Honsa Paces Field on Day Two at MGA Amateur Championship, Shoots 68 to Take 36-Hole Lead
BRAINERD, Minn. – With a pair of runner-up finishes at state championships over the past two seasons, a 3-under 68 Tuesday moved University of...
3 min read
Michael Fermoyle : June 03, 2024
LANCASTER, Pa. -- The crashing and burning started right away in this year's U.S. Women's Open, most notably with the septuple bogey that the World's No. 1 player, Nelly Korda, made Thursday on her third hole of the first round, the 161-yard, par-3 12th. (She started on the back nine.) And there were a lot of disasters and mini-disasters still occurring on Sunday afternoon in the final round.
In the midst of all that, however, Yuka Saso emerged with a sensational back-nine stretch of 4 under par for five holes, and that carried the 22-year-old to her second Women's Open title. She won the first in 2021. Saso overcame a four-putt double bogey on the par-3 sixth hole Sunday with a back-nine 32. That gave her 2-under 68 and a 72-hole total of 276, which was good for a three-stroke victory -- for which, she received $2,400,000, the largest first-place check in the history of women's golf.
Hanako Shibuno managed to put together a 72 on Sunday, and that score was second-best to Saso's for anyone who started the final round within seven shots of the lead. As a result, Shibuno was able to claim second place at 279, and that was worth $1,296,000.
Ally Ewing, who had a 74 and a 72 in the first two rounds and was nowhere within sight of the leaders at that point -- she made the cut with only two strokes to spare -- shot 68 and 66 over the weekend, and that catapulted her into a tie for third at 280, along with Andrea Lee. Lee started the final day tied for first, at 5 under, but she three-putted the first hole for a bogey and made a double bogey at the short, 342-yard, par-4 fourth. In spite of that, she was still in position, potentially, to catch Saso with three holes to go. But she failed to birdie the drivable par-4 16th and bogeyed the last two holes for a 75.
Arpichaya Yubol closed with a 69 and moved up to solo fifth at 281.
Saso is now a dual-citizen champion. When she won the Open in 2021, she was playing under the flag of the Philippines, her mother's country. This time, she won at the Lancaster Flynn Course under the flag of Japan, her father's country.
At the start of Sunday's round, Saso was in fifth place at 208, three behind the three co-leaders -- Minjee Lee, Andrea Lee and Wichanee Meechai. Meechai was the mystery guest at this party. She had a world ranking of 158th, and she pretty much took herself out of contention with a triple bogey at the sixth hole, on her way to a 77 and a tie for sixth at 282.
Minjee Lee looked like the favorite early on. The 31-year-old Ausie is a two-time major champion, and she led by three when she got to the sixth hole Sunday. But she failed to take advantage of a couple of birdie chances on the front nine, made a couple of bogeys -- and then came up short with her tee shot at the par-3 12th, the site of Korda's undoing on Thursday. Her ball rolled back down into the water hazard in front of the 12th green, and she made a double. That dropped her into a tie for first with Saso, who had just made a birdie at the 12th a few minutes earlier, with a 10-foot putt.
Saso took the lead by hitting a wedge to 3 feet at the 521-yard, par-5 13th and convertiing the birdie putt. At the 14th, Minjee Lee hit her tee shot into waist-high grass and made her second double bogey in three holes.
While Lee was going in reverse, Saso kept advancing. She hit her second shot to within 6 feet at the 435-yard, par-4 15th, for another birdie. Then she pretty much sealed the deal by driving the green at the 16th, where the tee had been moved up to make the hole 239 yards -- it was 342 yards on Saturday -- and two-putting for another birdie. Saso bogeyed the par-3 17th, but that proved to be meaningless.
Saso's performance in the Women's Open was a bit of a surprise. In her first eight LPGA events this year, she had only one top 10 and was No. 50 on the money list with $208,316. But as of Sunday night, she was second to Korda's $2,943,708 with $2,608,316. What a difference a week makes.
U.S. Women's Open
At the Lancaster Flynn Course
Par 70, 6,379 yards
Lancaster, Pa.
Final results
1. Yuka Saso $2,400,000 68-71-69-68--276
2. Hinako Shibuno $1,296,000 71-70-66-72--279
T3. Ally Ewing $664,777 74-72-68-66--280
T3. Andrea Lee $664,777 69-69-67-75--280
5. Arpichaya Yubol $456,375 72-72-68-69--281
T6. Atthaya Thitikul $365,406 74-72-68-68--282
T6. Wichanee Meechai $365,406 69-67-69-77--282
T6. Ayaka Furue $365,406 71-72-71-68--282
T9. Minjee Lee $271,733 70-69-66-78--283
T9. Rio Takeda $271,733 74-69-69-71--283
T9. Sakura Koiwai $271,733 72-69-70-72--283
T58. Kim Kaufman $23,741 76-72-70-76--294
Missed cut -- 148
Kaitlyn Papp Buidde 79-71--150
BRAINERD, Minn. – With a pair of runner-up finishes at state championships over the past two seasons, a 3-under 68 Tuesday moved University of...
BRAINERD, Minn. – In search of his first state title since winning the Minnesota Golf Association Players’ Championship in 2017, Jacques Wilson fired...
How They're Doing: Minnesotans on Pro Tour Money Lists -- July 21Players from Minnesota or with Minnesota connections2025 PGA TOURPos. Name (Prev.)...