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The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Miyu Yamashita wins AIG Women's Open at Porthcawl
For Yamashita, it was a case of yoku dekimashita. In Japanese, that basically means, 'well done' and the job was a good 'un for the calm, composed 24-year-old as she triumphed at Royal Porthcawl in the final women's major of the 2025 campaign. Charley Hull, one of the poster girls for women's golf in the UK, had raised hopes of earning a celebratory Downing Street reception that was lavished on the triumphant footballing Lionesses last week with a spirited weekend push. Sir Keir Starmer could put the bubbly, sausage rolls, vol-au-vents and quiche back in the fridge, though, as Yamashita staved off the chasing pack to become the fourth Japanese women's major winner in the last couple of years and the second this season. The girls from the Land of the Rising Sun are on, well, the rise. Six years after the wonderful win of the 'Smiling Cinderella', Hinako Shibuno in this championship, Yamashita had a ball too. The popping of champagne corks and subsequent dousing she received from her compatriots on the 18th green was richly deserved. Yamashita closed with a two-under 70 for an 11-under aggregate and a two-shot win over Hull and another Japanese talent, Minami Katsu. Hull, who was stretchered off the course at the last major, the Evian Championship, with a virus, performed admirably. It was her fourth runners-ups finish in a major championship. She keeps chapping on the door. Yamashita had her 24th birthday on Saturday and her messy 74 during the third round probably led to the postponement of any cake as her halfway lead evaporated. She spent much of the evening at the driving range and got herself back on the straight and narrow for the final day. Yamashita dropped just one shot in a pressure-packed closing round while her par-saves on 13 and 14 were huge in the final analysis. 'This has been a goal of mine, something I've worked towards my whole life, a dream you could say,' she said. 'It's been the result of hard work every single day, making changes, making improvements, and to be able to do it now and call myself a champion is a very special thing.' Hull, 11 shots off the lead after 36-holes, put in a swashbuckling effort but back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 killed off any hope as Yamashita stayed strong at the summit. 'Coming into this week I didn't think I was going to make the cut,' Hull said of the lingering effects of her illness. 'That's the truth of it. I wasn't hitting it very well. I couldn't prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. "I obviously collapsed three times at the Evian and then I still wasn't feeling well until Sunday last week. So, I think I did pretty well and considering my mindset coming into it. I'm pretty proud of myself. It was a lively day on the south Wales coast and the early starters were confronted by some fairly desperate conditions. Paula Martin Sampedro, a brilliant winner of the Women's Amateur Championship at Nairn back in June, was out in some of the worst of it but the Spanish amateur weathered the storm and signed off with a fine four-under 68. Her card included five birdies in a row from the 11th as the elements began to improve and she eventually finished in a share of eighth and took home the Smyth Salver as the leading player from the unpaid ranks. Sampedro finished alongside Lottie Woad, who was the top amateur a year ago at St Andrews and has made a barnstorming start to life as a pro. Keep an eye on Sampedro's progress. 'I couldn't imagine a better ending of my AIG Women's Open with a birdie on the last,' Sampedro beamed. 'Truly a dream come true.' It was a special day too for England's Mimi Rhodes, who made an extraordinary hole-in-one on the fifth en route to a share of 19th. Her playing partner, Steph Kyriacou, who had an ace of her own on the eighth in round two, knocked her tee-shot to within inches of the hole before Rhodes stepped up. With a little, snooker-style kiss the would've earned a gentle ripple of applause at the Crucible, her ball went in off Kyriacou's stationary one. 'I wasn't expecting it to go in, so I just picked up my tee and I heard everyone going crazy so I knew something had happened,' said Rhodes. 'Then we just walked up to the green and it was in the hole. Unbelievable.' Yamashita probably felt something similar as she savoured her silver lining.


