Saso survives 'Disaster at Lancaster'
Two-time U.S. Women's Open winner avoids carnage; Augusta lotteries! Apply now; Golf's longest day arrives with 44 U.S. Open spots on offer
Yuka Saso, not yet 23, is the youngest two-time U.S. Women’s Open champ (Chris Keane/USGA)
In sports, we love violent terminology. What transpired, particularly over the first two days, in the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club certainly warrants a nickname, but perhaps something a little less bloody than “Massacre at Winged Foot.”
Disaster at Lancaster works (even if it doesn’t exactly rhyme with LAN-kiss-ter) because what transpired was a nightmare for NBC’s hopes of a decent viewership rating.
LCC did not discriminate on rank or prominence. It was an unforgiving venue, averaging 75.21 strokes on the par-70 course in the first round and another 74.5 in the second. The creek in front of the par-3 12th green swallowed more balls on Thursday (83 — three of them by the best player in women’s golf who made a 10) than Rae’s Creek at Augusta or Dye’s pond surrounding the 17th at Sawgrass ever have in one day. The hole played a whopping 0.80 more than par.
The cut line fell at a record 8-over. Even so, unworthy to compete the weekend were world No. 1 Nelly Korda, defending champion Allisen Corpuz, Rose Zhang, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Maja Stark, Jennifer Kupcho, Patty Tavatanakit, Georgia Hall, Sei Young Kim, Leona Maguire, In Gee Chun, Ariya Jutanugarn as well as world No. 1 amateur Ingrid Lindblad and reigning Augusta National Women’s Amateur champ Lottie Woad.
Nelly Korda couldn’t overcome a 10 on a par-3 Thursday and missed the cut (Chris Keane/USGA)
It was not a very home-friendly U.S. venue for Americans either, as only 15 were among the 75 players who made the cut, led by Andrea Lee, Ally Ewing and amateur Catherine Park as the only Yanks among the top 30 heading into the final round.
The weekend talent exodus was such a bad development for a sport trying to attract more eyeballs that Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols felt compelled to write a whole column urging people to watch the final round on Sunday anyway, even if almost everyone they might have heard of was no longer in Pennsylvania. Oddly, not listed among the reasons was to watch Charley Hull walk around with a cigarette hanging from her lips like she was Arnie chasing a green jacket, inhaling lung darts while trying to throw wedge darts at pins.
Despite all the carnage, the three-way 54-hole leaders — Minjee Lee, Andrea Lee and Wichanee Meechai — each reached 5-under par without ever posting a round over par. Pretty astonishing golf, to be honest, considering what the William Flynn course was doing to everyone else.
“Pars and birdies feel like gold right now,” Minjee Lee, a two-time major winner, said on Friday.
Sunday basically came down to five players with any real chance to “win” on a course that wasn’t likely to yield a huge comeback charge from any of the 70 players who started the day over par. Japanese major champions Hinako Shibuno (3-under) and Yuka Saso (2-under) lurked behind the lead trio waiting for someone to snap under the pressure.
It would take some help from the lead trio to make things interesting — and help they did.
The most likely candidate to fade was Meechai, a 31-year-old Thai who admittedly didn’t believe she possessed the talent to win on the LPGA Tour. How does she process pressure? “You cannot feel your body,” she said. “You cannot feel your brain. You cannot feel your hands. So I just hate it.”
It showed, as Meechai opened with a pair of bogeys and then bowed out with crushing triple on the par-3 sixth.
Of the leading Lees, Minjee was the clear favorite with two majors and 10 tour wins to her outstanding credits. The 28-year-old Australian — big sister to the PGA Tour’s Min Woo Lee — already has her name on the Harton S. Semple Trophy for winning the U.S. Women’s Open in 2022 at Pine Needles.
But 25-year-old Californian Andrea Lee is no slouch — an emerging star with one career LPGA win and a Solheim Cup appearance on her ledger. She was world amateur No. 1 for 17 weeks and Stanford’s record holder in women’s wins (9) before Rose Zhang came along.
Andrea faltered with a bogey at 1 and a double at 4 to fall three behind but recovered to pose the biggest stretch challenge and finished T3 with fellow American Ally Ewing.
So it seemed to be Minjee Lee’s to lose when she headed to the ninth tee at 4-under overall with a three-shot lead over a quartet of chasers — Andrea Lee, Shibuno, Saso and a new Thai representative, Arpichaya Yubol, who birdied four of the first 10 holes to get into the mix.