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

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1 year ago

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Five golfers reside under par, after 54 holes at the 2024 US Women’s Open. The champion will be one of those five golfers. Their names, in order, are Minjee Lee, Andrew Lee, Wichanee Meechai, Hinako Shibuno, and Yuka Saso. In a departure from #5Things tradition, we’ll address each of the five, on what she did on Saturday and what we expect that she will do on Sunday. It’s a fun exercise, and it may gain some traction, but that’s for down the road. For now, let’s take a look at five golfers we think will figure in Sunday’s outcome.

1. Minjee Lee

The most debillitating facet of being in a three-way tie for the lead, and being the highest-ranked golf among the trio, is what I just typed. They and we and you and I expect that Minjee should continue to play well and earn a second US Open chalice. The problem is this: Minjee has improved each day: from 70 to 69 to 66. I’ll say this~if she posts 65 or better on Sunday, she wins by a half-dozen shots. No one will come close to 10-under par.

What Lee has done best, is shrink her bogey tally with each played round. From five on Thursday, to three on Friday, to one on Saturday. Again, if she continues to improve in that category, and plays a bogey-free round on Sunday, she again wins by six or more. It’s more likely that she will find herself in a dogfight with a game adversary. Does she have the grit to see her way out of that maelstorm? We’ll find out on Sunday.

2. Andrea Lee

The kid from California played in the final pairing on Saturday, and survived. Andrea had a turbulent front side, with three birdies and two pars. She settled the oars on the inward half, never sniffing a bogey. Her 67 moved her from solo 2nd to a tie for first. She’ll again tee off in group the last, albeit with a different playing partner.

Andrea Lee will have to outplay Minjee Lee, her fellow competitor in the final twosome, as well as the other three golfers with a chance at the title. A few years have passed since she won her only LPGA title, and the physical memory of how to win, is always at risk of fading over time. Andrea Lee has the opportunity to become the golfer that she worked to be, to replace the “prodigy” label with one that reads “champion.” The recipe for just how to effect that switch is a closely-guarded one. Will she sniff it out on Sunday?

3. Wichanee Meechai

Not 100% certain how this kid is still around. In the back of my mind, Moving Day would most likely have been Moving-Out Day, but Meechai is still around. Day three was a boring round of golf, with three birdies and two bogeys, alongside 13 scores of par. News flash: boring golf wins US Open cups.

Wichanee will play in the penultimate pairing on Sunday, and she will do so alongside Hinako Shibuno. She won’t have the pressure of teeing off in the last game, even though she sits tied with those who shall. We’ve been bemused and amazed all week with the tenacity of the Thai golfers, so why shouldn’t she find one more round in the 60s on Sunday, and bring home the biggest prize of her life? On the PGA Tour, it’s the PGA Championship that identifies the unexpected; on the LPGA, it’s often the US Open. Sunday might be another one of those resolutions.

4. Hinako Shibuno

Shibuno is in the least-desirable position of the top five. She posted the low round of the tournament on Saturday. Her torrid 66 consisted of seven birdies and three bogeys. If this were any other year and course, we would have higher hopes for her chances on Sunday. This is 2024 and Lancaster, and no one escapes without two or three bogeys on the card. That’s the problem for Shibuno. She is two shots behind the leading triumvirate, and odds are that one of them will post one or two-under par on Sunday. That would compel the Japanese champion to record, at most, another 66 to have a shot at a major title. Will Lancaster give up a 66 on Sunday? I do not think so.

5. Yuka Saso

They say that, statistically, Yuka Saso is holing more putts than anyone else in the field this week. Well, putting, err, puting the ball in the hole with efficiency is the essence of victory in golf, so … it makes sense that Saso still has a shot. She has posted 68-71-69, so she is due for “that” round, it seems. If she’s going to find one at Lancaster, it will be on Sunday. I’ll be brazen with my prediction on this one: first or outside the top ten. She’ll either putt the eyes out of the hole on day four, or her run with the flattest stick will come to an end.

My guesses: fow low amateur, it’s Adela Cernousek. She proves that Friday was an aberration, shoots 69, and defeats Catherine Park by one for the silver medal. For Open champion, it’s Hinako Shibuno. The run of three missed cuts in this event has already come to an end. Shibuno seals it in the most dramatic fashion, with a victory.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

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Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

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3 weeks ago

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Aug 4, 2025

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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.

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Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 29, 2025

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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.

 

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

Published

4 weeks ago

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Jul 28, 2025

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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)

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WITB

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