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‘Major’ Memories
Sahalee to host elite global field for KPMG Women’s PGA Championship June 20-23
BY BOB SHERWIN • CG STAFF WRITER
Sahalee Country Club — the venerable, tree-lined golf course in Sammamish, Wash., that takes pride in hosting major golf Championships — will once again welcome the finest female golfers from across the world at the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on June 20-23.
Indeed, we should emphasize “across the world.” It seems that Antarctica will be the only one of the seven continents unlikely to be represented at the 70th edition of the Championship, which is organized by the PGA of America and features the top LPGA Tour players. This is the second time Sahalee has been selected to host the Championship, eight years after a successful effort in 2016.
The LPGA Tour is one of the most ethnically diverse professional sports associations in the world. Sahalee’s final 156-player field is guaranteed to feature women from all reaches of the globe, as more than 30 countries are represented within the LPGA’s membership.
Since 2016, when Sahalee last hosted the Championship, women from a wide variety of nationalities have won one of the five LPGA majors: the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Evian Championship, Chevron Championship, U.S. Women’s Open, and AIG Women’s (British) Open. Just last season, the LPGA Tour’s five majors were won by Celine Boutier, representing France, Ruoning Yin, representing China, and Allisen Corpuz and Lilia Vu, both representing the United States, with Lilia winning two Majors.
The 25-year-old Corpuz grew up in Hawaii and was a two-time All-American at USC. She has been a golf prodigy all her life, becoming the youngest person ever to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links at age 10, in 2008. She turned pro in 2021 and won the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, her first and only victory on the Tour.
Vu, 26, was born in Fountain Valley, Calif. She won the 2023 AIG Women’s Open, the Chevron Championship, and finished the season as the No. 1 player in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as well as the LPGA Player of the Year. In total, Vu won four times last year with two of those wins being major championships.
Vu’s primary rival is Nelly Korda, 25, from Bradenton, Fla. Korda also rose to the world No. 1 ranking in 2021 (and again in 2022), when she won four Tour events, including the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club.
Korda has become perhaps the most prominent name in the women’s game today as she carries on a family tradition of excelling in professional sports. Her father Petr Korda — originally from the Czech Republic — was a former tennis Grand Slam winner. Her brother Sebastian won the 2018 Australian Open Boys’ Singles tennis title, and her older sister Jessica is a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour.
Eight years ago, it was 18-year-old Brooke Henderson (representing Canada) who won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. Henderson was the youngest-ever winner of the event, which dates back to 1955. She beat another 18-year-old, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, with a birdie on the first playoff hole. Ko, then the No. 1 player in the world, and Henderson, are now both 26 and just reaching their prime. They have already combined for 33 career victories and four majors — two each. Both are expected to return to the “High Heavenly Ground,” which is what the word Sahalee means in the Chinook language.
“I’m so excited the event is going back to Sahalee,” Henderson said last year when the PGA of America announced it as the 2024 Championship site. “That was honestly the perfect week. Back in 2016, to win my first major in a playoff against the world No. 1 and hoist my first major championship trophy on that amazing golf course that was so tough … to go out there at six-under and win it was amazing. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to do it again.”
Henderson has captured 13 overall Tour victories, making her the winningest Canadian (man or woman) of all time in the professional golf ranks. Of note, her second major — the Evian Championship in Evian-lesBains, Haute-Savoie, France – came in 2022.
Sahalee stepped up in 2016 on relatively short notice to host the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In addition to 2016, Sahalee has been the host of three significant men’s Championships: the 1998 PGA Championship (won by Vijay Singh), the 2002 NEC World Golf Championship (won by Craig Parry), and the 2010 USGA Senior Open (won by Bernhard Langer).
Sahalee’s staff has the experience and with 27 holes, it has the room to stage and host significant Championships. The North-South nine-hole courses will be used for the Championship while the East nine will be utilized for ancillary groups supporting the Championship.
General admission tickets for the Championship are currently on sale, with complimentary access available for youth under 15 years old and the military. For additional information on tickets, corporate hospitality, and volunteering opportunities, visit kpmgwomenspga.com or email 2024wpga@pgahq.com.
