2026 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: Meet the PGA/LPGA Professionals Competing

One of the most distinctive aspects of the PGA Championships is that PGA of America Golf Professionals have the opportunity to earn a spot in the field as part of the Corebridge Financial Team.

For the 2026 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, these spots are earned through the 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship and the 2026 PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.

Led by 2025 LPGA Professional Champion Kim Paez, PGA, the Corebridge Financial Team will play alongside the world's best at Hazeltine.

“As someone who tried to make it on tour and be an LPGA player, but had to hang up the dream, I hope it inspires other younger golfers to see that we still have these opportunities to play,” Paez explained. “I just want to let other young girls know that if being on tour is not in the cards, you still have an opportunity to live out your dream, and that's what I'm doing right now.”

Teeing it up at a Major Championship means so much, and Allie Knight shares that she takes inspiration from her students.

“I've never been so nervous in a tournament,” Knight explained. “I feel like, for three days, every round and every shot was nerve-wracking. I think just having qualified the last six years for KPMG really put a lot of pressure during the round to do it again. But to be able to qualify again this year, it is just an honor to be able to experience the major again and make my students proud. For example, I feel like I look at some of the kids I teach, and they're so athletic, and they're making it through DCP, and their swing is not perfect, but they're just athletes, and they're doing it. It's almost like they've taught me and inspired me more. They're not in their heads or thinking about it. They're just out there playing, and they're superstars. I definitely hope to take after them that way.”

The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship field was recently announced and these eight PGA of America Golf Professionals will tee it up at Hazeltine as part of the Corebridge Financial Team:

A PGA Player Development Manager for PING, she works with elite female amateurs and junior golfers while competing at the highest levels of the game. She won the 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship in a playoff and made history as the first woman to win the Southwest PGA Professional Championship.

A PGA/LPGA Director of Golf at Lancaster Golf Club, she is competing in her third KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after winning the LPGA Professionals Championship in both 2023 and 2024. A former collegiate standout at the University of North Carolina, she helped lead the Tar Heels to an ACC Championship and has competed in multiple U.S. Women’s Opens and over 100 professional events worldwide.

A PGA Teaching Professional at Goat Hill Park, she is making her second KPMG Women’s PGA Championship appearance after debuting in 2025. A multiple-time Southern California PGA Women’s Player of the Year, she has collected several SCPGA victories, including Match Play and Stroke Play titles.

A PGA/LPGA Assistant Golf Professional at Countryside Country Club, she is making her second KPMG Women’s PGA Championship appearance after earning a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team with a fourth-place finish at the 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship. She became both a PGA of America Class A Member and LPGA Class A Member in the past two years and previously earned Epson Tour status after turning professional at age 18.

A PGA/LPGA Teaching Professional at Fairways and Greens Golf Center, she is competing in her sixth KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after earning her spot with a victory at the 2026 PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship. She was also a member of the victorious 2024 U.S. Women’s PGA Cup Team and has competed on the Epson Tour.

A PGA/LPGA Assistant Golf Professional at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, she is a two-time Women’s PGA Professional Player of the Year (2022, 2025) and is competing in her 10th KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. A former LPGA Tour player, she made history in 2025 as the first woman to win the Assistant PGA Professional Championship and represented the United States in the 2024 Women’s PGA Cup.

A PGA Teaching Professional at Loblolly Golf Club, she is making her second KPMG Women’s PGA Championship appearance after earning a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team with an eighth-place finish at the 2025 LPGA Professionals Championship. A graduate of Methodist University’s PGA Golf Management program, she helped lead the school to an NCAA Division III National Championship.

The PGA Director of Instruction at Merion Golf Club, she is making her seventh start in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship after earning a spot on the Corebridge Financial Team with in a playoff at the 2026 PGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship. She was a Symetra Tour player and a member of three winning U.S. Women’s PGA Cup teams.