KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 25, 2026

Aline Krauter

Hazeltine National Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Aline Krauter is with us now at the 2026 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Aline, really strong start for you today. How would you summarize your opening round?

ALINE KRAUTER: I think I just made a lot of good decisions today with my caddie. We picked really smart targets and really smart clubs for the greens be relatively firm.

Yeah, that's it. I was able to convert a couple of the birdie chances, and not making bogey was obviously great. I just really put myself in smart positions and only missed a couple greens, which obviously helped.

Q. We have seen a lot of different faces at the top of the leaderboard today, which I personally love and I'm sure you do too, being one of them. What is it about this golf course that you feel like suits a lot of different women's games out here?

ALINE KRAUTER: I mean, it's playing firm, but the fairways are soft-ish, so I think that kind of -- that doesn't necessarily favor the long hitters as much as usually major championships do, but the greens being firm still makes it challenging. That's probably it though.

I mean, I think there so many different holes out there. There are a couple short par-4s, a couple long par-5s that aren't really gettable, so there is just a little bit of everything.

Q. What does this kind of start in a tournament this big mean to you?

ALINE KRAUTER: I mean, it's great. This is my first major championship of the season. Hopefully I'll get into the other ones as well. We'll see.

Just talking to Golf Channel and it's just a little bit of a different atmosphere. So it's so fun to be in a field like this obviously and to get a test of golf like this on a golf course like this where the Ryder Cup has been played and a bunch of other events.

So just nice being here.

Q. What would you take away from this first round as you look ahead to the next three rounds? What is your game plan?

ALINE KRAUTER: Just to be really consistent with picking good targets. I think my caddie were so good about that, and when I stepped off the ball we had another good conversation. We were even commenting on that on the golf course. Like, oh, that was really good. Like after I hit a good shot, good thing I stepped off; good thing we had another conversation.

So just keeping that up.

And I found a little bit of something on the range yesterday for my swing, so just keep working on that. Hopefully it keeps working. We'll see.

Q. Can totally say no. What did you find on the range?

ALINE KRAUTER: So I found out I shift my weight forward and the pressure of my feet moves forward and then I move my head and then everything kind of dishevels from there. So I figured out a way to stay back a little bit, my head a little bit more stable, kind of exit a little but lower on the way through. Yeah.

Q. Aline, so you were talking about targets. Not all of them, but almost all of the fairways, almost all of the greens today. What is the key to that?

ALINE KRAUTER: I think picking smart targets for the wind direction. I had a couple holes where I hit the low tee driver that I like to hit. Just kind of like this lower ball flight. A little bit straighter; less curve. I usually hit a big draw.

So just picking smart targets for the shot I'm trying to hit and for the wind conditions. Yeah, I think I just picked really smart and small targets as well. I think that's really important on a golf course like this. Because some of the greens are actually decently sized, so you could just say, oh, let's just go at the middle of the green, but I really picked very, very specific small targets for the club I was hitting.

Q. I think it was '24 Sahalee you started very well, too.

ALINE KRAUTER: Yeah.

Q. Is there something about the KPMG Women's PGA that works for you?

ALINE KRAUTER: Maybe. Apparently. I always have loved the golf courses that we've played on, so...

I loved Sahalee. Love this golf course. Maybe there is something about KPMG, yeah.

Q. One more. I know on your social media you post a lot about your fashion. Seem like a girly girl off the golf course, but you sound like a gold nerd. Would you qualify yourself as kind of a golf nerd?

ALINE KRAUTER: Sometimes. Not always though. I don't like to overthink things, so when I'm on the golf course I'm not really a golf nerd. I'm a very fast player, so once we make a decision I'm off and I'm like hitting the golf ball. Like immediately. Sometimes my caddie is like, oh, have you already hit? Like that's crazy.

Off the golf course, kind of, and I've gotten more into being a golf nut I think because it's interesting. I think understanding more about the game and my golf swing and my shots and shot shapes has been really interesting.

But I would consider myself more of a fashion nut than golf nut probably.

Q. You went to Stanford, so you have to be pretty cerebral.

ALINE KRAUTER: Right.

Q. Do you feel like that helps you on the golf course to be a little bit more analytical that way or have to plot your way around the major championship courses?

ALINE KRAUTER: I mean, a little bit maybe. I think I'm also -- I think I'm almost better at shutting that part of my brain off on the golf course, which I think is quite helpful more than anything, yeah.