Alexa Pano positioned herself for a major championship challenge, carding a five-under 67 in the opening round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The 21-year-old sits tied for third at Hazeltine National, benefiting from precise ball-striking on a demanding course.
Success at Hazeltine requires finding the fairway, a point Pano emphasized after her round. “Hitting it straight is the most important thing on this golf course,” she said. “It makes it a lot more accessible from the fairway. The rough is very patchy and has some really thick spots. The more you keep the ball on the fairway the better.” After turning in even par, her round ignited on the back nine, starting with a hole-out from 69 yards for an eagle on the 11th hole. She added birdies on holes 14, 16, and 17 to complete a bogey-free inward nine of 31.
Pano described her performance as solid and controlled. “Felt like I put myself in some really good positions out there, whether it was off the tee or just playing it a little safe on the greens and kind of hit all my marks,” she stated. The strong start is a sign of growing maturity for the former junior phenom, who is now in her fourth full season on the LPGA Tour.
Now a tour winner, Pano reflected on the adjustment from junior golf to the professional ranks. “You lose a lot more than you win out here and that’s kind of a change from like junior golf and even amateur golf,” Pano said. “You’re not at the top of the leaderboard as much as you think you should be. You really have to trust the process and just keep putting in the work. But it’s worth it for days like today where it pays off or weeks where it pays off.”
With 12 previous major starts as a professional, Pano feels increasingly at ease on golf’s biggest stages. The challenge now is to sustain her performance over the final 54 holes. “I think the more that I play in these events the more comfortable I get. But I can definitely remember being a junior golfer and qualifying for like U.S. Opens and such. The tournament felt much bigger than me. Now it’s kind of like have a bit better grasp on it and feel a lot more comfortable.”
