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5 things we learned: Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open

Published

1 year ago

May 31, 2024

In a golf world obsessed with numbers, length of rough and width of fairways match importance with total yardage and scores under par. In 2015, the 70th USGA Women’s Open was held at Lancaster Country Club for the first time. In Gee Chun emerged from a tightly-bunched pack to win by one over Amy Yang. Chun’s eight-under par tally was just about right. The best golfer in the field ought to be able to go two strokes under par, per round, for the week.

We find ourselves back at Lancaster for the 2024 Open championship. Lancaster is 30 yards longer this time around, and eyes are drawn to the nearly-waist high rough that guards fairways and greens in certain areas. Lancaster 2.0 is a meaner golf course, and not a golfer in the field would turn down the offer of eight-under par on Sunday evening.

Thursday’s round snuck completion in under the wire. The low round was 68, and the high score was 20 strokes more. Well-known golfers struggled, while unknowns jumped into the spotlight. We’ve distilled all the information and the stories to five things that we learned on Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open.

1. Yuka is back!

In 2021, hard-hitting Yuka Saso won this tournament in a playoff. She mastered the Olympic Club in San Francisco, and defeated Nasa Hataoka in a three-hole overtime session, 11 to 12. Despite her penchant for crushing long shots, Saso understands what it takes to play a U.S. Open course. At Lancaster, she forced five birdies onto her card, and limited her bogey tally to three. Her 2-under 68 is good for a one-shot advantage over professionals Andrea Lee and Wichanee Meechai, and French amateur Adela Cernousek. Saso made bogey at her final hole, else she would sit at 67 strokes through 18 holes.

Back on top ?@SasoYuka_315 leads the field at -3 pic.twitter.com/S1mTlpRYcW

— LPGA (@LPGA) May 30, 2024

2. Big numbers, they happen!

When we go out for weekend rounds, it’s important to remember that the physics of the golf swing are complicated. So much has to go right for so many, moving parts. And that’s when the golf course doesn’t conspire against you. And that’s also considering that weekend golfers don’t play practice rounds nor hit countless shots in preparation for the weekend.

You see, even our best professional golfers have zero immunity to rub of the green. On Thursday, the par-three 12th hole had a hole location cut on the edge of the abyss. Downhill from back to front, sloping toward the creek that guards the front of the putting surface, treachery loomed for those who went long. After the world-number-one and current golfer on a heater, Nelly Korda, struggled through the wee hole. Mel Reid broke down precisely how it happened and how it might happen again.

Mel Reid (@melreidgolf) breaks down the tough par 3 12th at Lancaster, where bogey or worse was a common result Thursday at the @USWomensOpen. ?

?: Golf Central Live From the #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/O1OCPmLapf

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 31, 2024

3. Recent champs take different paths

We know how the 2021 champion fares: she leads! 2022 victor Minjee Lee isn’t far behind. The Australian matched five birdies with five bogeys, and sits two back of the leading score. Defending champion Allison Corpuz had a bit tougher time of it. She remained in the top half of the field, but just barely. The same 12th hole that bit Nelly Korda, got its hooks into Corpuz. A triple-bogey six at the wee monster undid all of her day’s good work. Corpuz signed for 75, and will need a pair of solid scores to work her way back into contention.

2022 @USWomensOpen champ Minjee Lee gets to even par with a birdie on the 2nd. ?

?: USA Network | #USWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/drw1WuaHtX

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 30, 2024

4. Andrea Lee in tie for 2nd

One shot off the lead is 25-year old USA golfer Andrea Lee. The one-time winner on the LPGA found just the right blend of bravado and strategy, to outnumber bogeys with birdies. Unlike others in the field, Lee found the short 12th to her liking: she made birdie there to return to red figures. After bogey at the long 15th, Lee did another “thing” that others could not. She closed with birdie at the daunting 18th, to post 69 on the day.

Lee has a pair of top-twenty, U.S. Open finishes over the past two seasons. After one round, the difference between 20th and 1st is three shots, and the margin may not stretch much over the next three rounds. Is it too much to expect a top-ten finish from Lee this year? No, it’s not. U.S. Open-style players are a different breed, and if these are the type of course conditions where Lee feels comfortable, watch out.

Bold game on the big stage ?? @andrea_lee54 pic.twitter.com/1Br74DU4M0

— LPGA (@LPGA) May 31, 2024

5. What’s next?

There’s zero chance (essentially) of precipitation coming to Lancaster Country Club over the next 63 hours. Observers noted that the putting surfaces will dry and firm naturally, which means that slopes and edges will prove more daunting in their assessment. Pair that with challenging recovery options from the rough, and 279 might be a winning score on Sunday night. That’s just one shot under par over four rounds, but burly Lancaster and its William Flynn golf course demand such excellence, under these conditions. The stroke of fortune, for the golfers, will be the absence of wind. As if the competitors needed another obstacle this week! Fortune will favor the brave, the patient, and the wise this week. Prepare for high drama in eastern Pennsylvania.

The early clubhouse lead belongs to 12x @LPGA winner and major champion Sei Young Kim (E).

Live coverage continues now on @USANetwork. #USWomensOpen | @Ally pic.twitter.com/yrONCmzKM4

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) May 30, 2024

Featured image via the USGA

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

Aug 4, 2025

Ronald Montesano

I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

Card III and Bacha both miss their birdie tries on the first playoff hole.

We’ll play 18 again @OspreyOpen. pic.twitter.com/vNpHTdkHDg

— PGA TOUR Americas (@PGATOURAmericas) August 3, 2025

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 29, 2025

GolfWRX Staff

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

Jul 28, 2025

Brian Knudson

Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

GolfWRX

5 things we learned: Thursday at the U.S. Women’s Open

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