Congratulations to Lilia Vu, who becomes only the second player to win the Dinah Shore and the Women’s Open in the same year. Yani Tseng won both tournaments in 2010. She’s also the first US winner of this championship since Mo Martin in 2014. Commiserations meanwhile to Charley Hull … who will surely be back, with her time yet to come. She contributed to a great final day that for a while was a little tighter than the eventual result may suggest. Hull gave it a good go; Vu was just too good. Thanks for reading this blog. Shall we do it again next year at St Andrews? Yes please! Yes please!
-14: Lilia Vu
-8: Charley Hull
-7: Jiyai Shin
-6: Amy Yang, Kim Hyo-joo
-4: Allisen Corpuz, Ally Ewing, Angel Yin
-3: Olivia Cowan, Andrea Lee
-2: Akie Iwai, Alison Lee, Nasa Hataoka, Nelly Korda, Linn Grant
-1: Celine Boutier, Alice Hewson, Jenny Shin, Anna NOrdqvist, Jeongeun Lee6
“This has been the best crowd I’ve ever played in my life. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life.” Finally some well-earned tears of happiness. “They’ve been so great. I know they were rooting for Charley but they clapped for me too, which is amazing!” Also pouring down: the love from the gallery, who give her the warm ovation she deserves as she once again hoists the precious silverware.
“It just comes down to not thinking about winning,” Vu continues. “Just playing one shot at a time. This golf course really forces you to do that. I was not calm inside, trust me! After the Chevron, how I felt afterwards, honestly thinking those two wins [at the LPGA Thailand and the Chevron] were a fluke. Just to be here today, I can’t thank my team and my family enough for really believing in me. I love playing with Charley, she’s so fun to watch. I remember yesterday just looking back at her crowd and really wanting to play with her today. She’s so great and so nice and she’s a really, really great golfer. You guys watch out for her!”
“With a score of 274, the winner of the Gold Medal, and the 2023 AIG Women’s Open Champion: Lilia Vu!” On comes the brilliant Californian to hoist her prize! The warmest applause. “It’s almost unreal. I had a really tough run the past couple of months. We just wanted to be in contention, that’s all we wanted, and somehow this happened!”
The presentation ceremony. The leading amateur, and winner of the Smyth Salver is Charlotte Heath, who shot 76 today and ended the week very respectably indeed at +7.
That really was a performance for the ages from Lilia Vu. The difficult first four holes at Walton Heath took a chunk out of the field, but not so Vu, who played them in one-under par. She made birdies on the scorable stretch, responded to Charley Hull’s eagle on 11 with the approach of the day for birdie at 12, and matched her nearest challenger shot for shot with some street-fighting golf when things threatened to get messy on 15 and 16. Oh, and she finished with a flourish. Two 67s at the weekend; two major titles this season. What a player, what a competitor the 25-year-old Californian is! A supremely deserved victory.
“I’m freezing now!” The problem with champagne-infused celebrations during an English summer. Off to the scorer’s tent, carrying towels.
Lilia Vu wins the 2023 Women's Open!
Anything Charley can do, Lilia can do as well! She tickles in her 20-foot birdie putt to seal the deal in style! Finally she allows herself a huge smile. Time to relax at last! Vu and Hull embrace warmly. Hull then nips off quicksmart because on come Vu’s friends brandishing champagne, which is emptied over the victor’s head! “I can’t believe I won!” cries Vu. Everyone watching can, though. She was sensational from the first tee shot. A final round of 67! What a way to win the Open!
-14: Vu
-8: Hull
-7: Shin
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Charley Hull rolls in her monster par saver! A huge smile of joy and relief. She’ll finish alone in second spot. Her second runner-up spot in a major this year, and by far her best return at the Women’s Open! A final round of 73 wasn’t her dream, but she gave it her best shot. Slightly ironic how the club that let her down along the closing stretch – her flat stick – came good for her right at the end. A moment of pure bittersweet brilliance. Well played, Charley Hull. She ends the week at -8.
Hull whips out of the bunker and onto the green. She’ll have a 25-foot look to save her par and grab second place for herself. Both players receive a lovely ovation as they make their way to the green.
