
Japan's Miyu Yamashita keeps her cool to win Women's Open to claim first Major
Yamashita finished with an overall score of 11 under at Royal Porthcawl after she sank three birdies on the front nine and she remained steady on the back nine before weathering a late stumble with her first bogey of the day on the par-four 17th.
Hull mounted a spirited challenge with five birdies that brought her to within one shot of Yamashita. However, the Briton's title hopes crumbled with back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th, while a missed birdie putt on the 18th sealed her fate.
Katsu also tied for second with four birdies, offset by a bogey on the second, to finish with a final-round score of 69.
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Ireland's Leona Maguire had a disappointing day, shooting a seven-over-par 79 to tied 63rd.
Yamashita showed championship composure despite the bogey and survived a nervy finish when she found the rough with her first two shots on the final hole, but she avoided the bunkers to land her third shot on the green.
Yamashita missed her birdie putt by inches but made par to spark wild celebrations that culminated with the new major champion being drenched in champagne by her compatriots.
Meanwhile, Mimi Rhodes got a remarkable hole-in-one in her final round, after following Stephanie Kyriacou off the tee. The Australian went close to a hole-in-one herself with a shot that hit the green and came to rest inches from the cup.
Rhodes then played a very similar shot and, luckily for her, Kyriacou's ball was handily placed for it to deflect in off. Kyriacou was still able to hole her short putt for a deserved birdie.
INSANE HOLE-IN-ONE! 🤯
Mimi Rhodes with one of the CRAZIEST aces you'll ever see ‼️
— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf)
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Irish Examiner
4 hours ago
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The 72-hole tournament starts on Thursday. Irish golfer Des Smyth. Photograph: Tom Honan/Inpho On this day: August 4th, 1979 Des Smyth had ditched a prospective career as an accountant to chase his dreams to play on the European Tour and, five years into life on tour, the Meath man finally secured his breakthrough victory when winning the Sun Alliance Matchplay Championship at Fulford in England. It was his first of eight career wins on the European Tour – which saw him win across four decades, winning in the '70s, '80s, '90s and Noughties – and he did it in style, defeating future world number one Nick Price of Zimbabwe with an eagle-three on the 18th hole. All square playing the last, Smyth recalled his breakthrough moment: 'Par five, the last. Both of us down the fairway. Both of us on the green. He was on 25 feet. I was just inside him. He missed and I holed. And I won, one up.' 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New World #1 in Women's Golf coming through! @jeeno_atthaya is going to need a new signature move – Callaway Golf on their player Jeeno Atthaya taking over the Rolex number one spot from Nelly Korda, who had been world number one for 17 straight months. 76 is pretty rough ... Let's hope I got rid of all my bad shots before the playoffs! – American Michael Kim on a poor final round 76 at the Wyndham Championship where he finished tied-62nd but still qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs (at 36th in the standings). Know the Rules Q: A player discovers they forgot to take an extra putter out of their bag before playing their tee shot on the second hole, meaning they have 15 clubs in their bag. The player takes one of the putters out of play by turning it upside down in their bag. What is the ruling in stroke play? A: As the player became aware that they had more than 14 clubs in their bag between holes, the penalty is applied at the end of the hole just completed, so the player gets two penalty strokes on the first hole (Rule 4.1b(1)). In the Bag: Miyu Yamashita (AIG Women's Open) Driver: Srixon ZXi (9.0˚) Fairway Woods: Srixon ZX Mk II (15.0˚ and 18.0˚) Hybrids: Srixon ZX Mk II (22˚ and 25˚) Irons: Srixon ZXi5 (6), ZXi7 (7-PW) Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (48˚), RTZ Tour Rack 52˚ and 58˚) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X Black L-Neck Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV Arrow


RTÉ News
2 days ago
- RTÉ News
Miyu Yamashita holds nerve to win Women's Open
Miyu Yamashita won the Women's Open by two shots to claim the first major of her career after the 24-year-old kept Charley Hull and Minami Katsu at bay to become the fourth different major champion from Japan in the last two years. Yamashita finished with an overall score of 11-under at Royal Porthcawl after she sank three birdies on the front nine and she remained steady on the back nine before weathering a late stumble with her first bogey of the day on the par-four 17th. Hull mounted a spirited challenge with five birdies that brought her to within one shot of Yamashita. However, the Briton's title hopes crumbled with back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th, while a missed birdie putt on the 18th sealed her fate. Katsu also tied for second with four birdies, offset by a bogey on the second, to finish with a final-round score of 69. Yamashita showed championship composure despite the bogey and survived a nervy finish when she found the rough with her first two shots on the final hole, but she avoided the bunkers to land her third shot on the green. Yamashita missed her birdie putt by inches but made par to spark wild celebrations that culminated with the new major champion being drenched in champagne by her compatriots. Ireland's Leona Maguire endured a difficult weekend, signing off with a seven-over 79 that left her in a tie for 63rd on 11-over-par.