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Lee & Lee Join Meechai Atop U.S. Women's Open

Lee & Lee Join Meechai Atop U.S. Women's Open



LANCASTER, Pa. -- On Saturday, with the carnage of the cut in the rearview miror, the U.S. Women's Open resumed. A shocking number of the sport's biggest stars were gone, but one of the stars who remained made her way to the top of the standings. Minjee Lee, a 28-year-old Aussie with 10 LPGA victories and two major championships on her resume, shot a 4-under-par 66 at the Lancaster Flynn Course, and that put her in a three-way tie for the lead.

Minjee Lee and Andea Lee, who shot 67, pulled even with the 36-hole leader, Wichanee Meechai, and the three of them will go into Sunday's final round with matching 54-hole totals of 205. Meechai got there with a Saturday 69.

It wasn't exactly what the USGA and anyone else involved in the running of the tournament wanted to see, but the biggest story on Friday was the failure of an alarming number of the LPGA Tour's biggest stars to make the cut. On Thursday, Nelly Korda, the No. 1 player in the world by a wide margin, and the winner of six of the previous seven LPGA tournaments, had reporters checking the spelling for "septuple," as in septuple bogey, after she made a 10 on the 161-yard, par-3 12th hole in the first round.

Korda started on the 10th tee, so the 12th was actually her third hole, and she hit a decent tee shot (1). But she misjudged the wind, and it bounced over the green into the back bunker. From there she hit a blast (2) that went to far, and wound up in the water hazard the fronts the green. After a penalty stroke (3) and a drop on the other side of the hazard, the World's No. 1 player hit a wedge shot (4) that barely got to the front of the green -- and backed up into the water hazard. Another penalty stroke (5) and another wedge shot (6). Same result, into the hazard. Another penalty stroke (7), another wedge shot (8), two putts (9, 10), and she was in double figures.

It was the ultimate example of "It's golf, and it happens to everybody."

To her credit, Korda didn't pack it in after an opening 80, but she couldn't overcome that disastrous first round, and she missed the cut by two strokes with her 36-hole tab of 80-70--150. But she was in good company as she headed down the road. Also missing the cut were the LPGA newest star, Rose Zhang (79-72--151), Canada's all-time favorite female golfer, Brooke Henderson (80-72), the soon-to-be LPGA Hall of Famer Lydia Ko (80-70--153) and the semitimental favorite of the week, Lexi Thompson (78-75--153), who had announced earlier in the week that this would be her last full season as a professional golfer.

That tells you how tough the course is, but there has been some first-rate golf played, especially by the three leaders.

Minjee Lee started the third round, three behind Meechai, but she began her charge to the top of the leaderboard with an eagle 3 at the 515-yard, par-5 seventh hole. She added birdies at the 430-yard, par-4 11th and the par-3 12th, the same hole that caused all the problems for Korda on Thursday. She bogeyed the par-4 14th, but got that one back with a birdie at the par-4 16th, and pars on the 17th and 18th capped off her 66.

Andrea Lee, a 25-year-old former Stanford All-American with two LPGA victories, had a little more adventure in her 67. She made one par in the first five holes, but had three birdies -- 1, 3 and 5. A bogey at the par-3 eighth had her back at 1 under for the day, but on the back nine, she birdied the longest par-4 on the course, the 440-yard 15th and one of the shortest par 4s, the 345-yard 16th.

Having started the day at 4-under 136 for the tournament, Meechai, 31, a winner of five tournaments on various Asian tours, got to 6 under with birdies at the 402-yard, par-4 first and the par-5 seventh. But she gave two back on the first five holes of the back nine, with bogeys at the 10th (428 yards, par 4) and the 14th (410, par 4). Like Andrea Lee, however, she was able to birdie the long, par-4 15th, which got her back into the tie for first.

Two shots behind the threesome that leads the Women's Open is Hinako Shibuno, after a 66, and right behind her at 208, afer a 69, is Yuka Saso, who won this tournament in 2021.

There was no one from Minnesota in the field this week. But Kim Kaufman, who is from Clark, S.D., -- and is No. 7 on the Epson Tour money list this year, with $47,540 -- overcame a first-round 76, made the cut and moved up into a tie for 34th with a 70 on Saturday.

In recent years. women from all over the country have come to the Twin Cities to play in the U.S. Women's Open qualifier here. This year was no exception. Kaitlyn Papp Budde, who is from Austin, Texas, and went to the University of Texas, got the one spot available at Woodhill CC with a 36-hole aggregate of 142. (She won a playoff over Joy Chou, who came to Woodhill from Taiwan by way of Iowa State.) Papp Budde was another first-round victim of the Flynn Course, however. She shot 79-71---150 and like Nelly Korda, missed the cut by two.


U.S. Women's Open

At the Lancaster Flynn Course

Par 70, 6,629 yards

Lancaster, Pa.

Third-round results


T1. Minjee Lee 70-69-66--205

T1. Andrea Lee 69-69-67--205

T1. Wichanee Meechai 69-67-69--205

4. Hinako Shibuno 71-70-66--207

5. Yuka Saso 68-71-69--208

T34. Kim Kaufman 76-72-70--218

Missed cut -- 148

Kaitlyn Papp Buidde 79-71--150

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