Charley Hull’s lie in the heather could be better, it could be worse. But it’s bad enough to see her squirt out low, the ball finishing in the huge high-faced bunker guarding the front of the green. Lilia Vu then immediately sends her second casually into the middle of the green. The percentage play, and she can enjoy her walk up 18! In a few minutes time, she’ll be crowned the 2023 Women’s Open champion!
Speaking of disappointments: up on the green, Angel Yin and Kim Hyo-joo make par, signing for 76 and 74 respectively. They end a week that promised more at -4 and -6.
Vu cracks her final drive down the 18th fairway. Hull, whose task is now simply to make the par that will secure second place, flays a wild one deep into the purple stuff down the right. That’s far from guaranteed now, with much depending on her lie. She’ll be disappointed not to win, of course she will, but she won’t want to end up third in a two-horse race.
Lilia Vu doesn’t hang about. The minute the green’s cleared, she takes a quick look at her birdie putt and gives it a run at the hole. It takes a small bobble and is always stopping short as a result. But par will do. Hull can’t make her par saver, and while Vu is clearly trying to stay in the moment – the approach that’s got her into this position – she’ll be able to enjoy her walk up 18 now!
-13: Vu (17)
-8: Hull (17)
-7: Shin (F)
Hull is in all sorts of bother here. Her ball’s in thick rough. She’s short-sided. She’s got to get over a grassy bunker. The flop looks so tough. Is she considering ramming low into the bank, hoping the ball will skip up onto the green? Yes, but she eventually opts for the high whip. And what a shot she executes, lobbing high and landing softly onto the green. She’ll have a 15-foot look at saving par. That was as good an outcome as could be reasonably expected. Then on come a couple of protestors with some smoke bombs. A wee pause as the situation is nipped in the bud.
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Hull’s eagle miss was met by sympathetic silence … and so is her tee shot at the par-three 17th, pulled into the gallery on the left. Vu had found the centre of the dancefloor. This isn’t all over … but it’s as good as. Vu hasn’t given Hull an inch this afternoon, and her street-fighting smarts on 15 and 16 look to have finally broken Hull’s spirit.
Vu rolls her long eagle putt to four feet. Hull’s eagle effort, perhaps just six feet away in fact, is always missing on the right. Never looked like dropping. Just a birdie, which Vu immediately matches. For the second hole in a row, Hull’s flat stick has let her down … and allowed Vu to match her shot for shot from less advantageous positions. Take nothing away from Vu’s brilliance, though. She’s really delivered when Hull tried to crank up the pressure!
-13: Vu (16)
-9: Hull (16)
-7: Shin (F)
Jiyai Shin becomes the latest player to nearly birdie 18, sign for a 70, and take the lead in the clubhouse. The two-time winner, who tied for second at this year’s US Open and is playing in this competition for the first time since 2016, ends the week at -7. What a performance! Not quite up there with the time she won this title by nine shots at Hoylake in 2012, but then what is?
Vu whips an iron into the heart of the par-five 16th. It rolls through to the fringe at the back. She’ll have a long look at eagle. Hull needs something special … and she delivers it, steering her iron into the front of the green, her ball kicking gently to the right, the tilt of the green gathering her ball to eight feet. She’ll have a great look at eagle! A couple of outrageously important, tournament-defining putts coming right up.
We have a new clubhouse leader in Amy Yang. She comes very close to birdie at the last, but a brave charge at the hole skims past the cup. A closing round of 70, though, and the 34-year-old Korean is in with a shout of matching or perhaps even bettering her best finish at a British Open: fourth in 2011.
That was a magnificent up and down from sand by Vu. Not such a good three-putt by Hull. Despite it all, the leader goes to the 16th tee feeling much better than her opponent. She bashes her drive down the fairway. Hull follows her. A 313-yard drive. Hull made eagle on this hole on Thursday; what she’d give for another now. Well, that’s a good start.
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… but Vu still has to get up and down from the best part of 100 yards if she’s to escape with par. And while her wedge in is crisply hit, landing pin high, the camber of the green gathers her ball into the bunker to the right. She’ll be desperate to get up and down for bogey. Then once again Hull doesn’t quite apply the necessary pressure, sending her lengthy first putt from the back of the green six feet past the flag. Vu splashes out to three feet … and Hull leaves her par putt high on the left. She looks absolutely drained as she taps in for par. Vu tidies up for bogey, and somehow, while Vu has dropped her first stroke of the day, she walks off the hole having made the same score as her nearest challenger.
