Latest news with #LopezRamirez
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Sweden's Maja Stark grabs one-shot lead at US Women's Open
Leader Maja Stark of Sweden lining up a putt during the third round of the US Women's Open on May 31. PHOTO: AFP CHICAGO – Maja Stark fired three birdies in an impressively steady two-under 70 at an unforgiving Erin Hills on May 31 to seize a one-stroke lead over Julia Lopez Ramirez heading into the final round of the 80th US Women's Open. Sweden's Stark, a European Solheim Cup stalwart chasing her first Major title, kept her focus in a round that stretched nearly six hours as players wrestled with firm, fast greens on a breezy, sunny day in Wisconsin. Her seven-under total of 209 put her one stroke clear of Spanish qualifier Lopez Ramirez, whose four-under 68 was the best score of a day on which only nine players broke par. Japan's Mai Saigo, who started the day with a three-shot lead, carded a three-over 75 to share third, alongside compatriots Rio Takeda and Hinako Shibuno on five-under 211. World No. 1 Nelly Korda, who played alongside Saigo in the final group, finished strong in a one-over 73 that left her three adrift on four-under 212. Stark said the very difficulty of the course actually made her less anxious – a key for her as she tries to kick the habit of 'playing scared'. 'In normal tournaments, I kind of swing scared because I think it's a birdie competition, but here it's really not,' Stark said, adding that on June 1, she will just 'try to play freely'. Stark opened with a confidence-boosting birdie at the first hole. She bogeyed the third, but stuck her second shot at the 10th two feet from the pin for a birdie. Stark rattled in a 21-foot birdie at the par-three 16th to seize a share of the lead on seven-under, capping her round with a par at the par-five 18th and emerging with the solo lead as Saigo closed with back-to-back bogeys. The tough scoring made Lopez Ramirez's round look all the more impressive. The 22-year-old, who had to pause her LPGA rookie campaign in March after undergoing an appendectomy, eagled the par-five first and bounced back from a bogey at the third with a birdie at the seventh, where she got up and down from a greenside bunker. She added birdies at 12 and 16 to put herself in contention for a first major title. 'It was just mentally a strong day for me, keeping myself present and dealing with what's in front of me,' Lopez Ramirez added. On the PGA Tour, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler conjured a late birdie blitz to fire a four-under 68 and grab a one-shot lead after the third round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, on May 31. Scheffler, bidding to successfully defend his crown at Muirfield Village, rattled in four birdies in the final five holes to drop to eight under, one ahead of overnight leader Ben Griffin, who stumbled with an even-par 72. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yomiuri Shimbun
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Maja Stark Avoids Mistakes to Take 1-Shot Lead into Final Round of the U.S. Women's Open
The Associated Press Maja Stark, of Sweden, putts on the seventh hole during the third round of the U.S. Women's Open golf tournament at Erin Hills Saturday, May 31, 2025, in Erin, Wis. ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Maja Stark could tell pretty early Saturday that Erin Hills would provide much more of a challenge than it had in the first two days of the U.S. Women's Open. Yet she found a way to avoid the mistakes that befell so many other competitors during a brutal third round. Now the 25-year-old from Sweden is in position to earn the $2.4 million prize in the biggest event of the women's golf season. Stark shot a 2-under 70 to give her a 7-under 209 total and a one-shot advantage heading into the final round Sunday. Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain was second after a 68, the best score of the day. 'I think I'm just going to try to play freely,' Stark said. '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.' The Japanese trio of Rio Takeda (70), Hinako Shibuno (72) and second-round leader Mao Saigo (75) followed at 5 under. Top-ranked Nelly Korda was 4 under after a 73. Speedier greens and tricker pin placements wreaked havoc with just about everyone on the course, leading to plenty of double bogeys and triple bogeys. One example of this came on the par-4 15th, when Esther Henseleit's eagle putt from 55 feet away rolled 90 feet beyond the hole and went into the rough. Henseleit ended up with a double bogey. 'It's so hard because they tend to put holes that are right on the edges of the slopes, so you can see going into the grain and up until the hole, and then after the hole you just see that the grain is going the other way,' Stark said. 