Ina Yoon shoots record-matching 63 to lead Women’s PGA Championship

Ina Yoon turned Hazeltine National Golf Club into the day’s standard with a bogey-free 9-under 63, matching the Women’s PGA Championship record and taking a two-shot lead into the second round.

The 23-year-old South Korean closed with birdies on five of her last six holes, a finish that separated her from a field trying to tame one of the game’s most demanding major venues. Karis Davidson was the nearest pursuer at 7 under, while Nelly Korda opened with a 70 and faced a longer climb on a course that does not usually reward hesitation.

Yoon’s opening round was the lowest first-round score in tournament history and tied the championship’s 18-hole scoring record. It was also the first time the mark had been matched since Korda posted 63 in 2021 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia. For a player still chasing her first LPGA Tour victory, the round immediately changed the shape of the championship, turning Thursday from an opening day into a test of whether she can carry that precision through a major weekend.

The 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship runs June 25-28 at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota, with 156 players competing for a $13 million purse, the largest in women’s golf history. The tournament dates to 1955 and is one of the LPGA Tour’s five majors, which gives Yoon’s 63 more weight than a routine low score on a regular-season stop.

Hazeltine has a history of amplifying the stakes. It hosted the 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, won by Hannah Green, and it was also the site of Y.E. Yang’s upset over Tiger Woods in the 2009 PGA Championship. That history matters because early leads at Hazeltine rarely feel safe for long, especially when the field includes proven major winners and players with Hall of Fame stakes.

Korda’s position adds another layer. A win this week would secure her LPGA Hall of Fame qualification, a milestone that keeps her in the championship’s center of gravity even after a slow opening round. Yoon, meanwhile, has already forced the rest of the field into chase mode, and the next three rounds will decide whether her 63 becomes the start of a breakthrough major run or just the first flash of a title bid on a course known for making leaders earn every shot.