-12: Vu (15)
-8: Hull (15)
-7: Shin (17)
-6: Yang (17), Ewing (15), Kim (15)
Vu’s ball is tangled up in all sorts of heather-infused trouble. She takes a big swig of medicine, wedging back onto the fairway. No point going for the green from 170 yards. The smart play. But the door’s slightly ajar for Hull now. She pulls a 6-iron just off the back left of the green. An opportunity to go close and put some proper matchplay-style pressure on Vu is spurned.
Lilia Vu gives Charley Hull a little boost by sending her drive into the thick gorse down the left of 15. Hull responds by crashing another won’t-die-wondering tee shot down the middle. A small shaft of light for Hull, perhaps? Much will depend on Vu’s lie. “If Hull gets a birdie after her playing partner has got one on the same hole, is that a case of deja Vu?” wonders Philip Cornwall, who, ladies and gentlemen, is here for what remains of the rest of the week. Try the Gunners.
A very presentable eagle chance for the 2008 and 2012 winner Jiyai Shin on 16. She doesn’t hit her ten-foot right-to-left curler, though. She had the line. Just a birdie, though it’s one that gives her sole ownership of third place right now. Meanwhile there are two-putt pars for the leading duo on 14, and the gap remains four shots with four holes remaining.
-13: Vu (14)
-9: Hull (14)
-7: Shin (16)
-6: Yang (17), Kim (15), Ewing (15)
Vu’s lie is OK, but her backswing is impeded a little bit by the nearby heather. No matter! She sends another of her gentle draws into the heart of the green, ending up pin high, 15 feet from the flag. Hull responds with a wedge in from 95 yards. She’s pin high too, a little bit closer in. But she’ll be slightly disappointed with that outcome, given her advantageous position.
Amy Yang nearly drains a straight eagle putt across 16. The ball stubbornly stays high on the right. She taps in to move to -6. Meanwhile back on 14, the leader Lilia Vu benefits from a fortunate bounce. Her drive, tight down the left, looks like heading into the heather, only to take a spring to the right at the last, ending up in the semi-rough. Charley Hull, running out of time and in go-for-it mode, rips one down the middle.
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Vu trundles a hot putt six feet past the flag. That’s a bit excitable. The one she strokes into the cup coming back is anything but. As cool as you like. Two putts for Hull as well, and Vu is one hole closer to more major-championship glory.
“We’ve gotta make birdies, we’ve gotta get close to the pin.” That’s Charley Hull’s approach now. And so from the centre of the 13th fairway, she fires into the heart of the green … but the camber takes her ball off to the left. She’ll be left with a long birdie putt, as will Lilia Vu, who doesn’t need to press anywhere near as hard.
It hasn’t been Angel Yin’s day from the get-go. An opening bogey and another at 4 set the tone, and while birdie at 9 briefly threatened to rekindle her bid, she’s hit turbulence since the turn. Bogeys at 11, 12 and now 13, the result of slam-dunking her second into greenside sand, drop her to -4. Better news for the two-time winner Jiyai Shin, though; birdie at 14 brings her up to -6. She’s alongside Ally Ewing, who is setting about repairing the damage of yesterday and today’s front nine with birdies at 11 and 14.
Hull very nearly does come up with some more magic! She’s the width of a dimple or so away from draining a long right-to-left curler from the back of 12. A tap-in for par. Vu tidies up for her third birdie in four holes. That is a quite exquisite response to the drama of 11. As much excitement as Hull’s bunker shot generated, that approach was on another level. What moxie!
-13: Vu (12)
-9: Hull (12)
Oh my word, Lilia Vu! Having seen Charley Hull whistle her second over the back of 12, and drop her club in disgust after doing so, Vu sends the gentlest of draws into the heart of the green, her ball screwing to a halt a couple of feet from the flag. What a response to Hull’s eagle! Still to make the putt, of course, and Hull could come up with more magic from the fringe at the back of the green.