'It's just so hard to get the distances right. It's really scary when you know if you putt this five feet by, then that's gone.' The struggles of the field helped Lopez Ramirez make a surprising surge less than three months after an appendectomy. Lopez Ramirez hasn't finished higher than a tie for 29th in any of her seven LPGA Tour appearances this season, though the 22-year-old rookie was the Southeastern Conference player of the year in 2023 and 2024 at Mississippi State. 'I do believe that obviously when you're in college and you're about to win an event you have the same nerves,' Lopez Ramirez said. 'That's the most you care in that moment. You just want to win that tournament.' Saigo took a three-shot lead into the day but made three straight bogeys at Nos. 4-6 to drop into a tie for first. She made an 8 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 12 to move back into sole possession of the lead, but Stark tied her with a 21 1/2-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. Saigo then bogeyed the last two to fall two back. She said the pin placements caused her the biggest problems on Saturday. 'The first thing is I'd like to rest well and then tomorrow (come out) refreshed and I'd like to start from zero,' Saigo said through an interpreter. Plenty of other contenders faced similar misfortune. A Lim Kim, who entered Saturday in a six-way tie for second place, birdied No. 1 to get to 6 under, then went 7 over for the next four holes. Kim bogeyed No. 2, double-bogeyed No. 3, triple-bogeyed No. 4 and bogeyed No. 5. She ended up with a 77. Jinhee Im birdied two of her first three holes to get to 6 under before she triple-bogeyed the par-4 fourth. Noh also was at 6 under before a double bogey on No. 3. Im ended up with a 79, and Noh shot 75. Korda also struggled early before coming on strong late. Korda had a 40 on the front nine with four bogeys and no birdies, but rallied with three birdies on her last five holes. 'It's just a golf course where you may not hit it in the right spot and it'll go down 40 feet and instead of being almost tap-in range, now you have a 40-foot chip where it's running off the back, as well,' Korda said. 'You just know that your mentality is that you're going to make mistakes, but you can also bounce back here.'
New Straits Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Sweden's Stark grabs one-shot lead at US Women's Open
CHICAGO: Maja Stark fired three birdies in an impressively steady two-under-par 70 at unforgiving Erin Hills on Saturday to seize a one stroke lead over Julia Lopez Ramirez heading into the final round of the 80th US Women's Open. Sweden's Stark, a European Solheim Cup stalwart chasing her first major title, kept her focus in a round that stretched nearly six hours as players wrestled with firm, fast greens on a breezy, sunny day in Wisconsin. Her seven-under-par total of 209 put her one stroke clear of Spanish qualifier Lopez Ramirez, whose four-under-par 68 was the best score of a day on which only nine players broke par. Japan's Mai Saigo, who started the day with a three-shot lead, carded a three-over-par 75 to share third alongside compatriots Rio Takeda and Hinako Shibuno on five-under 211. World number one Nelly Korda, who played alongside Saigo in the final group, finished strong in a one-over 73 that left her three adrift on four-under 212. Stark said the very difficulty of the course actually made her less anxious -- a key for her as she tries to kick the habit of "playing scared". "In normal tournaments, I kind of swing scared because I think it's a birdie competition, but here it's really not," Stark said, adding that on Sunday she'll just "try to play freely". Stark opened with a confidence-boosting birdie at the first hole. She bogeyed the third, but stuck her second shot at the 10th two feet from the pin for a birdie. Stark rattled in a 21-foot birdie at the par-three 16th to seize a share of the lead on seven-under, capping her round with a par at the par-five 18th and emerging with the solo lead as Saigo closed with back-to-back bogeys. The tough scoring made Lopez Ramirez's round look all the more impressive. The 22-year-old, who had to pause her LPGA rookie campaign in March after undergoing an appendectomy, eagled the par-five first and bounced back frm a bogey at the third with a birdie at th seventh, where she got up and down from a greenside bunker. She added birdies at 12 and 16 to put herself in contention for a first major title. "It was just mentally a strong day for me, keeping myself present and dealing with what's in front of me," Lopez Ramirez added. Saigo, gunning