The Herald Scotland
5 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Miyu Yamashita wins AIG Women's Open at Porthcawl
Charley Hull, one of the poster girls for women's golf in the UK, had raised hopes of earning a celebratory Downing Street reception that was lavished on the triumphant footballing Lionesses last week with a spirited weekend push. Sir Keir Starmer could put the bubbly, sausage rolls, vol-au-vents and quiche back in the fridge, though, as Yamashita staved off the chasing pack to become the fourth Japanese women's major winner in the last couple of years and the second this season. The girls from the Land of the Rising Sun are on, well, the rise. Six years after the wonderful win of the 'Smiling Cinderella', Hinako Shibuno in this championship, Yamashita had a ball too. The popping of champagne corks and subsequent dousing she received from her compatriots on the 18th green was richly deserved. Yamashita closed with a two-under 70 for an 11-under aggregate and a two-shot win over Hull and another Japanese talent, Minami Katsu. Hull, who was stretchered off the course at the last major, the Evian Championship, with a virus, performed admirably. It was her fourth runners-ups finish in a major championship. She keeps chapping on the door. Yamashita had her 24th birthday on Saturday and her messy 74 during the third round probably led to the postponement of any cake as her halfway lead evaporated. She spent much of the evening at the driving range and got herself back on the straight and narrow for the final day. Yamashita dropped just one shot in a pressure-packed closing round while her par-saves on 13 and 14 were huge in the final analysis. 'This has been a goal of mine, something I've worked towards my whole life, a dream you could say,' she said. 'It's been the result of hard work every single day, making changes, making improvements, and to be able to do it now and call myself a champion is a very special thing.' Hull, 11 shots off the lead after 36-holes, put in a swashbuckling effort but back-to-back bogeys at 16 and 17 killed off any hope as Yamashita stayed strong at the summit. 'Coming into this week I didn't think I was going to make the cut,' Hull said of the lingering effects of her illness. 'That's the truth of it. I wasn't hitting it very well. I couldn't prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. "I obviously collapsed three times at the Evian and then I still wasn't feeling well until Sunday last week. So, I think I did pretty well and considering my mindset coming into it. I'm pretty proud of myself. It was a lively day on the south Wales coast and the early starters were confronted by some fairly desperate conditions. Paula Martin Sampedro, a brilliant winner of the Women's Amateur Championship at Nairn back in June, was out in some of the worst of it but the Spanish amateur weathered the storm and signed off with a fine four-under 68. Her card included five birdies in a row from the 11th as the elements began to improve and she eventually finished in a share of eighth and took home the Smyth Salver as the leading player from the unpaid ranks. Sampedro finished alongside Lottie Woad, who was the top amateur a year ago at St Andrews and has made a barnstorming start to life as a pro. Keep an eye on Sampedro's progress. 'I couldn't imagine a better ending of my AIG Women's Open with a birdie on the last,' Sampedro beamed. 'Truly a dream come true.' It was a special day too for England's Mimi Rhodes, who made an extraordinary hole-in-one on the fifth en route to a share of 19th. Her playing partner, Steph Kyriacou, who had an ace of her own on the eighth in round two, knocked her tee-shot to within inches of the hole before Rhodes stepped up. With a little, snooker-style kiss the would've earned a gentle ripple of applause at the Crucible, her ball went in off Kyriacou's stationary one. 'I wasn't expecting it to go in, so I just picked up my tee and I heard everyone going crazy so I knew something had happened,' said Rhodes. 'Then we just walked up to the green and it was in the hole. Unbelievable.' Yamashita probably felt something similar as she savoured her silver lining.


Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Man Utd transfer suddenly collapsed after negotiations descended into farce
A bizarre sequence of events saw Manchester United miss out on one sought-after transfer target after 'impostors' attempted to hijack the deal with farcical demands The Ander Herrera transfer saga of 2013 was a unique situation that saw Manchester United miss their target for the strangest of reasons. The Red Devils were known to be in pursuit of the former Spain midfielder when three agents sought to hijack the transfer. David Moyes, who was United manager at the time, said the deal collapsed due to Athletic Bilbao 's extortionate demands over the fee. However, fans could hardly believe their eyes when reports emerged suggesting the move was actually off because 'impostors' claiming to act on United's behalf had arrived at Athletic's offices offering to pay his buyout clause on deadline day. The details were like something out of a Hollywood script rather than transfer negotiations. So many will have been even more shocked to hear Herrera himself confirm that truly was the reason his move to Old Trafford never materialised 12 years ago. "I didn't even know them," the 35-year-old said on the UTD Podcast in 2022. "I know my lawyers and I know my agent. It is the same agent as when I was 18. They [hoaxers] were trying to make easy money – I don't know how. "I think they wanted to be there if the negotiation was successful, they wanted everyone to think that they were the ones who did it and, maybe after that, they can have more players or more negotiations. "But I didn't even know them, honestly. It was funny because some of my friends say, 'Your lawyers are in La Liga and they are going to pay the money,' and I said, 'No, they are not my lawyers. I do not know them.'" La Liga sources appeared eager to downplay the 'impostor' aspect of the storyline at the time, insisting the three lawyers, Rodrigo Garcia Lucas, Alvaro Reig Gurrea and Guillermo Gutierrez, were indeed working for United. Moyes added more intrigue when the Scot admitted that the collapse was due to the club feeling "the buyout was the wrong valuation." After missing out on Herrera, United instead rushed through a £27.5m deadline-day deal for Marouane Fellaini from Everton. The Herrera debacle went down as one of the more obscure transfer failures witnessed in modern times as United endured a slow summer of business under Moyes. There was a sentiment United were under-prepared in navigating the complexities of Spanish football's transfer system at such a late juncture in the window. Lucas, Gurrea and Gutierrez were the same three lawyers responsible for orchestrating Javi Martinez's blockbuster move to Bayern Munich in 2012. However, while that deal had been drawn up over the course of a month, they were attempting to execute Herrera's 2013 transfer in a matter of days (at most). Herrera, now playing for Argentinian giants Boca Juniors, moved to Manchester the following year after Louis van Gaal replaced Moyes at the helm. And United facilitated the move by transferring funds so the midfielder could trigger his own buyout clause. The Basque icon made 189 appearances for United, the same number of outings he managed for Athletic across two separate stints. He won the Europa League, an FA Cup and one League Cup during his time in England before joining Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2019.