World's top golfers expect tough test at US Women's Open
Nelly Korda of the United States hits her tee shot on the fourth hole prior to the US Women's Open. PHOTO: AFP
CHICAGO – Top-ranked Nelly Korda, world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and third-ranked Lydia Ko are chasing a Major title none of them has won before when the 80th US Women's Open tees off on May 29.
Defending champion Yuka Saso of Japan, meanwhile, is seeking her third US Women's Open crown in five seasons at the par-72, 6,829-yard Erin Hills layout in Erin, Wisconsin.
'Conditions here can be very difficult,' Saso said. 'I think it's going to be a good challenge.
'It would be nice to win another one. Any other tournament would make me as happy, but if I win again, it would be more special. Winning keeps me motivated.'
Korda, a two-time Major champion, seeks the only Major title on home soil that has eluded her.
'It's going to test everyone's game, very demanding,' the American said. 'The bunkers are not easy. It doesn't really matter how far you hit it. It's all about accuracy at the end of the day.
'It's firm. It's fast as well. Even if you think you've hit it good, you can never exhale when you see it stop.'
Ill winds could blow away the chances of contenders, Korda warned.
'Weather plays a pretty big role out here, especially with no trees to block it,' she added. 'When it gets windy out here, it's really going to play with your golf ball.'
The 26-year-old has never finished better than eighth in 10 prior starts.
'It's the biggest test in the game,' she said. 'Definitely has tested me a lot. Not even just our games, our mental as well. I love it.'
Thailand's Jeeno won her first title of the year three weeks ago at the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open.
'Game has been a little bit better ball-striking-wise,' she said. 'But I think what is doing pretty well is the mental side. I'm just more relaxing, like natural, not forcing anything.'
The 22-year-old chases her first Major victory this week.
'I think the Major win, it should be really tough for me,' Jeeno added. 'What I want to accomplish, just one Major, it's just my process. Definitely going to test my patience. I promise that patience is really the key.'
New Zealand's Ko, the reigning Olympic champion and a three-time Major winner, would love to collect one of only two Major prizes to have eluded her.
'This would be the one that I'd say, 'Oh, I wish I was a US Women's Open champion',' Ko said.
'It may seem like a large pool of people that are the past champions, but it's actually quite small, and I would obviously love to be part of that US Women's Open club.'
Ko, who won her 23rd LPGA title in March at Singapore, says playing on unfamiliar courses with limited practice time makes the US Women's Open more difficult to win.
'There's a lot of pressure,' she said. 'I don't know what kind of mindset I'm going to have going into this week but I'm really excited.
'I think you need to have a really good short game and an open mind to how you're going to play around this golf course, and for the most part, I feel pretty comfortable.
'But I think this is also the type of golf course you need to hit a lot of quality golf shots and also get a little bit of luck.'
While the top three have no experience of winning the US Women's Open, Saso was only 19 years old when she won her first title back in 2021.
'I could call myself a two-time Major champion, and better than that, two-time US Women's Open champion,' the Philippines-born Japanese said of her 2024 victory.
'I think it's a great tournament to have beside my name, and – I don't know, maybe because I dreamt of winning this, and winning it twice is much better.'
A third time would definitely be the icing on the cake. AFP, REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
‘Privileged' Coco Gauff eyes French Open crown against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka
Coco Gauff (above) swept into her third Grand Slam singles final with a win against French hero Lois Boisson on June 5. PHOTO: AFP PARIS – Coco Gauff said she will try to downplay the magnitude of the French Open final against Aryna Sabalenka on June 7 and learn from her runner-up finish at Roland Garros three years ago. The 21-year-old American swept into her third Grand Slam singles final with a 6-1, 6-2 win that put an abrupt end to surprise French hero Lois Boisson's improbable run in Paris. Gauff lost the 2022 French Open final to Polish star Iga Swiatek before beating Sabalenka a year later to capture her first Major title at the US Open. She believes she is a much more confident player than the teenager beaten in her maiden Grand Slam final. 'My first final here I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened,' said Gauff, the world No. 2 behind Sabalenka of Belarus. 'Obviously now I have a lot more confidence just from playing a Grand Slam final before and doing well in one. I think going into Saturday I'll just give it my best shot and try to be as calm and relaxed as possible.' Gauff said that the experience of losing to Swiatek three years ago gave her fresh perspective she hopes will serve her well for the June 7 showpiece. 'Everybody is dealing with way bigger things in life than losing a final,' she added. 'I'm sure there are hundreds of players that would kill to win or lose a final, so just knowing that, making me realise how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position. 'At first I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, and you know, the sun still rose the next day. So knowing, regardless of the result, the sun will still rise.' The American dominated from the outset against Boisson on June 5 to extinguish the host nation's hopes of a first French Open winner since Mary Pierce in 2000. But a much tighter contest likely awaits her against Sabalenka. She has a 5-5 record against the Belarusian but lost to her on clay in the Madrid final in May. Gauff knows she will need to be at her best to counter Sabalenka's power. Her 27-year-old opponent cranked it up in the third set to blow away three-time defending champion Swiatek in the first semi-final and snap the Pole's 26-match winning streak at the French Open. 'She can come up with some big shots and big winners pretty much at all areas of the court,' said Gauff. 'She's a fighter as well, she's going to stay in the match regardless of the scoreline. Anything can happen on Saturday. But I'm looking forward to it, and glad to be going up against a world No. 1 too.' Hardcourt specialist Sabalenka was told for years that clay courts were not her surface, but after reaching her first Roland Garros final she said that winning the French Open would mean the world to her. Her collection of three Grand Slam titles comprises back-to-back Australian Open crowns in 2023 and 2024 plus the US Open title last season. Both of those Grand Slam tournaments are played on hardcourts that suit the Belarusian's power game perfectly. 'Well, it's going to mean everything to me and my team, because I have to say that almost like (my) whole life I've been told that it (clay surface) is not my thing and then I didn't have any confidence,' she said. 'We've been able to develop my game so much. I have to say that for the clay I got better, much better physically. I think it's really important on clay to be physically strong and ready to work for each point. 'If I'll be able to get this trophy, it's just going to mean the world for us. I'm ready to go in that final and to fight, fight for every point and give everything I have to give to get the win.' AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Gretchen Walsh swims second-fastest 100m butterfly in history at US Championships