for a second major title of the season after winning the Chevron Championship in April, was battling even before her bogey-bogey finish. She had two birdies and a bogey in her first three holes then bogeyed the fourth, fifth and sixth -- failing to get up and down after missing the geen at all three. The 23-year-old had regained the solo lead with an eight-foot birdie at the 12th but couldn't hang on. Takeda joined her on five-under with a two-under par 70 highlighted by a six-foot eagle at the first. Former British Open champion Shibuno had two birdies and two bogeys in her even par 72. Korda appeared to be spiraling out of contention with four bogeys on the front nine. That included three-putts at the second and fifth and a five-foot miss at the seventh. But the American star clawed back with birdies at the 14th and 15th -- where she took advantage of the US Golf Association's decision to move up the tee to drive the green and calmly rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt. Her six-foot birdie putt at the 18th circled the cup before falling in, leaving her exactly where she started the day three shots off the lead. "I was happy to kind of rally back on the back nine after having such a poor start," Korda said. "It's all about being patient. There's just so many ups and downs and you just have to kind of stick with it .... it just takes one shot." - AFP
France 24
12 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Sweden's Stark grabs one-shot lead at US Women's Open
Sweden's Stark, a European Solheim Cup stalwart chasing her first major title, kept her focus in a round that stretched nearly six hours as players wrestled with firm, fast greens on a breezy, sunny day in Wisconsin. Her seven-under-par total of 209 put her one stroke clear of Spanish qualifier Lopez Ramirez, whose four-under-par 68 was the best score of a day on which only nine players broke par. Japan's Mai Saigo, who started the day with a three-shot lead, carded a three-over-par 75 to share third alongside compatriots Rio Takeda and Hinako Shibuno on five-under 211. World number one Nelly Korda, who played alongside Saigo in the final group, finished strong in a one-over 73 that left her three adrift on four-under 212. Stark said the very difficulty of the course actually made her less anxious -- a key for her as she tries to kick the habit of "playing scared". "In normal tournaments, I kind of swing scared because I think it's a birdie competition, but here it's really not," Stark said, adding that on Sunday she'll just "try to play freely". Stark opened with a confidence-boosting birdie at the first hole. She bogeyed the third, but stuck her second shot at the 10th two feet from the pin for a birdie. Stark rattled in a 21-foot birdie at the par-three 16th to seize a share of the lead on seven-under, capping her round with a par at the par-five 18th and emerging with the solo lead as Saigo closed with back-to-back bogeys. The tough scoring made Lopez Ramirez's round look all the more impressive. The 22-year-old, who had to pause her LPGA rookie campaign in March after undergoing an appendectomy, eagled the par-five first and bounced back frm a bogey at the third with a birdie at th seventh, where she got up and down from a greenside bunker. She added birdies at 12 and 16 to put herself in contention for a first major title. "It was just mentally a strong day for me, keeping myself present and dealing with what's in front of me," Lopez Ramirez added. Saigo, gunning for a second major title of the season after winning the Chevron Championship in April, was battling even before her bogey-bogey finish. She had two birdies and a bogey in her first three holes then bogeyed the fourth, fifth and sixth -- failing to get up and down after missing the geen at all three. Korda rallies The 23-year-old had regained the solo lead with an eight-foot birdie at the 12th but couldn't hang on. Takeda joined her on five-under with a two-under par 70 highlighted by a six-foot eagle at the first. Former British Open champion Shibuno had two birdies and two bogeys in her even par 72. Korda appeared to be spiraling out of contention with four bogeys on the front nine. That included three-putts at the second and fifth and a five-foot miss at the seventh. But the American star clawed back with birdies at the 14th and 15th -- where she took advantage of the US Golf Association's decision to move up the tee to drive the green and calmly rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt. Her six-foot birdie putt at the 18th circled the cup before falling in, leaving her exactly where she started the day three shots off the lead. "I was happy to kind of rally back on the back nine after having such a poor start," Korda said. "It's all about being patient. There's just so many ups and downs and you just have to kind of stick with it .... it just takes one shot." © 2025 AFP
