Jeeno Thitikul certainly earned her three-shot lead heading into the weekend after one of the toughest and most taxing starts to a tournament in LPGA Tour history.
Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco is playing brutally difficult so far this week. So difficult that it has been open to criticism, most notably from two-time major champion Stacy Lewis. Thursday was the fifth highest scoring day in the last decade in women’s majors and Friday was only tougher, making its mark as the hardest single day in a major in 10 years.
Just seven players are under par, +7 made the cut, and some of the scores from high ranked players and major champions just looked silly.
On top of that, it is scorching hot and the rounds are long.
Temperatures have been making their way into the mid-high 90’s and rounds have been lasting for over six hours. For those tuned into the featured groups coverage Friday, this was noticeable on a couple holes in particular. The drivable par 4 7th might have been the worst of it. The featured group of Thitikul, Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko were waiting on the tee for nearly a half hour on their 16th hole of the day. All three looked absolutely miserable in the heat of the Texas sun.
Is it a smart or even safe idea to be playing majors in the middle of June in Texas? I think there is a strong case to be made against it, but it is what these players have to go up against this week.
The counter argument is that major championships are supposed to be the greatest tests in the game, designed to make the best players in the world outlast the competition. Thitikul, the No. 2 player in the world is proving Fields Ranch East successful in that category at least.
Thitikul is lapping the field at -6, a score that really doesn’t truly capture her quality of play out of context. Thitikul has only had 54 total putts in the first two rounds and is gaining 4.528 strokes on the greens. Only one other player in the field is averaging 4, Gaby López who sits nine strokes back.
The leaderboard is exciting, even if much of the golf being played isn’t. The final two pairings include four bonafide stars of the women’s game with Thitikul, Minjee Lee, Lexi Thompson and Rio Takeda. Exciting young names like Auston Kim, Chisato Iwai, Somi Lee, Miyu Yamashita and Yealimi Noh are all relatively within striking distance.
For everything that is being said about Fields Ranch East and the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, it has set up an interesting weekend of major championship golf for us.
