Tour Championship, which was also the most recent victory by a South Korean player. She earned a spot in the Paris Olympics, where she will represent South Korea for the third time.
Twice earlier in her career, Yang held the 54-hole lead in a major only to fall short. At the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at Pinehurst, Yang was tied with Michelle Wie going into the final round, but shot 74 as Wie won. A year later in the same tournament at Lancaster Country Club, Yang had a three-shot advantage, but In Gee Chun shot 66 to win by one.