Well, if this is anything to go by, Vu doesn’t intend to budge an inch. Hull absolutely crunches a monster drive down the middle of the 12th fairway, holding her pose after a pirouette flourish. That’s one hell of a tee shot … but she’s then outdriven by Vu who peers after her ball with a steely determination. This mano-a-mano tussle could be great fun. And it does look like a duel now, because up on the green, a three-putt bogey for Kim Hyo-joo, whose race is surely run. She’s -6. See also Angel Yin, who misses a short par putt as well to slip to -5.
-12: Vu (11)
-9: Hull (11)
-6: Kim (12)
-5: Yang (14), Ewing (13), Shin (13), Yin (12)
That was a proper momentum-shifting moment. For the first time today, Lilia Vu looks a little stunned. After shooting her 67 yesterday, Vu said that she was going to take the final round shot by shot. Stay in the moment. Don’t get ahead of herself. She’s done that almost perfectly so far. But this will test that mindset.
Hello! Hello! It’s back on for Charley Hull! Having crashed her drive into thick rough down the left of 11, and sent her second into the bunker front left of the green, she whips up over the high face, her ball rolling 30 feet across the green on an inevitable journey into the cup. Always going in! Eagle! She nearly tumbles over as she clambers out of the bunker in excitement, but that bunker shot was elegance enough! What a moment … and it’s a three-putt par for Lilia Vu. This Open isn’t over yet!
-12: Vu (11)
-9: Hull (11)
-7: Kim (11)
Should Lilia Vu close this out, she’ll become only the second player to do the Dinah Shore / British Open double in the same year. Yani Tseng won both tournaments in 2010. She’ll also become the first US winner of this championship since Mo Martin in 2014.
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Kim Hyo-joo bogeys 11, the punishment for pulling her second shot into the gallery down the left … and not shouting fore, the ball caroming off the top of some poor punter’s head. Her playing partner Angel Yin also bogeys, the result of taking an overly ambitious long iron from the thick heather, and also yipping a short putt when it looked as though she’d done enough to scramble par. While Lilia Vu strides forward, the rest of the field is going backwards. She’s now five clear.
-12: Vu (10)
-7: Kim (11), Hull (10)
-6: Yin (11)
-5: Yang (13), Ewing (12), Shin (12), Lee (12)
Charley Hull and Lilia Vu take turns to fling darts at the flag on 10. Hull’s birdie effort from ten feet lips out; nothing’s dropped for the 27-year-old English star. But the leader’s flat stick is molten hot. Lilia Vu strokes her eight-foot chance into the centre of the cup for her third birdie of the day! This is some display by the Chevron champion … and she wastes no time in striding to the tee box at the par-five 11th and crashing a drive down the middle. No point taking your foot off the gas when everything’s going your way, huh?
-12: Vu (10)
-8: Kim (10)
-7: Yin (10), Hull (10)
Welcome to the start of the 2023 Women’s Open! Yes, the final group have reached the turn on Sunday. Here we go, then.
An opportunity for Kim Hyo-joo to make it three birdies on the bounce. But she leaves a fairly straight 12-foot putt short on 10. Uncharacteristically timid. She remains at -8 … and that’s now three off the lead because on the par-three 9th, Lilia Vu gently swishes her tee shot to ten feet, and sweeps in the birdie putt. She’s been so dependable with the flat stick so far this week.
-11: Vu (9)
-8: Kim (10)
-7: Yin (10), Hull (9)
-6: Andrea Lee (11)
-5: Yang (12), Shin (11)
-4: Corpuz (F), Ewing (10)
The 2008 and 2012 champion Jiyai Shin clearly feels she needs to make a charge. And charge is exactly what she does at her eagle putt on 11. It whistles 12 feet past the hole and she can’t make the birdie effort coming back. The 35-year-old Korean remains at -5 and the chance of becoming the first woman to win three Opens during the major era appears to have gone in a rush of blood.
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The US Open champion Allisen Corpuz pars her way home and signs for a superb final round of 69. She’s the new clubhouse leader at -4. Meanwhile back on 8, Charley Hull nearly drains a lengthy birdie putt, settling for par, while Lilia Vu, having pulled her approach, takes two putts from the fringe for yet another scrambled par. Vu remains -10, Hull -7.
