I-na Yoon of Jinju, South Korea is the leader after the first round of the 2026 Women’s PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota. It was quite frankly a superb day for Yoon as she shot a score of nine-under-par 63.
Yoon had nine birdies and zero bogeys. She birdied the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth, 14th, 15th, 17th and 18th holes. Yoon started on the back nine on Thursday and had an opportunity to get into double digits for her round before posting an even score of par on the ninth hole. What is remarkable about Yoon’s play is that she only had 24 putts according to Field Level Media.
This is Yoon’s fifth major tournament. Her best result was a fourth place finish at the Chevron Championship earlier this year.
Yoon is best known for being suspended for 18 months on the KLPGA Tour. The reason is because she allegedly knowingly played the wrong golf ball after a bad tee shot on the 15th hole during the 2022 Korea Women’s Open, and had violated Chapter 3 of Article 15 which stated Yoon was “lacking sportsmanship” or had “disreputable behaviour.” Initially, Yoon was initially suspended three years according to Korea JoongAng Daily, but had her suspension reduced.
There is only one other golfer in contention. That is Australia’s Karis Davidson of Gold Coast, Queensland. She is at seven-under-par and two strokes back of Yoon. Davidson had eight birdies and one bogey.
This is the second time in 2026 that Davidson and Yoon are in contention after the first round of a major. At the Chevron Championship, Yoon was in third place at -3, and Davidson was in eighth place at -2.
