The last 2024 round of the regular-tours, USA-based, major championships is upon us. Sure, we have both British Opens and the Evian Championship still to come, but the US Opens, the Invitationals (Chevron and Masters) and PGAs will be in the rearview mirror after Sunday evening. We should savor this final day at Sahalee for that reason and many others.

The dominant theme at this year’s, grand slam events has been consistency. No competitor will have the final-round charge as an option. No one is returning from five shots off with a 63 for the win. That’s the case at Sahalee as well, so the number of contenders has whittled to a handful.

The land of timber gave us another lesson in strategy on Saturday. Lapses in attention or execution were punhished with small cuts. One shot here, another shot there, and away went opportunity. Sunday should present more of the same, although hidden hole locations might force some into the mistake of chasing after them, and result in larger shot losses. Today’s installment of Five Things We Learned bids farewell to a few challengers and welcomes a smaller number of new faces to consideration.

Big shot. Big celebration.

Charley Hull with the perfect touch! ?

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— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 22, 2024

1. Amy with a Y in the A Position

Amy Yang doubled her one-shot advantage with a timely birdie at the 53rd hole on Saturday. She made two bogeys on day three, and followed each with a par-three birdie on the subsequent hole. Who knows what that means, beyond an ability to recover quickly and forget transgression with immediacy. Yang has totaled 10 birdies (3-4-3) over the first three days of competition. She isn’t harvesting the stroke-savers in bushels, but she is also avoiding large numbers of bogeys and others.

This is the prize recipe, the winning formula, for major championships. The prescription for Sunday is written, and one more opportunity for Amy to collect the elixir has arrived. She has played the outward nine in par figures or better each day. If she is able to secure one more, she should head to the stretch with the lead.

BOUNCE BACK!

Amy Yang with the perfect read on this putt ???

Catch all the action on @GolfChannel! #KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/ktIJWTL7Ot

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 23, 2024

2. Here comes Lilia

With the torrid six months of 2024 Korda, the achievements of Lilia Vu fell away from the public eye. It didn’t help that she was away from competition, recuperating from injury. Lilia Vu was a top-ranked amateur before training on the Epson and LPGA circuits. She is one of the world’s best now, with two major titles in her dossier. On Saturday, she was the best player on the course, and another performance like that one will be hard to restrain by her competition.

Vu began with a stumble on Thursday, posting three-over par. She began to make up ground on Friday with 70, and climbed back into contention on Saturday, with a six-birdie 68. The difference between her round and Yang’s was a pair of birdies. She’ll need more than that pair of birdies to summit Sahalee on Sunday, but another six stroke-savers on day four will provide the chance.

Lilia Vu starts things off right! She birdies on 1! ?#KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/ZdZsfRLDXw

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 22, 2024

3. Sarah and Lexi have work to do

Sarah Schmelzel and Lexi Thompson entered round three with hopes of making a statement. The microphone turned off for both. Schmelzel doubled her two birdies with four bogeys, while Thompson made four bogeys that she could not afford, against three birdies. Both golfers will need the round of their lives on Sunday to hold off Vu and chase down Yang.

Fairways and greens is wished subconsciously as we pass fellow competitors on our way to different points on the course. It’s such a simple form of encouragement, but it will define the final day at the 2024 PGA Championship. If either Schmelzel or Thompson is able to reach 15 or more greens in regulation figures, she will find herself in contention. The putts will fall, and the finish line will reveal itself.

Lexi Thompson sticks it close & makes the birdie! ?

Watch the #KPMGWomensPGA LIVE on Golf Channel. pic.twitter.com/qZilXSbZLt

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 22, 2024

4. Could it be Lauren or Miyu?

Logic and wisdom say No, but logic and wisdom are not match for hope and opportunity. If Lauren Hartlage or Miyu Yamashita lifts the championship trophy (which should be called the Didrikson, or the Wright, or the Gunderson) on Sunday, it will put punctuation on the ultimate, outsider story. Neither one has a tour title to her name, and neither one has a top-ten finish in a major professional event. That’s the point where hope and opportunity need to knock.

Hartlage has posted consecutive 69s, after opening with 73. Yamashita has been under par each day, with 71-70-70. That’s some terrific golf for players with games suited to Sahalee. For the record, Sunday at a major is like none of the first three rounds. What Lauren and Miyu encounter on day four, paired with Amy Yang in the final game, will demand something they haven’t faced. It’s called, simply, the next step.

Lauren Hartlage climbing the leaderboard with this approach ?

She’s now T2 at -5 pic.twitter.com/PYiMThiSYh

— LPGA (@LPGA) June 22, 2024

5. Prediction Time!

The penultimate game features Lilia Vu and Sarah Schmelzel, and welcomes Caroline Inglis to the conversation. Inglis had her hiccough on Friday, when she dug but one birdie out of the round. Saturday brought a pair of birdies and a par-five eagle, and moved her to within four shots of the leader.

On Sunday, I predict that Inglis will duplicate Pajaree Anannarukarn’s hole-in-one, and that she’ll hole her tee ball on the par-three fifth hole. With that sort of start, Inglis will reach 66 on the day, an entirely-unexpected score, and will sneak past the field to claim her first LPGA and major titles.

Pajaree Anannarukarn with the first ACE of the #KPMGWomensPGA Championship?? ? pic.twitter.com/gEWI2wyN5H

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 22, 2024