High scores, slow play rule the day at U.S. Women's Open, where Nelly Korda still lurks
High scores, slow play rule the day at U.S. Women's Open, where Nelly Korda still lurks
ERIN, Wisconsin – Moving day at the 80th U.S. Women's Open was mostly limited to one direction – backwards. With a scoring average of 75.23, LPGA rookie Julia Lopez Ramirez was the only player who managed to break 70 on Saturday at Erin Hills Golf Course, an expansive track that offers no room to breathe. A 4-under 68 vaulted the former Mississippi State standout – who averaged 289 yards off the tee – into solo second behind Sweden's Maja Stark, who shot 70 to get to 7 under.
It was a sunny day that required extreme patience, with the broadcast window spilling over 45 minutes thanks to rounds of six hours in threesomes.
Germany's Aline Krauter was off in the first group at 10:01 a.m. With Round 2 inexplicably not resuming until Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m., Krauter found out her third-round tee time about 30 minutes before it was go time. Her group then spent most of the front nine on the clock, only to arrive at the par-4 15th tee with a three-group backup.
Officials moved up the tee on the 15th to 260 yards, but it played the second-hardest hole of the day with a 4.467 average. Only 11 players made birdie on the hole.
Germany's Esther Henseleit hit the green with her tee shot and still made double bogey.
"It wasn't the pin I was expecting it to be with it forward," said Henseleit of the right side hole location. Many players hit irons or hybrids off the tee, and only 11 managed to birdie it.
Auston Kim quadrupled the 15th and then made double on the 16th.
"Honestly, I'm pretty angry, but I think it's good to have good anger," said Kim. "I'm fired up for tomorrow."
There were 30 three-putts on the 15th hole in Round 1 and 19 in the second round.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda certainly had her patience tested after a front-nine 40 nearly put her out of the conversation. Birdies on three of the last five holes - including a two-putt birdie on the 15th – now leaves her within three shots of Stark.
"It's just about having the right mindset," said Korda after her third-round 73. "Like this week, it's like, okay, you're going to make kind of stupid mistakes, as well, because it's just a golf course where you may not hit it in the right spot and it'll go down 40 feet and you'll make – instead of being almost tap-in range, now you have a 40-foot chip where it's running off the back, as well. You just know that your mentality is that you're going to make mistakes, but you can also bounce back here."
A trio of Japanese players hold a share of third at 5 under, including Mao Saigo, who's trying to become the first player to win back-to-back majors on the LPGA since Inbee Park in 2013. Saigo won a five-way playoff at the Chevron Championship with a birdie on the first hole. Bogeys on the last two holes Saturday gave her a third-round 75.
Meanwhile, Hinako Shibuno, Japan's most popular player, finds herself in contention at the U.S. Women's Open for a second year in a row after finishing runner-up to Yuka Saso last year. The player, known as the Smiling Cinderella, said, "probably I'll be very nervous from the beginning to the end." Shibuno came out of nowhere six years ago to win the British Open in her major championship debut, winning the hearts of a nation.
It's an eclectic board, with eight players within four shots of the lead. 2022 U.S. Women's Open champion Minjee Lee is joined by Solheim Cup players Linn Grant and Sarah Schmelzel at 3 under.
Stark said she came into the week with low expectations given how she's fared so far this year, with one top-10 finish and three missed cuts in eight starts.
"I think I'm just going to try to play freely," said the fiery Stark. "I think that no one has ever played well when they've been playing scared, and I think that's been my habit before, to just kind of try to hang on to it."
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