SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Amy Yang doesn’t have a hat sponsor or a bag sponsor. She’s at a fortunate point in her life where freedom means more than money. There was a time when a corporate sponsor dictated how many events she’d play or how she spent her free time.
Not anymore.
Now there’s a stitched-on smiley face on her bucket hat where a logo used to be, and these days there’s plenty for the 34-year-old to smile about as she leads the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by two strokes. Chasing that elusive major title is the reason she still competes.
“I grew up watching so many great players in the past,” said Yang, “and I saw them winning all the major championships.
“I dreamed about playing out here because of them. I work hard for this.”
For a long time, Yang was considered among the best players on tour without a major, but as the tour got younger and the victories dried up, she was no longer on the short list, despite a hefty number of top-10 finishes.
It’s different now though for Yang. Last November, in her 16th year on tour, she won for the first time on U.S. soil at the CME Group Tour Championship, birdieing the last two holes to take home a $2 million paycheck. It was her fifth career LPGA title and first victory in four years, made sweeter by the fact that she feared tennis elbow – from too much rock climbing, of all things – would cut her career short.
Now she’s out amongst Sahalee’s towering cedars and firs with her longtime caddie, Jan Meierling, trading jokes and snacks. Yang loads up on protein bars and bananas slathered in peanut butter. Meierling brings the beef jerky and dried sausages.
“She’s by far the most genuine person you can expect,” said Meierling of his boss, who is always quick to offer a smile.
“There’s not a bad bone in her body at all,” he said, “as long as you keep her fed. If the sugar level drops, watch out.”
This marks the third time that Yang has held the lead going into the final round of a major but the first in nine years. She has 21 career top-10 finishes in the majors and a dozen top fives.
After three rounds of testing golf in what’s otherwise a most peaceful setting, Yang leads the way at 7 under, with Kentucky’s Lauren Hartlage and Miyu Yamashita of Japan two strokes back.
Those lurking three back include major champions Jin Young Ko, Lilia Vu, Lexi Thompson, Hinako Shibuno and Washington native Caroline Inglis.
Yang leads the field in scrambling, Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, SG: Around the Green and bogeys or worse, with only three.
Vu, who just came off a sensational playoff victory over Thompson and Grace Kim at the Meijer LPGA Classic, carded the day’s low round, 4-under 68. After taking several months off to heal a back injury, the two-time major winner won in her first start.
“I think it kind of shows how resilient I am,” said Vu, who opened with a 75 at the KPMG and has steadily improved each day.
For Thompson, Sunday could be one of her last chances to win a major championship as she plans to step away from a full-time schedule at the end of this season. The 29-year-old American’s lone major title came a decade ago at the 2014 ANA Inspiration. She put herself in this position time again, with runner-up finishes in four different majors as well as third-place finishes in four different majors.
“I am just going to play within myself,” said Thompson, “that’s all I can do.
“Yeah, might be my last one; might not. Who knows. It’s just day by day. Just going to go out there, embrace the fans, love the walk and see where it goes.”
While Yang won last year’s CME, Hartlage has yet to qualify for one. The 26-year-old’s best finish on the LPGA was a share of sixth at the 2023 Lotte Championship. Though she’s never finished in the top 100 in earnings or the CME Race to the Globe standings, she’s been trending after top-25 finishes in her last two starts.
“I have been back to Q-School the last few years, so haven’t been playing my best, and it’s easy to think that you don’t belong or you’re not able to win a tournament,” said Hartlage, “but I just have people on my team helping me and leading me along the way and keeping my confidence up which has been really, really nice to have.”
One of those people is Hartlage’s mom, Kim, who called Saturday the most relaxed she’s been in 20 years of watching her daughter play.
“Today was just very surreal,” said Kim, who played collegiate golf at Western Kentucky and coached Lauren’s high school team.
Kim credits the work Lauren has put in with swing coach Grant Waite, a former PGA Tour winner, with taking her game to the next level. Hartlage posted a bogey-free 69 on Saturday and birdied five of her last seven holes on Friday late in the evening.
She’s eager to take on what’s next.
“I’m super excited,” said Hartlage. “Never been in this position before, and this is something that I dreamed about growing up as a kid, so it’s really awesome to be in this position and just kind of see how it goes and learn from every day, every round.”
Hartlage was born in 1998, about six months before Se Ri Pak won the U.S. Women’s Open at Blackwolf Run and inspired a nation. Yang was one of those little girls watching in South Korea.
Perhaps tomorrow, in her 75th major championship start, her turn will come at last.