Brooke Henderson fell just short in the end.
But one of her best results of the season – and at a major championship no less – is a fine consolation prize in a week that was already incredibly special for her family.
Henderson finished tied for third at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, her second top-10 result of 2026 and best result at a major since 2024.
Haeran Ryu captured her first major title, finishing at 13 under for the week. She topped Ina Yoon by two shots.
Henderson and Dewi Weber finished a shot further back at 10 under.
It was an incredible run for Ryu from Friday onwards. She was 10 shots back of Yoon after Thursday and is the first player – man or woman – to overcome a 10-shot first-round deficit to win a major championship since 1964.
Ryu, who was the 2023 LPGA Rookie of the Year, has now won in each of her first four seasons on the LPGA Tour, just the seventh golfer since 1990 to pull off such a feat. She missed five weeks of action after having a minor surgical procedure in the spring and did not play the U.S. Women’s Open.
“Feels like (a dream) come true right now because I tried the couple times (to win a major) but I don’t get it. Today I did it. So, I’m so happy right now,” Ryu said.
The final round of the Women’s PGA, the third major of the season, was delayed three-and-a-half hours due to rain making Hazeltine National Golf Club unplayable. Henderson, who was in the final group on Sunday, did not tee off until almost 2 p.m. ET.
Henderson was steady through her opener while Yoon and Ryu, who were in her final grouping, stumbled out of the gate. Ryu was 2 over through five holes while Yoon made two birdies in a row to start, but gave them back with an ugly double bogey on the par-5 3rd. She was 1 over through six, and Henderson had the lead alone.
The Canadian finally made her first birdie of the day on the par-4 9th and made another from 13 feet on No. 10.
That was all the momentum Henderson could find through her finale, however. She made a tough bogey on No. 14, and although she was, essentially, the best in the field in strokes gained: tee to green this week and seventh in strokes gained: approach the green, she didn’t give herself any birdie attempts from inside 21 feet through the rest of her back nine. Sunday was statistically her worst ball-striking day, losing almost a half shot to the field tee-to-green in the finale.
That said, Henderson’s season-long ball-striking efforts have not been up to her usual high standards. This week was different, though.
“Hopefully, I can continue this trend and continue to improve and get the ball striking in a good spot. Overall, this week I hit it really well, and just gave myself a ton of opportunities, and that’s really exciting. I feel like I could have easily been a few shots better, but at the same time, I’m not going to be greedy because I’m really thankful for a good week,” Henderson said.
Henderson’s tie for third on Sunday marked her first top-10 finish at a major since the Chevron Championship two years ago. It was her first top-10 result at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship since 2020, but she has now notched top-10 finishes at this particular major in half of her career starts.
“I’m really happy. I feel like I’m back in better form. I feel like I’m close to being really good again, which is really exciting. So happy to get a (top-3 finish) in a major. Makes the whole season feel a little bit better and also feels like it gives me a lot of confidence, momentum going into the rest of the year, which my next two events are also majors,” Henderson said.
“Hopefully I can carry that forward.”
Henderson will not, of course, become an aunt every week going forward. But there’s no reason why she can’t tap into the mental energy she felt and utilized this week as she looks to string together a run of fine finishes through a very busy summertime stretch, which will include her title defence at the CPKC Women’s Open in August.
“Couple times I was in a rough spot, and I was like, ‘it’s OK. Life is good,’” Henderson said. “So, I feel like mentally having kind of great weeks like this is really exciting. Looking forward to continuing good momentum. There is a lot of golf to be played this year, and hopefully I’ll be in a lot more final groups.”
Anna Huang was the other Canadian to find the weekend at the KPMG Women’s PGA. She finished tied for 42nd.
Nelly Korda, who was gunning for her third major title of the season, struggled with the putter all week and finished tied for eighth.
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is another major, the Amundi Evian Championship in France, July 9-12. Henderson won the Evian, her second major triumph, in 2022.