Alison Lee entered the 2026 LPGA season after seriously contemplating retirement. Now she’s back on the biggest stage, making her first major start of the year at the 2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. The South Korean entered Saturday’s third round at 3-under par after two steady rounds on the demanding Hazeltine layout. Lee then continued her impressive play on Saturday despite battling a painful neck injury.

“I feel like my game is in a really good place. I’m not going to lie; before the round, I had a little bit of a kink in my neck, so I had to take a lot of Advil before the round.”

“But I feel like I held on pretty well, especially the last few holes when it felt like I couldn’t quite get to my finish with the pain in my neck, which is probably what I get for playing four weeks in a row. My body is just falling apart,” she shared at the post-round press conference. 

While Lee did not specify exactly when her injury flared up, she has been under a tight and demanding stretch on the LPGA schedule. She arrived at Hazeltine after competing in four consecutive events. She recorded a T-14 finish at the U.S. Women’s Open and a T-3 at the Dow Championship. However, she missed the cut last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

It’s evident that the demanding schedule has taken a toll on her body. Despite that, Lee did not let it derail her, making an impressive start on her third round, taking advantage of the front nine early. She carded her first birdie of the day at the par-5 third before adding another at the par-4 fifth.

Although a bogey at the par-5 seventh briefly halted her momentum, she bounced back immediately with two consecutive birdies on the eighth and ninth. She turned in 3-under 33 for the front nine.

The back nine proved slightly more challenging, although Lee continued to create scoring opportunities. She picked up another birdie at the par-5 11th to move to six under for the tournament. Her most memorable moment came at the par-4 16th. She drove the green from 240 yards and narrowly missed holing out, setting up an easy eagle. Lee played the inward nine in one under 35 to finish in 4-under 68, strengthening her position on the leaderboard.

Lee credited her ball striking as the foundation for her performance at the demanding major venue.

“I feel like my game has been in a really good place in the last few months,” she said. “I feel like I really do well at tough courses, especially in tough conditions, since I’m striking the ball really well. So just tried to use that to my advantage today.”

Lee has returned to the course as a new mother. She welcomed her first child in April 2025. She shared that she was contemplating retirement post-motherhood, but she made her comeback at the JM Eagle LA Championship in April this year.

That said, the 31-year-old is still searching for her first LPGA Tour win after turning professional in 2015. She has two top 10s in major championships, with her best KPMG finish coming in at T-7 in 2021. A win on Sunday would be the first major win of her career.