Well, Kim’s going about things in the right way. In goes the birdie putt, and suddenly she’s just two off the lead, all that bogey damage now repaired. She turns in 35 strokes, level par for her round. Her playing partner Angel Yin rolls a birdie putt in too, for her first birdie of the day. Things hotting up, right here!
-10: Vu (7)
-8: Kim (9)
-7: Yin (9). Hull (7)
-6: Andrea Lee (10)
Kim Hyo-joo is far from out of this despite having already carded three bogeys today. She knocks her second at 8 to 12 feet, rolls in the straight birdie putt, then creams her tee shot at the par-three 9th to six feet. Kim has been waiting a long time for her second major, after shooting that record-breaking 61 to win the Evian in 2014 as a 19-year-old debutant. She’s had 11 top-ten finishes in the majors since then, including a couple of second and third places. One major for a player so talented just doesn’t seem right. Could she right that wrong this afternoon?
-10: Vu (7)
-7: Kim (8), Hull (7)
-6: Andrea Lee (9), Yin (7)
Vu is first up. A long putt from the fringe at the back. She lags up to three feet from the best part of 70. Hull meanwhile knocks her chip up to similar distance. Two missable par putts under the circumstances … but Vu rattles hers into the middle with a complete absence of fuss, then Hull follows suit in similar style. Both players providing a masterclass in getting up and down there.
A poser for Lilia Vu. She sends her tee shot at 7 into the thick rough down the right. The lie isn’t awful, but she’s not going to get much in the way of control, and the angle she’s coming in from isn’t ideal. The outcome’s not too bad, though. She sends her ball over the pin, and while she gets a bit of a flyer, the ball toppling off the back of the green and stopping on the fringe, she’ll fancy her chance of getting up and down from there. Charley Hull however sends a poor one in from the centre of the fairway, her ball bouncing into the rough to the right of the green. While she’s pin high, there’s work to be done to get close.
Neither Vu nor Hull can make birdie. They remain at -10 and -7 respectively. Meanwhile a fifth birdie of the day for the reigning US Open champion Allisen Corpuz, the latest at 16, and she’s -4 overall. It shouldn’t be long before Corpuz is taking over as clubhouse leader from Alice Hewson and Celine Boutier, who currently share it at -1.
Amy Yang rattles in a 30-foot birdie putt on 10 to move to within five of the leader at -5. Andrea Lee is this close to draining a 20-footer for birdie on 9; a par, and she turns in 34 strokes. She’s -6. Meanwhile back on the par-five 6th, Charley Hull and Lilia Vu take turns to wedge into the green after two fine hits, but neither go particularly close in their attempts to set up birdie. Still, they’ll both have a look from mid range.
Another tricky lie for Kim Hyo-joo, whose third into the par-five 6th – described in the official literature as “an attritional test, uphill and usually into the wind” – topples off the back of the green. Just. One turn shorter, and she’s have two putts for her par. As it is, she’s forced to take her wedge and blade it towards the hole. Almost impossible to judge the distance. She does pretty well to get to ten feet, but the par putt drifts off to the left and the 2014 Evian champion slips to -6. Meanwhile up on 7, it’s another bogey for Ally Ewing, her third of the day. She’s -4 and the 66 on Friday that gave her a five-shot lead over the field seems a world away now.
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Nothing’s gone right for Charley Hull so far. Her mistakes have been punished, while on 5, having knocked her tee shot pin high to 20 feet, a gently oscillating birdie putt hits the centre of the cup … only to somehow fail to drop, lipping out on the left, then circumventing the rim at the back before staying out on the right. A gravity-defying horseshoe. She looks on with genuine shock, as does Lilia Vu’s caddie. A chip and a putt for Vu, who had pulled her tee shot, and the gap remains three.
-10: Vu (5)
-7: Kim (5), Hull (5)
-6: Andrea Lee (7), Yin (5)
Andrea Lee pours a 25-foot uphill birdie putt on 7 into the cup. She moves into a share of fourth at -6. Amy Yang meanwhile rolls one in from similar distance on 8 to move to -4. The middle stretch of the course offers more opportunities for scoring, so perhaps we’ll begin to see one or two members of the chasing pack piecing something together.
