Ina Yoon opens the Women's PGA Championship at Hazeltine with a record-tying 63

CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Ina Yoon matched the best score in the history of the Women's PGA Championship with a 9-under 63 to take a two-stroke lead over Karis Davidson on Thursday in the third major of the season.

Yoon, a 23-year-old South Korean seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, birdied five of her last six holes at Hazeltine National Golf Club with a putter that was consistently on point.

Nelly Korda, who’s aiming to become just the third woman to win the first three major tournaments on the schedule, had a 70.

Davidson, who finished more than four hours after Yoon, had eight birdies on the way to a career-best 65 on a calm and partly cloudy afternoon that yielded a bevy of low scores on the long course on the prairie southwest of Minneapolis that requires accuracy and muscle off the tee.

Alexa Pano and A Lim Kim were tied for third at 67. Aline Krauter, Hye-Jin Choi and Megan Kang followed at 68. Five Americans landed among the top eight scores, including ties.

“Just trying to go out there and make solid swings,” said Pano, who had an eagle and three birdies on the back nine. “My goal for this week was just to really focus on where my feet are and focus on the shot at hand.”

Korda (second round in 2021) and Patty Sheehan (third round in 1984) also posted 9-under 63s at previous Women’s PGA Championships.

Yoon logged the fourth-best first-round score at any major since at least 1980, trailing Hyo Joo Kim at the Evian Championship in 2014 (10-under 61), Mirim Lee at the Women’s British Open in 2016 (10-under 61), and Lorena Ochoa at the Kraft Nabisco Championship (10-under 62).

The 39th-ranked player in the world, Yoon sounded like she surprised even herself with the stellar start.

“I just hit the golf ball and it just dropped in the hole and it was really an awesome experience,” Yoon said, later explaining her mental approach: “Just try to think nothing. Focus on what I need to do. Focus on process. That part I think I did great today.”

Davidson, who has made cuts in 15 straight tournaments for the third-longest active streak on tour behind Korda (31) and Celine Boutier (20), is also seeking her first career victory.

“Hit a lot of fairways. Hit a lot of greens. Putting was pretty on today. Really felt like I was going to hole everything,” Davidson said. “So it was a pretty perfect round.”

Davidson, a 27-year-old Australian, had her best finish earlier this year with a tie for fifth at the Aramco Championship in April. Fellow countrymate and close friend Hannah Green won the Women’s PGA Championship in 2019, the last time it was at Hazeltine.

Jeeno Thitikul, the second-ranked player in the world who's seeking her first career major, shot a 69. This is the fifth time she has finished the first round in the top 10 in a major, including the Women's PGA Championship last year. The Thai star broke 70 in official regular stroke play last season 45 times, the second-highest total on tour.

The runaway LPGA tour scoring leader at the midpoint of the season, Korda double-bogeyed the lakeside 16th hole with “one bad swing” that landed in a pond to the left for a first-shot penalty stroke.

“I just overturned it. By now you just feel it when it’s bad. So the wind was off the right and I actually I think just made a too fast of a swing and I was kind of in between clubs,” Korda said. “It’s a pretty intimidating tee shot, and I just didn’t really like the way I hit it off the start.”

Korda's 19-foot putt on the 18th green stopped an inch from the hole before she tapped in for par, finishing about the same time as Yoon, who wrapped up nearby on the ninth hole. Inbee Park (2013) and Babe Zaharias (1950) are the only women in golf history to win the first three majors in one calendar year.

Amanda Doherty had hole-in-one on the 17th in a 72.

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Nelly Korda lines up a putt on the seventh green during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Nelly Korda walks onto the 16th green during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Ina Yoon, of South Korea, hits from a bunker on the second hole during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Friday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Alexa Pano reacts after an eagle on the 11th hole during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Ina Yoon, of South Korea, hits from the third tee during the first round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament, Thursday, June 25, 2026, in Chaska, Minn. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

A federal judge has blocked part of a Trump administration plan that would have limited access to loans for students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy, public health and some other fields.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, one of the groups that sued, described the ruling in a Facebook post Thursday as “an important step for NP students, the future health care workforce and the patients who depend on them.”

At issue are caps on federal student loans that were passed as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and set to take effect in July.

While graduate students could previously borrow loans up to the cost of their degree, the new rules set limits. Programs that were designated as “graduate” programs face a loan cap of $100,000, while professional degrees are capped at $200,000.

The Education Department defined the following fields as professional programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry and theology.

Eight groups sued, representing nurse practitioners, therapists, public health workers, speech language pathologists, physician assistants and more. All were left out of the new definition.

The groups alleged that students would be forced to forgo their education or accept burdensome private loans.

In pausing the Education Department’s definition of a “professional degree” late Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell found issue with the agency making updates that added “more stringent requirements" to the definition. Those new requirements include that professional degree holders ”must work free from another professional’s supervision.”

Howell said Congress didn't give the Education Department this authority and raised concerns that a loss of opportunities for prospective students would be "detrimental to the public, particularly in underserved communities that may face a shortage of healthcare and other critical professional services.”

The ruling doesn't stop the loan caps, just the updated definition of a profession degree.

The Education Department said in a written statement that it is “reviewing the order and will take appropriate action.” It previously defended the caps on student loans, saying they were already incentivizing colleges and universities to lower tuition.

A lawsuit filed by a coalition of Democratic-led states that also challenges the caps is still pending.

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FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is seen in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)