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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Sweden's Maja Stark holds off Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda to clinch US Women's Open title
The 25-year-old became the sixth Swede to win a women's major, finishing two strokes ahead of Rio Takeda and World number one Nelly Korda. Korda carded 71 on the final day, while Takeda shot 72, both ending the tournament at five-under. Mao Saigo, Hye-Jin Choi and Ruoning Yin finished the tournament tied for fourth at four under, while Hailee Cooper and Hinako Shibuno finished three under. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content The competition tightened as Korda, Shibuno, and Takeda birdied the par-five 14th, cutting Stark's lead to two strokes. But Shibuno narrowly missed a nine-and-a-half-foot eagle attempt and Korda came up short on her own eagle putt. Stark responded with a birdie of her own on 14, restoring her three-shot lead before finishing the round with bogeys on the final two holes. Stark entered the final round with a one-stroke lead, one stroke ahead of Julia Lopez Ramirez, who ended the day tied for 19th. 'It feels so surreal, and it felt like it was so far away just a couple of weeks ago,' she told LPGA in the aftermath of her win. 'Just last week, my confidence was so low, and then I had a special friend tell me that you need to be confident. You need to trust yourself, and that's what I try to do. I try to make myself and everyone on my team proud.' Korda's runner-up finish is her strongest showing at the US Women's Open, improving on an eighth-place tie in 2022.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Maja Stark captures US Women's Open for first Major title
Maja Stark carded an even-par 72 to win the second Major of the year by two shots. PHOTO: AFP ERIN – Maja Stark has won tournaments around the world, but a professional victory in the United States eluded her. Now she is a US Women's Open champion, 'This just feels huge,' said Stark, who admitted her best golf 'felt like it was so far away' coming into the week. She carded an even-par 72 to win the second Major of the year by two shots on June 1 at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin. The 25-year-old from Sweden led the championship by one stroke through 54 holes and outlasted world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who got within a shot of the lead before petering out on the back nine. 'I just didn't want to get ahead of myself. I thought there's still a lot of golf left to be played,' Stark said. 'I just felt like people are going to pass me probably, and I just had to stay calm through that. 'I didn't look at the leaderboards until I was on like 17. I caught a glimpse of it. It was nice.' Stark posted a seven-under 281 for the week. Korda (71) tied for second with Japan's Rio Takeda (72) at five under, and South Korea's Choi Hye-jin carded a 68 to claim a share of fourth place at four under with countrywoman Mao Saigo (73) and China's Yin Ruoning (70). Korda had a two-under front nine to get to six under for the championship. Stark was nursing a one-stroke lead over Korda when she birdied No. 11 from 14 feet. Korda bogeyed the par-three 13th and birdied the next hole, but only after an eagle opportunity slid by. Stark made a two-putt birdie at No. 14 to get to nine under and had enough cushion to absorb bogeys at the difficult Nos. 17 and 18, where she missed each fairway. 'You need to kind of think about every shot here,' Stark said of the difficult course set-up. 'Maybe not the tee shot on 10. I think that's fine. But everything else, you've just got to have your brain working for you, whereas like on normal weeks, you can kind of bail out. Here, not really.' Stark has six wins to her name on the Ladies European Tour. One of those, the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, was co-sanctioned by the LPGA and earned her a tour card in 2022. Before June 1, the highlight of Stark's minimal Major resume was placing second to Korda at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Now, she is just the third Swedish woman to win a US Women's Open, after Liselotte Neumann and golf legend Annika Sorenstam. 'It's so cool. They texted me yesterday and just kind of said, 'Bring it home,'' Stark said. 'That was already cool to just get those texts. Just looking at all the names on the trophy. I love the US Opens. I'm so happy that it's mine now.' Korda came up short of a would-be third Major victory. She earned her best finish at a US Women's Open and her third top-10 after she missed the cut in 2024. 'To have that showing last year definitely put a dagger into my heart, but that's just golf,' Korda said. 'You're going to lose more than you win a majority of the time. 'I feel like I actually learn a lot about myself and my game and where I need to improve playing the US Women's Open because it does test every part of your game. 'It's also super motivating... to see where my game's at. Hopefully, I can continue trending in the right direction for a long season ahead.' Takeda made an early double bogey in an otherwise solid round to stay close to the top of the leaderboard all day. She tied for ninth at this championship last year in her Major debut and followed that with a T2 on June 1. 'This is a Major, of course, and it is a big tournament. So I always thought that I would like to do my best here,' Takeda said. Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain played in the final pairing with Stark after shooting a 68 on May 31. She struggled from the outset and finished one over for the event after a triple-bogey eight on the final hole destined her to a score of 79. REUTERS, AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
