The LPGA’s best wanted the challenge of Baltusrol, and Baltusrol has delivered

SPRINGFIELD N.J. — Few golf courses boast the resume Baltusrol does.  

Jack Nicklaus won here twice. Phil Mickelson, Lee Janzen and Mickey Wight have also hoisted major championship hardware on these greens, too. And coming into this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the stars of the women’s game were stoked to etch their name into Baltusrol lore for the first time since the 1985 U.S. Women’s Open. 

Full-field scores from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

“For us as players, it’s very exciting to go and be part of the history that’s left there,” Lydia Ko, who’s 5 over after 36 holes, said Wednesday. “It doesn’t matter how well you do. … Baltusrol is also another place where I’ve always kind of heard about it and didn’t think — wasn’t sure if I’d ever go play there competitively. 

“But to be here at a championship golf course where you see all the past champions there in the clubhouse … it’s really cool.”

The reason this course possesses such an illustrious history is that it yields a top-notch major championship test. Mix in irksome conditions and there will be plenty of carnage throughout the tournament. 

That’s exactly what has transpired through 36 holes on the Lower Course. 

“Anyone who shoots red figures (under par) here should be pretty proud of what they were doing out there,” Rose Zhang said after an opening 1-under 70. 

Playing a rigorous track like Baltusrol is not the same as teeing it up on the courses players see from week to week on the LPGA. Therefore, adjustments must be made. 

“This week, it’s definitely more conservative targets; middles of greens are good,” said Leona Maguire, who won last week’s Meijer LPGA Classic at Blythefield Country Club with a score of 21 under. “If you’re between clubs, a lot of the time we were taking the shorter one, just trying to stay out of that rough around the greens as much as we possibly can, and the greens are obviously firm, so you just have to really respect the golf course and know that par is a really good score on any hole, as opposed to last week where you felt like you could almost birdie every hole.”

For example, the Meijer LPGA scoring average was 70.75 on the par 72 layout. This week through two days, it’s 74.06, more than three strokes over par. Maguire currently leads after 36 holes at 5 under, which was last year’s winning score at Congressional and the highest by a champion since KPMG became the title sponsor in 2015. 

On Friday, the rain in New Jersey came down harder than Thursday, causing balls to squirt off line because of the wet conditions. Plus, the course was lengthened from 6,511 yards to 6,575. 

Stacy Lewis, who squeaked below the cut line at 5 over, called the course setup a fair test, though she was surprised many tees were pushed back in Round 2.

“It was a good variety, though, of some hole locations,” she told a scrum of reporters after the second round.

Lewis doesn’t mind a tougher test, despite saying Wednesday she was praying for the rain to stay away this week. It didn’t, though, and that added another layer of difficulty. 

“I was in the rough a few times and the lies weren’t horrendous, but it was so thick and wet that it was tripping out,” the two-time major champion said, “so, fairways are more of a premium now.”

For all the excitement of playing Baltusrol entering the tournament, Lewis believes players don’t have any regrets about wanting to challenge themselves on this famed track. And if sunshine, rather than fog, was hovering over Baltusrol Mountain this week, the discussion about the course’s toughness might be different. 

“I think if it’s playing like we did the practice rounds, you’d see 8, 9 under right now,” Lewis said. “It was so much firmer, holes played so much shorter. … I don’t think the girls can’t handle this golf course. I think maybe we should move some tees, because of the conditions. Other than that, I think we handled it pretty well.”