NBC Sports
2 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Six-way tie for lead after first round of U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills
ERIN, Wis. — Angel Yin started experimenting with a new putter about a month ago and decided to use it in a tournament for the first time at the most prestigious event in women's golf. The move worked well in the first round at Erin Hills. Yin made a 13 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a share of the U.S. Women's Open lead with 2020 champion A Lim Kim, Jinhee Im, Yealimi Noh, Rio Takeda and Julia Lopez Ramirez. 'I know U.S. Open is going to be extremely fast, so I wanted to find a putter that will hold the ground and just do what I want it to do,' Yin said. 'It just so happened to be this putter. I started tinkering with it like about a month ago, and I got lucky to use it.' The 26-year-old from California qualified for the U.S. Women's Open as a 13-year-old at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin, back in 2012. She has experienced plenty of ups and downs since at this event. She tied for second in 2019 at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina, but that's the last time she finished under par at the U.S. Women's Open. Yin missed the cut last year with a pair of 75s. 'Either really good or really, really terrible, where I don't see the weekend,' Yin said. 'I think it just says a lot about the championship. You have to play your best. There is no mediocre. … You can try to make good saves, but at the end of the day, if you don't have it, you don't have it.' The biggest surprise among the early leaders was Lopez Ramirez, who had a bogey-free round in her U.S. Women's Open debut. Lopez Ramirez won consecutive Southeastern Conference titles at Mississippi State in 2023 and 2024, but she suffered a major setback earlier this year when what she initially believed was a bout of food poisoning actually was a case of appendicitis. Less than three months after her appendectomy, the Spaniard was in early contention at the top event in women's golf. 'I feel like my confidence is coming back,' said Lopez Ramirez, whose highest finish this year is a tie for 29th. Takeda started at No. 10 and made six birdies in a nine-hole stretch from No. 14 through No. 4 to make up for her bogeys at Nos. 17 and 2. Noh benefited from an eagle in the par-5 14th. Im had a bogey-free round that included four birdies in a span of five holes from Nos. 10-14. Kim made birdie putts of 42 feet on No. 1 and 32 feet on No. 3. Chisato Iwai, Nasa Hataoka, Chiara Tamburlini, Youmin Hwang and Yui Kawamoto shot 69. Hinako Shibuno, Maja Stark, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jiwon Jean, Shiho Kuwaki, Gaby Lopez and Mao Saigo were at 70. Saigo won the year's first major, the Chevron Championship in Texas. Those scores are notable because only two players finished under par in last year's U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, with Yuka Saso posting a winning four-round total of 4-under 276. Saso, who is seeking her third U.S. Women's Open title, had a 74 on Thursday. Noh said the low scores at the 6,829-yard, par-72 course didn't surprise her. Erin Hills' difficulty often is based on the strength of the wind, and it was relatively calm early Thursday. Stronger winds are expected Friday. 'There are some tees out that are pulled up, and a lot of the par-5s, I think all of them are reachable,' Noh said. 'Some par 3s were shorter than normal. So, I think for sure, with the minimal wind today, it was definitely a good scoring day.' As an indication of how forgiving this course can be when there isn't much wind, Brooks Koepka won the 2017 U.S. Open at 16 under to tie the tournament record during a pretty calm week at Erin Hills. Golf Channel Staff, Nelly Korda, the world's top-ranked player, had a 72 as she chases her first U.S. Women's Open title. She has never finished her than a tie for eighth. Korda entered this week having birdied an LPGA Tour-leading 29.17% of the time, but she didn't make a single birdie until her final hole of the day. This still represented a better start for Korda than last year, when she made a 10 on her third hole of the tournament, carded an 80 in the opening round and went on to miss the cut. 'Overall, I can't complain,' Korda said. 'First day of the U.S. Open, it's all about patience. I'm striking it pretty well, so hopefully I can carry that into the next couple days.' Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul had a 75. No. 3 Lydia Ko shot 73.
