Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Two Team USA members sit atop the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship leaderboard at Sahalee in Washington.
The LPGA hosts its third major championship of the season this week at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington. After the first day of play, there is a heavy Solheim Cup presence on the first page of the leaderboard.
Team USA veteran Lexi Thompson leads the field by one stroke. However, there are 15 Solheim Cup members within the Top 70, seven of which are within four shots of her.
Members of both the 2023 European and American crews are almost equally represented— eight from Team USA and seven from Team Europe.
The four Americans at even par or better are Thompson, Nelly Korda, Allisen Corpuz, and Ally Ewing.
Korda set the tone Thursday morning with an impressive 3-under 69, a night-and-day difference from her performance at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, where she started with an 80.
Meanwhile, Corpuz signed for a 2-under 70 to sit in a tie for fourth with 10 other women. Ewing carded an even-par 72.
Thompson fought hard to take the lead with her 4-under 68. Her round featured six birdies and two bogeys. She started her day with three straight par-breakers and added her fourth on the 9th to go out in 32 strokes. However, she would come home with an even-par 36 after a bogey on 10 and 16 canceled her birdies at 12 and 14.
But Thompson did make clutch par saves on the 17th and 18th holes, which maintained her one-shot advantage. She needs every save she can get as she is fighting for a qualifying spot for the Solheim Cup in September. Thompson currently sits 15th in the rankings, with 500 points. However, a win this week would earn her 450 points and give her a total of 950, which would leapfrog her to eighth.
Leona Maguire, Charley Hull, Celine Boutier, and Maja Stark represent Team Europe members within four shots of Thompson. Hull, Maguire, and Boutier all signed for 2-under 70s. Stark finished Thursday at even par.
With the Solheim Cup just 81 days away, both teams hope to field the best rosters for the biennial competition at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia.
Team Europe has won three straight Solheim Cups, but the Americans will look to reclaim that title on home soil.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