Gretchen Walsh had lowered her own world record twice at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim in May. PHOTO: REUTERS CHICAGO – Gretchen Walsh clocked a stunning 54.76sec to win the 100m butterfly at the US Swimming Championships on June 5, coming up just shy of her own world record in a comfortable victory over Olympic champion Torri Huske. Walsh, who settled for silver behind Huske at the Paris Games last summer, had lowered her own world record twice at the Fort Lauderdale Pro Swim in May, becoming the first woman to dip below 55 seconds with a world mark of 54.60sec in the finals there. She was well under world-record pace when she turned in 25.19sec, and even though she could not lower the mark, she posted the second-fastest time in history and had plenty to hold off Huske, who finished 1.8sec back in 56.61sec. 'I just like pushing myself past boundaries that I never thought possible,' Walsh, who now owns the top seven times in history, told NBC Sports. She lined up a second individual event at the World Championships in Singapore from July 11-Aug 3 after winning the 50m fly with the fourth-fastest time ever on June 4. Katharine Berkoff also turned up the heat, posting the second-fastest 50m backstroke time in history with her win in 26.97sec. She broke the American record of Regan Smith, who was second in 27.20. Lilly King, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and an 11-time world champion who has announced this will be her last season, won the 50m breaststroke in 29.88sec. Bobby Finke ran down Carson Foster to win the men's 400m individual medley in 4min 07.46sec. He sliced more than two seconds off his personal best to get the better of Paris Olympics bronze medallist Foster, who finished in 4:07.92. Finke, two-time Olympic gold medallist and world record-holder in the 1,500m freestyle, indicated in May that he would not swim the 400 medley in Singapore even if he qualified because of a scheduling conflict with the events. 'I've got to talk to my coaches about it, but we kind of have a plan in mind,' he said. Emma Weyant, silver medallist at the Tokyo Olympics and bronze medallist at the Paris Games, won the women's 400m individual medley in 4:34.81 with Katie Grimes second in 4:37.22. Shaine Casas led all the way in winning the men's 100m butterfly in 50.51sec. Quintin McCarty won the men's 50m backstroke in 24.34sec with Casas second in 24.44. Campbell McKean, 18, won the men's 50m breaststroke in a personal best 26.90, edging veteran Michael Andrew by two-hundredths of a second. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Boxer Imane Khelif not competing in latest tournament: organisers
Algeria's Imane Khelif, who is at the centre of a row over gender eligibility, will not compete in this week's tournament in the Netherlands. PHOTO: AFP THE HAGUE – Algerian Olympic champion boxer Imane Khelif, who is at the centre of a row over gender eligibility, will not compete in this week's tournament in The Netherlands, organisers said on June 5. Dirk Renders, spokesman for the Eindhoven Box Cup, confirmed to AFP the boxer would not be taking part, adding: 'The decision of her exclusion is up to World Boxing.' World Boxing has introduced mandatory gender testing for competitors over 18 and had informed the Algerian federation Khelif would have to undergo the test to compete in Eindhoven this week. Under the new policy, all athletes in World Boxing-sanctioned competitions need to take a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test, to determine what sex they were at birth. The PCR test, conducted via a nasal or mouth swab, detects specific genetic material – in this case the SRY gene – that reveals the presence of the Y chromosome, an indicator of biological gender. The controversy around Khelif, who won Gold in the women's welterweight class in Paris, was one of the stories of the Games. She and Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu-ting, who also won gold, found themselves at the centre of a gender row. Both boxers had been disqualified from the International Boxing Association's (IBA) 2023 world championships after the organisation said they had failed gender eligibility tests. But the International Olympic Committee later stripped the IBA of its right to organise the boxing in Paris over financial, governance, and ethical concerns. The IOC allowed them both to compete in Paris, saying they had been victims of 'a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA'. 'The two female athletes mentioned by the IBA are not transgender athletes,' the IOC said in a statement to AFP in February. 'They were born as women, were raised as women, and have competed in the women's category for their entire boxing careers.' Looking ahead, World Boxing will organise the boxing competition at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after the IOC granted it provisional recognition. Khelif is a role model to many in Algeria and received strong support from authorities and fans during the controversy in Paris. After winning Gold, she said the medal was the best response to her critics. 'I am fully qualified to take part. I am a woman like any other. I was born a woman, lived a woman and competed as a woman,' she said. The row rumbled on well beyond Paris, with the IBA saying in February it would sue the IOC for clearing Khelif to box at the Games. Khelif jabbed back that the accusations were 'false and offensive', adding: 'This is a matter that concerns not just me but the broader principles of fairness and due process in sport.' She has vowed to take her own legal action to refute the accusations. World Boxing, which took over governance of the sport from the IBA, was forced into an embarrassing climbdown of its own earlier this week. It had initially named Khelif in its statement announcing the new testing policy but then rowed back. 'The president of World Boxing does not think it was correct to have named a specific athlete in the statement,' it said. The association wrote to the Algerian boxing authorities to apologise and acknowledge that 'greater effort should have been made to avoid linking the policy to any individual'. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
