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CHASKA, Minn. – Ina Yoon is no stranger to pressure. The South Korean player made the wrong kind of headlines four years ago when she was suspended from the Korean Golf Association and KLPGA for playing the wrong ball and not telling anyone in her national open.
Yoon’s three-year suspension was ultimately lessened, and she returned to the tour in 2024 and was the best player all season, topping the money list and posting the lowest scoring average.

“People around me that knew the situation felt that it wasn’t fair,” Yoon told Golfweek earlier this season of the length of the ban, “but whatever the punishment was as a player, it was my fault at the end of the day, so I took that on.”

Ina Yoon at the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine National.
Coming back from a cheating scandal and thriving says a lot about Yoon’s mental strength. She came to the LPGA in 2025 and contended at the first major of the 2026 season, taking a share of fourth at the Chevron Championship.
In her second KPMG Women’s PGA appearance, Yoon matched a championship record with a stunning 9-under 63 performance at Hazeltine to take a two-stroke advantage over Karis Davidson of Australia.

Yoon took only 24 putts in her opening round to lead the field in stroke stained putting. In her rookie year on the LPGA, she ranked 132nd in the category and now sits 29th.
Yoon couldn’t offer much in the way of how she came about a record day in Minnesota.

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Nelly Korda of the United States putts on the first green during a Pro-Am prior to the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship 2026 at Hazeltine National Golf Club on June 23, 2026 in Chaska, Minnesota.
(Kate McShane, Getty Images)

“To be honest, I don’t know,” she said smiling. “I just hit golf ball and it just dropped in the hole and was really, you know, awesome experience.”
Six players have shot 63 in this championship. Yoon joins Nelly Korda (2021), Sei Young Kim (2020), Kelly Shon (2017), Meg Mallon (1999) and Patty Sheehan (1984). Only Mallon and Shon did not go on to win.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda opened with a 2-under 70 after doubling the watery par-4 16th. She came from seven back after the first round to win the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera earlier this month.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer at Golfweek covering the LPGA and women’s golf.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Ina Yoon, once suspended for cheating, leads 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA
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