What players are saying about Baltusrol 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — This week marks the first time Baltusrol’s Lower Course will host a women’s major since 1961. No one in the field at this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA was born when Mickey Wright won her third U.S. Women’s Open title that year.

This week presents a history lesson for the best female players in the world as they tackle a course that saw Jack Nicklaus win two U.S. Open titles and Phil Mickelson win a PGA Championship. The first USGA championship ever held at Baltusrol was the U.S. Women’s Amateur back in 1901.

This week marks another chapter in the storied club that in 2014 became a national historic landmark.

“The course is in immaculate shape,” said former KPMG champ Brooke Henderson. “I’ve never seen a golf course in such great shape, I don’t think.”

HOW TO WATCH: 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA

Unfortunately, bad weather looms on the horizon, with anywhere from a 60 to 80 percent chance of rain expected every day though Sunday. New drainage and a SubAir system will help, but players will experience a vastly different test from they’ve seen in the practice rounds.

Here’s what some of the best in the world had to say about what’s to come:

The 18th hole at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Kellner/PGA of America)

“I mean, this golf course is going to play hard, and then you’re going to add some elements of wind and rain, and it’s going to get even harder.

“It’s going to be one of those golf courses that you just have to – when you get in trouble, you’ve got to get out. There’s tons of … a lot of the par-4s have cross bunkers that if you try to take something, be aggressive out of the rough and get caught in these cross bunkers that are 50, 60 yards from the hole, you can make some big numbers. It’s going to come down to who manages it the best, who can get up-and-down from 100 yards the most often. It’s not going to be, I don’t think it’s going to be, at least, one of those birdie-fests where everybody is just attacking pins.”

Nelly Korda plays her shot during a practice round prior to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club on June 19, 2023 in Springfield, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

“Three of the par-5s are reachable, so obviously I think they’re going to make one that’s not reachable, so I would say 17 is going to play as a three-shotter. And then 18 obviously…