RTÉ News
3 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Maja Stark holds off Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda at US Open for first major title
Maja Stark shot seven-under 72 to claim her first major championship, winning the US Women's Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin on Sunday. The 25-year-old became the sixth Swede to win a women's major, finishing two strokes ahead of Rio Takeda and World number one Nelly Korda. Korda carded 71 on the final day, while Takeda shot 72, both ending the tournament at five-under. Mao Saigo, Hye-Jin Choi and Ruoning Yin finished the tournament tied for fourth at four under, while Hailee Cooper and Hinako Shibuno finished three under. The competition tightened as Korda, Shibuno, and Takeda birdied the par-five 14th, cutting Stark's lead to two strokes. But Shibuno narrowly missed a nine-and-a-half-foot eagle attempt and Korda came up short on her own eagle putt. Stark responded with a birdie of her own on 14, restoring her three-shot lead before finishing the round with bogeys on the final two holes. Stark entered the final round with a one-stroke lead, one stroke ahead of Julia Lopez Ramirez, who ended the day tied for 19th. "It feels so surreal, and it felt like it was so far away just a couple of weeks ago," she told LPGA in the aftermath of her win. "Just last week, my confidence was so low, and then I had a special friend tell me that you need to be confident. You need to trust yourself, and that's what I try to do. I try to make myself and everyone on my team proud." Korda's runner-up finish is her strongest showing at the US Women's Open, improving on an eighth-place tie in 2022. Ireland's Leona Maguire missed the cut by three strokes after rounds of 76 and 72 over the opening two days.
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Sweden's Maja Stark wins 80th US Women's Open
CHICAGO: Maja Stark captured her first major title in impressive style Sunday, carding an even-par 72 to win the 80th US Women's Open by two strokes over top-ranked Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda. Sweden's Stark put on a clinical display on the imposing Erin Hills course in Wisconsin, where back-to-back bogeys to finish her round proved inconsequential as her seven-under total of 281 gave her the victory with room to spare. She became the third player from Sweden to lift the trophy and the first since Annika Sorenstam won her third in 2006. "This just feels huge," said Stark, who admitted her best golf "felt like it was so far away" coming into the week. "You always kind of know that it's possible, but there are so many good golfers on this tour ... I (didn't) think I would be able to do it this week." Leading by one to start the day, Stark opened with five straight pars, benefitting from a lucky break at the fifth when her tee shot scooted through the left rough and settled in the fairway. She then pushed her lead to two strokes with her first birdie of the day at the par-three sixth, where she rolled in a 21-foot putt. She gave a stroke back at the seventh, where her tee shot found a fairway bunker, and was clinging to a one-stroke lead when she arrived at the 11th. That changed in moments however, Stark rattling in a 14-foot birdie putt at 11 shortly after Korda's three-putt bogey at the 13th dropped the American star to five-under, the sequence of events leaving Stark with a three-stroke cushion. Korda, who started the day three shots adrift, applied pressure with back to back birdies at the seventh and eighth. After her bogey at 13 she pulled a stroke back at the par-five 14th, where she had a look at eagle but settled for a birdie. Japan's Hinako Shibuno and Takeda also reached six-under with birdies at the 14th. But Stark held her nerve and extended her lead with a birdie of her own at 14, where her second shot from the fairway caught the slope of the green and rolled to a stop 11 feet below the pin. She left her eagle putt short, but tapped in for a birdie that pushed her lead to three strokes. Her rivals had already faltered -- Shibuno with a double-bogey at 15, Takeda with a bogey at 17 and Korda with a bogey at the last. Korda posted a one-under-par 71 and was joined on 283 by Takeda, who had three birdies to balance her bogey and a front-nine double bogey in a 72. Stark's nerves were finally showing when she went left off the tee at both the 17th and 18th. But she limited the damage to bogeys at both -- an impressive effort at the treacherous 18th where playing partner Julia Lopez Ramirez took a triple bogey eight that included a shot into the scoring tent. Stark laid up out of the rough at 18, then came up short of the green. After a long wait as Lopez Ramirez played she rolled a putt from off the green to 43 said her putt from there, leaving her a foot to claim the title, was the shot she'll remember "because it felt like there's just so much that could go wrong. "It's downhill, right to left, and if I hit it too hard then it was going to keep rolling," she said. For 22-year-old Lopez Ramirez it was a disappointing finish. Trailing by one to start she closed with a seven-over 79. Korda, owner of two major titles, notched her best finish in the US Open, improving on her tie for eighth in 2022. "Still very complicated," she said of her relationship with the championship. "It's just an absolute heartbreaker. Korda, 26, remains in search of a first victory since November, when she claimed the seventh LPGA title of her record-setting 2024 campaign. "Hopefully (I) can kind of build off of this, puting myself in contention at a major and obviously just slipping just short," Korda said. "Hurts a little, but I'm happy with the progress and hopefully I can continue like this."
