Time for a bit of scholarly citation. On Friday, this esteemed yet humble writer suggested in point five that day three at Fields Ranch East could go one of two ways. Either Jeeno Thitikul would extend her lead, or she would fall back a bit, allowing others into the chase.

Thitikul did fall back. Minjee Lee exploded. Now, their places are reversed. They’ll play together again on Sunday. In truth, the tournament should be distilled into this single pair. All other competitors are seven shots back, minimum. Nelly and Leona showed up, but they sit eight shots back of the leader.

The tournament is an odd one. It has been Jeeno and Minjee from the start. There were other contenders, each day, but they were unable to sustain momentum from one day to the next. Today’s prediction will unfold in three parts. Given the events of Saturday, one of three potentialities will take place on Sunday. Confused? You have every right. Let’s have a look at five things we learned on Saturday at the Women’s PGA Championship.

1. Minjee’s Maelstrom

Minjee Lee has an incredible level of fitness and as good a golf swing as you’ll find on any tour. She owns ten tour victories, two of which are major championships. That’s a great percentage: twenty percent of your wins are majors. That’s top-tier stuff. The problem is, she doesn’t win often enough to be in the hall of fame conversation, and she has not won since October of 2023. That all changes this week in Frisco.

On Saturday, Minjee Lee signed for a bogey-free round of 69. Shockingly, that number is the second-lowest posted this week. Should professional golfes shoot lower than 68, even at a major event? Absolutely, but that’s a question for another number. Lee was out in 35 and back in 34. She hit 80% of driving fairways, and 60% of greens. That’s not perfect stuff, but her scrambling was. She missed seven greens, then got up and down each time for par. On the other eleven greens, she had two or one putts.

If the short game accompanies her one more time around the Fields Ranch East course, Minjee Lee will secure her third unique major and her eleventh tour title. We have no problem standing in this scenario’s corner.

2. Jeeno Rejoins

Saturday was unlike either of the first two rounds that Jeeno Thitikul turned in at Fields Ranch East. Both Thursday and Friday, she minimized mistakes and bogeys, and managed to work her way to a sub-par round. Her day-one 68 remains tied for low round of the week. On Saturday, something was off, and shots seeped away, not in one swoop, but bit by bit.

On the third, Jeeno appeared to have recovered from an errant drive, but tugged a middle-of-fairway approach from 140 yards to the left. She ultimately missed from seven feet, and made bogey. On six, she once again missed left with her drive, and was forced to pitch out, leaving 45 yards to the green. She was unable to get up and down, and suffered a second bogey. It might have been worse, as her pitch left her nearly 60 feet for par. She did well to take but two putts.

Jeeno Thitikul was off on Saturday. She had barely more than 50% numbers on driving accuracy and greens in regulation. The number that save Minjee Lee, scrambling, left Jeeno tied for 43rd in the field. With all of that worry, she’s still in second place, four swings behind the leader. The best part is, she’ll spend all afternoon on Sunday with her only foe, and she’ll know what she needs to do, to mount a comeback.

No. 8 isn’t that hard. . . If you’re Jeeno Thitikul ?

Jeeno’s first birdie of the day extends her league to 2. #KPMGWomensPGA pic.twitter.com/AunYyow4il

— KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (@KPMGWomensPGA) June 21, 2025

3. Who wants in?

There’s something eerie about this week in Frisco. Not one player has posted below four-under par on a given day, and only two players (Jeeno and Grace Kim) have done that deed. It feels like the Women’s PGA Championship set-up committee might soften things just a bit, to give a bit of room for some fireworks.

The par-five holes have been brutal this week. None exceeds 520 yards, but they have given players all sorts of difficulty. Perhaps it’s the angle from the tee, or the crossing hazards, but no one is feasting on the fives at Fields Ranch East. The question is, who wants in?

A Lexi Thompson rebound would be a story for all time. The most snakebitten woman in major golf history has a chance to add to her major victory total of one. She won’t have great memories from Saturday’s 75, so that semi-retired Thompson will need to uncork an untested elixir, to find victory on Sunday.

As far as elite golfers like Nelly Korda, Leona Maguire, and Brooke Henderson are concerned. 65 is their number. They need to scare the leaders before the final threesome tees off. That’s right: threesomes. Weather is coming in to northeast Texas, and a split-tee start will have all golfers on the course before noon.

4. What’s holding them back?

I alluded to the daunting, three-shot holes at Fields Ranch East. Par five holes typically offer an opportunity to make up shots and, with three on the outward nine. one would think that someone would get off to a hot start and turn in 32 or 31 strokes.

The first hole bends hard right some 130 yards from the green. The lay-up to 100 yards isn’t easy, and the fact that we’re discussing it is evidence that no one is going for the first green in two shots. A diagonal bunker scheme causes all sorts of sensory distress for a risky fairway metal, so why take the chance? If you miss the fairway off the tee, you lay back to 140 yards or more.The green is narrow, and appears more so, as it is set at an angle to the approach.

The third hole is shorter than the first, turns left at the halfway point, and blocks a daring metal from distance, from having much chance of success. Two par fives in, and two three-shot holes down. Nine doesn’t get much better. Another hard turn at the halfway point, another crossing hazard that impedes a run at the green in two, and another angled green that screams You can’t hold me!

Haven’t had enough of washes, creeks, and bunkers? Meet the 14th. This straight (for a change) hole hasn’t learned from its predecessors, and the same impediments make an appearance throughout the 514 yards. Rather than offering hope for saved shots, the long holes at Fields Ranch East give even only anguish and tension.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Gil Hanse and company on site soon, to rework some of the angles on these holes.

5. Who wins?

I’m not sure what I love more about this look at Yealimi Noh on the seventh hole. The tee shot is every bit as elegant, as the camera work is bemusing and befuddling The spotter lost the ball, the camera operator lost the ball, but it somehow found the green. Noh converted the eagle putt, then found the green in one at 14, converting another eagle putt. That was her day. Two eagles, six bogeys, 74. A pair of eagles should promote more than on otherwise-defensive round.

I want the person who wins, to do so in dramatic fashion. I don’t know if the course conditions will allow this to happen. I believe that it will be either Jeeno or Minjee in the end, and that it will be the survivor, not the triumphant queen, that hoists the Womanamaker Trophy.