Hull does pretty well to power her third, essentially a long bunker shot from a grassy depression, over some actual sand at the front of the green. Two putts later and she’s salvaged bogey. But that’s back-to-back dropped shots for the home hero. The gallery is a little quiet as a result. Vu takes two putts from the fringe at the front of the green for par. The Chevron champion is looking cool and in complete control right now.
-10: Vu (4)
-7: Kim (4), Hull (4)
-6: Yin (5)
-5: Andrea Lee (6), Shin (6)
-4: Ewing (5), Grant (5)
Linn Grant should get her props for damage limitation too. She responded to that shank out of the sand at 5 by getting up and down for bogey. She’s -4. Meanwhile it’s a second bogey of the round for Angel Yin, this time at 4. It’s cool and the wind is picking up. The conditions aren’t quite as conducive to low scoring as they were earlier. That’ll explain the lack of momentum from the chasing pack.
For the second time today, Kim Hyo-joo does exceptionally well to limit the damage at a scruffily played hole to bogey. She gets up and down from the left of 4. She’s -7 and safely on the green at the par-three 5th, albeit not particularly close. Meanwhile more trouble for Hull on 4, as she pulls one out of the heather into a grass bunker down the left. Vu is just short of the green in two.
The leader Vu sends her tee shot at 4 dangerously close to the long grass down the right, but the ball stops in the semi-rough. No such luck for Hull, whose drive disappears into the purple heather on the left. Right now, of the top ten players, it’s only Vu who has any forward momentum.
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Up on the par-three 5th, Linn Grant hits a hosel rocket out of a bunker. Having already bogeyed 2, and missed a short birdie effort on 4, this isn’t an ideal start for the 24-year-old Swede. She’s currently -5 and likely to be moving further out soon. Meanwhile some sand-based bother for Kim Hyo-joo, whose second into 4 plugs under the lip of a bunker. She’s forced to chip out sideways into thick rough.
Hull can only attempt to stab her ball out of the thick rough and up onto the green. It flies out hot and trundles 30 feet past the flag. Trouble now. Two putts for bogey a must. She lags the long par putt up to tap-in distance and limits the damage. That’s only her fifth bogey of the entire week. Vu steps up and rolls her par putt straight into the middle of the cup. That’s a wonderful sandy save, and suddenly the lead is two.
-10: Vu (3)
-8: Hull (3), Kim (3)
-7: Yin (3)
Hull doesn’t take advantage of that lucky bounce. She sends her second into 3 off the back right of the green and into a small depression covered in thick oomska. She’s shortsided, too. Meanwhile Vu spins her approach into a bunker guarding the front left. The leader splashes out to five feet and will have a chance of scrambling her par. Hull with work to do.
“Oops!” “Fore!” Not the ideal words to hear when you’ve just hit your tee shot. Charley Hull’s ball flies towards the heather down the right of 3 … but she gets a huge break as her ball bounces straight left and avoids the thick wrist-bothering stuff. Semi-rough is quite the result all told; that could have been disastrous. Meanwhile up on the green, Kim Hyo-joo makes bounceback birdie, having wedged her second to six feet and rammed home the putt. She’s -8 again.
Hull could putt from off the front, but chooses to chip instead. Great decision. She lands a high, crisp wedge six feet short, the ball rolling out to kick-in distance. That was a high tariff shot that very nearly went in for an outrageous birdie. Vu then takes advantage of her 1-hybrid double whammy by rolling an ice-cool putt straight into the middle of the cup.
-10: Vu (2)
-9: Hull (2)
-7: Yin (2), Kim (2)
Charley Hull’s second into the long par-four 2nd comes up just short of the green. No such problem for Lilia Vu, who absolutely creams another hybrid straight at the pin, leaving an eight-foot look at birdie. A big matchplay-style back-and-forth coming up!
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Ah, in fact Kim’s drive at 2 had come to rest on the edge of that aforementioned bunker. She was only able to advance her second a few yards up the hole. So that was her third. Kim therefore does extremely well to limit the damage to bogey by lobbing a chip from the bottom of a swale to a couple of feet. She tidies up for bogey and slips back to -7. That showed real moxie, all told.