The Star
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Steadfast Stark outlast Japanese and home challenges to win maiden Major title at exciting US Women's Open
Maja Stark poses with the trophy after winning the final round of the 2025 US Women's Open Presented by Ally at Erin Hills Golf Course in Hartford, Wis. on Sunday, June 1, 2025. -- Jason E. Miczek/USGA ERIN, Wisconsin, USA: Sweden's Maja Stark played with poise and precision to claim her maiden Major title at the 80th US Women's Open presented by Ally on Sunday, fending off World No. 1 Nelly Korda of the United States at Erin Hills. Taking a one-shot lead over Spanish qualifier Julia Lopez Ramirez into the final round, Stark signed off with a solid even-par 72 for a seven-under-par 281 (70, 69, 70, 72) total on a typically challenging USGA course set-up. The 25-year-old finished two shots clear of Korda (71) and Takeda (72), while Ramirez fell back into tied 19th position following a closing 79. Stark went into the record books as the third Swede to win the championship and hoist the Harton S. Semple Trophy, joining legendary compatriots Liselotte Neumann (1988) and Annika Sorenstam (1995, 1996, 2006). ' Both Neumann and Sorenstam messaged Stark with words of encouragement following the third round. 'They texted me yesterday and just kind of said, bring it home. It was already cool to just get those texts. Just looking at all the names on the trophy, I love the U.S. Opens. I'm so happy that it's mine now,' said Stark. Jun 1, 2025; Erin, Wisconsin, USA; Maja Stark lines up a shot at the 9th hole during the final round of the US Women's Open golf tournament. -- Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Taking a page from Sorenstam's 10-Major book, Stark offset three bogeys with three birdies in a composed final round performance. While both Korda and Japan's Mao Saigo got to within one shot of Stark at different stages of the final round, the Swede kept calm and was able to pull away on the final stretch Saigo, winner of The Chevron Championship earlier this year, carded a closing 73 to share fourth place on four-under-par 284 with Korean Hye-Jin Choi (68) and China's Ruoning Yin (70). 'I didn't look at the leaderboard until I was on 17 when I caught a glimpse of it. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be, because it felt like I have control of my game and I know what's going on. It felt like I could just control anything that was thrown at me today,' noted Stark. The victory was Stark's second success on the LPGA Tour following the 2022 ISPS HANDA World Invitational presented by AVIA Clinics in Northern Ireland, which she won as a non-LPGA member. The event was co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour, where Stark has won six times to-date. Korda's joint runner-up finish was her best in 11 U.S. Women's Open starts, dating back to 2013 when she competed as a 14-year-old amateur. She missed the cut at Lancaster Country Club last year. 'Last year definitely put a dagger into my heart. But that's just golf. You're going to lose more than you win a majority of the time. I feel like I learn a lot about myself and my game, and where I need to improve, playing the U.S. Women's Open, because it does test every part of your game,' said Korda, who counts two Major titles among her 15 LPGA Tour victories. Malaysia's Kelly Tan missed the halfway cut of one-over-par following rounds of 75 and 78. Now competing on the Epson Tour as she bids to regain her LPGA card, the 31-year-old got into the championship by winning the 36-hole qualifier at Vancouver Golf Club. Defending champion Yuka Saso of Japan (74, 72) and Thai star Jeeno Thitikul (75, 72) were among the notable players who failed to progress to the weekend. -- The LPGA (The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is the world's premier women's professional golf organisation. Created in 1950 by 13 pioneering female Founders, the LPGA, whose members now represent over 60 countries, is the longest-standing professional women's sports organization. Through the LPGA Tour, the Epson Tour, a joint venture with the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Professionals, the LPGA provides female professionals the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the game of golf at the highest level.)
