With the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship set to get underway later Thursday, here are three storylines to watch heading into the LPGA’s final major tournament before the Olympics.

One last shot to make the Olympic Dream a reality

With Olympic qualifying ending on June 28, this is the last opportunity for the world’s best golfers to make a run at the 60-player competition in Tokyo. The top 15 players in the world are eligible for the Olympics, including up to four players from a single country. The other 45 golfers are placed according to the rankings, with a maximum of two players allowed per nation.

One golfer to keep an eye on? Ally Ewing, ranked 18th, is just outside of eligibility status with four American players sitting ahead of her. She’s already seen the winner’s circle this year, having won the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play back in May. A victory at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship would vault Ewing into the final Olympic spot over fourth-place Jessica Korda, who is ranked 13th and hopes to join sister Nelly in Tokyo.

Watch out for the first-timers

The seven winners of the past seven majors were all first-time champions, something that has never happened before in women’s golf. If the trend is to continue, look for those searching for their first major win to make a statement at this week’s tournament.

Yuka Saso is the most recent first-time major winner, having won the U.S. Women’s Open earlier this month. While it’s possible she could go back-to-back, keep an eye out for Nelly Korda who has already won twice this year, including last week at the Meijer LPGA Classic.

Korda is having a career year, leading the LPGA with a 69.03 scoring average, 31 rounds under par and 180 birdies, but she has yet to win a major. Korda’s best finish in a major was a tie for second at the 2020 ANA Inspiration.

It’s all about the long game

The Highlands Course, which has played host to three PGA Championships and a U.S. Open on the men’s side, will welcome its first women’s championship this week. Hosted by the Atlanta Athletic Club — who last held a women’s major in 1990 — the course is a mystery to most players in the field at this week’s championship. Add in the rain that hit the course earlier this week alongside the long fairways and the overall makeup of the course, and the long hitters in the field could have an advantage. Golfers will likely turn to their longer irons and hybrids to try to master the course that includes four par-3s.

“This course is really amazing,” defending champion Sei Young Kim told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Aronimink (last year’s site) is a little long overall, but this course has more bunkers I can see. The course got a lot of rain, so it feels like more length, a longer length than last year. … I look forward to this week.”

KPMG will offer performance statistics to golfers and fans in order to provide more insight into how the course is playing and how each player is performing. It’s similar to what the men are provided on the PGA Tour, bringing women’s golf more in line with what you would expect at the highest level.

You can watch the first and second rounds Thursday and Friday on the Golf Channel at 11 a.m. Saturday’s round will air on NBC at 1 p.m., while the final round will start at 3 p.m. on NBC (all times ET).

LOVB volleyball is coming back to cable, as the pro volleyball league announced a Wednesday night primetime partnership with USA Network for its 2026 season.

From January through April, USA Network will air a "Match of the Week" nearly every Wednesday evening, starting with a 2025 championship rematch between runners-up LOVB Nebraska and title-winners LOVB Austin on January 7th, 2026.

USA Network will also broadcast a portion of LOVB's 2026 postseason, including one semifinal and both games in the league's new two-match championship series.

Gearing up for its second season, LOVB features a talented player pool amid an increasingly crowded pro volleyball market.

One in every five LOVB athletes are Olympians, with 90% of the league's international players and 75% of its US players boasting national team experience.

Even more, growing demand for the sport has expansion on the horizon for the six-team league, with LOVB preparing to launch its seventh franchise in Los Angeles — backed by Angel City and Chelsea FC investor Alexis Ohanian — in 2027.

How to watch the 2026 LOVB season on USA Network

The second season of LOVB opens when inaugural champions Austin take on runners-up Nebraska at 6 PM ET on January 7th, 2026.

Live coverage will air on USA Network.

With the rookie card of Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark still doing numbers, trading card manufacturer Panini America is debuting Caitlin Clark Chronicled this week, dropping a limited-edition release on Monday that features a 22-page collectible book and 100-card set of the WNBA standout.

The book spans images of Clark on and off the court, and includes eight four-card packs and 32 randomly inserted trading cards, as well as autographed exclusives.

"I'm excited to launch 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' with Panini America and share some of my favorite moments on and off the court from my first two years in the WNBA," Clark said in Monday's statement. "We wanted to create something different that combined great photography with trading cards, including some special exclusives. I am proud of this collection and hope fans enjoy it."

The WNBA superstar is an exclusive Panini partner in the trading card and autographed memorabilia space, with Clark making headlines last July when her one-of-one autographed rookie card sold for more than $600,000 — setting a new world record for a women's sports card.

How to buy Panini's 'Caitlin Clark Chronicled' card set

Panini's limited edition Clark collection is currently available for purchase at Target stores and Target.com.

Tensions remain high between the WNBA and WNBPA, after The Athletic reported on Monday that the latest CBA proposal from Players Association more than doubles the league's revenue share offer — suggesting a deepening rift in negotiations.

The union outlined a deal that would give players around 30% of total WNBA and team revenue — a significant leap from the league's proposed 15% share.

According to sources, the WNBPA also suggested linking the salary cap to the previous season's total revenue, factoring in player benefits and the number of teams in the league.

The move intends to undercut an accusation from the WNBA that the players have yet to put forward an economically viable revenue sharing model.

The union's proposal begins at 29% of the prior season's total league grosses, then grows to 34% by the final year of the CBA with a one-time adjustment for the new 11-year, $2.2 billion WNBA media rights deal.

Notably, the league recently rejected a flat 33% revenue share CBA proposal, prompting this week's 1%-per-year increase system in response.

It's clear that the WNBA office and the WNBPA are at odds, but the union is showing their work as both sides strive for a CBA that will keep players on the court in 2026.

Olympic swimming icon Katie Ledecky has done it again, becoming the first woman to break the 15-minute mile with a time of 14:59.62 at her namesake Katie Ledecky Invitational in Maryland.

Smashing her own US record of 15:01.41, Sunday's sub-15 minute mile gives Ledecky the 1,650-meter freestyle's eight fastest times, with US teammate Erica Sullivan earning the ninth-best in 2019.

"This is a special one for sure," Ledecky said afterwards. "This has been a goal of mine, to break 15 minutes in the 1,650, for probably eight or nine years. So, just putting in the hard work, believing that I could do it someday, and to do it at this meet, is really special."

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The 28-year-old Washington, DC, product is the most decorated women's swimmer in the history of the sport, prompting Nation's Capital Swimming — where Ledecky got her start at age six — to name their annual event in her honor earlier this year.

"I definitely was a little nervous before the race, just knowing there were a lot of eyes on me and all that," she continued. "But I knew I could just relax and have fun with it, and whatever happened, happened."

How to watch Katie Ledecky in action

Ledecky's next major competition will likely be the TYR Pro Swim Series, which kicks off in Austin on January 14th, 2026.

The domestic competition series will be covered across NBC Sports platforms.