A masterclass in course management from Charley Hull and Lilia Vu on 2. They take 3-wood and 1-hybrid respectively to ensure they don’t flirt with the bunker in the middle of the fairway, a trap that has ensured this hole has played the hardest all week. A bit of trouble looming for Kim Hyo-joo up the hole, though; she pulls her second into the rough to the left of the green. Ally Ewing was unable to get up and down from there to scramble her par; can the 28-year-old Korean do better?
The pressures of major-championship Sunday are quickly becoming apparent. Bogey at 1 for Angel Yin; a dropped shot at 2 for Linn Grant. Ally Ewing can’t get up and down from the fringe at 2; bogey. Akie Iwai is going in the right direction, though: the 21-year-old from Japan birdies 3 and 5 and is currently -3 overall. And it’s a pair of pars for Lilia Vu and Charley Hull on 1.
-9: Vu (1), Hull (1)
-8: Kim (1)
-7: Yin (1)
-6: Ewing (2)
-5: Shin (2), Andrea Lee (2)
-4: Alison Lee (5)
Nelly Korda’s putter has cost her this title. She creams her second at the par-four 3rd to three feet, only for the birdie effort to horseshoe out. That’s two short ones missed already, to file alongside similar efforts missed coming home yesterday evening. A serious challenge undone from short range, and a problem for the world number one to solve.
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OK, now we’re really cooking, because the final match has taken to the tee. Home favourite Charley Hull crashes a drive straight down the middle to wild cheers. Lilia Vu follows her. There’s no doubting who the majority favour, but Vu gets an appreciative roar of her own from the knowledgeable and sporting Walton Heath gallery. This is on!
Celine Boutier went into the week as the hottest ticket in golf, with back-to-back wins at the Evian and the Scottish Open. “I know the odds,” the 29-year-old Parisian smiled wryly before teeing off on Thursday, and no, the three-in-a-row long shot wasn’t to be. An opening round of 74 saw to that. Inbee Park remains the last woman to notch back-to-back majors, when she captured the Dinah Shore, PGA and US Open in short order in 2013. But when you’re hot, you’re hot, and the in-form Boutier has ended the week in the style of a major champion: four birdies today for a blemish-free card of 68.
No world number one has won a major since Lydia Ko in 2016. That strange run looks like stretching to another year, because Nelly Korda’s putter is continuing to misbehave. She’s been sensational from tee to green this week, but a series of missed tiddlers have cost her dearly. Yesterday afternoon she was on a serious charge, five under for her round after eagle at 11, and just three off the lead. But she then yipped from kick-in distance on 13, an exquisitely timed “Aw [word redacted by Family Blog editor]-ing hell!” betraying her frustration. This afternoon, having nearly drained a long birdie effort on 1, she’s just pushed a short par putt wide right at 2, and instantly moves in the wrong direction. She’s -3.
Good news for the chasing pack: there’s a score out there all right, and Mao Saigo has proved it with a final round of 67. The 21-year-old from Japan is beginning to make a name for herself as a Sunday specialist in the majors, having shot 64 en route to third place in last year’s Evian Championship at Évian-les-Bains. It’s been an up-and-down week for Saigo: 75-70-78-67. Anyone who has ever picked up a club will immediately understand. She finishes at +2 overall.
Preamble
At the start of moving day, Ally Ewing was five strokes clear of the field and set fair for her first major title. But you don’t have to veer too far off piste at Walton Heath to get into bother, and by the time she walked off the 6th green she’d carded her third bogey of the day. She ended up with a 75 – some comedown after Friday’s glorious 66 – while Lilia Vi and Angel Yin were compiling 67s, Charley Hull, Kim Hyo-joo and Linn Grant 68s. Throw in a 69 from Nelly Korda and suddenly the 2023 Women’s Open was exactly that. Wide open. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked going into this final round …
-9: Lilia Vi, Charley Hull
-8: Angel Yin, Kim Hyo-joo
-7: Ally Ewing
-6: Linn Grant
-5: Jiyai Shin, Andrea Lee
-4: Nelly Korda, Amy Yang, Perrine Delacour, Nasa Hataoka, Alison Lee
Any number of players have a realistic shout, and there’s a score out there if someone wants it. If we get even half of the drama Ashleigh Buhai and Chun In-gee served up on Sunday last year in the Muirfield gloaming, we’ll be in for a cracker. It’s on!
