“I have a little pressure” – Women’s no. 1 Jin Young Ko eyes her third major title at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2023 as favorites crash out

Jin Young Ko has revealed that she was feeling a little pressure at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship to do better than she did at the Chevron Championship.

Ko carded a 69 on Friday, June 23, to finish in joint eighth place after 36 holes at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course. The second day of the event saw several prominent names in women's golf bow out early. Names like World No. 2 Nelly Korda, World No. 4 Lilia Vu, and Atthaya Thitkul missed the cut.

Speaking at the post-round interview, Ko said that she was focusing on improving her record at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. For the uninitiated, Ko has never finished better than 11th in the second major of the season in four starts.

She said:

"I have a little pressure, but I have pressure more than major. I just want to get better and better, and I want to get better than the first major of Chevron. I think it's T7 or T9[T9], so I want to get better than 7.

"Honestly, I checked all the research before starting this event, and best finish was top 11 for the KPMG. I just wanted to finish top 10. It's going to be good for me."

Besides the chance of winning the third major of her career, Ko is close to breaking Lorena Ochoa's record of most [158] weeks at No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings. With Korda and Vu out of the tournament, the 27-year-old golfer is pretty much going to be No. 1 for a few more weeks.

On Friday, Ko made six birdies, including three straight on 5,6 and 7. This was much better than the 1-over-72 on day 1 at Baltusrol. The 27-year-old golfer said she was happy with her second-round performance despite feeling no different than the previous day.

Ko said:

“I felt the same. Nothing different as yesterday. Just I got more birdies today and just four bogeys.

"I just focused one shot at a time on the course. But this golf course is not easy. We needed extra focus on the course."

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When will Jin Young Ko resume playing at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2023 on Saturday?

Jin Young Ko was tied for eighth after the second round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2023

Jin Young Ko shot 69 on Friday to aggregate at 1-under after 36 holes at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship 2023. She is placed at T8 alongside Brooke Henderson, Gina Kim, Jenny Shin, Mina Harigae, Stephanie Meadow, Allisen Corpuz, and Celine Boutier.

For the third round at Baltusrol, Ko is paired up with Henderson, and the duo will resume play at 1 pm EST on Saturday, June 24.

Leona Maguire had a single-stroke lead after 36 holes as she carded 68 on Friday to aggregate at 5-under. Xiyu Lin, Mel Reid, and Celine Borge are tied for second place. Thursday's round leader, Lee Ann Pace, slipped to joint fifth after carding 73. Min Jee Lee is another player at T5.