Welsh Porte Cole – Yamashitamiya had a hard time with the Greens, bent off the tee. This was a rough combination that led to a fierce round of 2 over 74 on Saturday, narrowing the lead to a one shot from Lim Kim at the women’s British Open.
Leading on three shots in the third round, Yamashita has not hit fairways on the past 11 holes and still managed to stay ahead of the Royal Port Call, but it wasn’t easy.
She lost her lead on the 17th, blew across the greenery out of the pot bunker, and exploded to a fringe about 40 feet away. She stopped the putt for a par, then missed a birdie chance from just six feet of the par-5’s closed hole.
This brought Yamashita, who turned 24 on Saturday to a 207 under.
“Today, I’ll just look at what went wrong, what went right, analyze the day and make improvements that lead to a better round than tomorrow,” Yamahashi said.
Kim wore a great display as the wind got stronger at 5 under 67. She had the opportunity to hit a 335-yard drive on hole 18 to get the lead in wind and fast link turf. She went just long and used a putter from the green and took three putts for the par.
Still, Lim put her in the final group alongside Yamashita for the second major, winning the US Women’s Open in Houston in 2020, winning without fans during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“To be honest, I’m not focusing on leadership. I focus on my process and shots and my position,” Kim said.
And it’s not just Kim who has the chance.
Yamashita’s struggle brought some possibilities in the final round, including England’s always-funny Charlie Hull. She shot 66 and went within 3 shots of the lead from 11 shots as Hal went towards her first major.
“I’m just chasing,” Hal said of playing from behind. “It’s so much more fun.”
Andrea Lee was 67, and was behind two shots, followed by Hal, Megan Kang (68), Riotakeda (74) and Minami Katsu.
“I think there’s a bit of extra pressure on someone who’s the 54 hole leader,” Lee said. “Tomorrow will be pretty tough. Anything can happen there. I think anyone within five shots will have an honest chance at this championship, so I’m trying to bow my head and stick to my game plan and not look at the leaderboard.”
The Women’s British Open had a Japanese duel appearance, with Yamashita taking three shots from Takada, with no one else closer than seven shots. However, it was Yamashita’s struggle early on with her putts, and then one of the straight drivers lost her way.
She, of course, stabilized herself with a 3-foot approach for the No. 11 birdie from rough, and settled tee shot 3 feet away for another birdie on the par 3 12th.
However, play from Fescue caught up with her and it struggled to finish in the round, except for continuing to lead her except for the 40-foot putt on the 17th.
Takeda wasn’t that good. There were two bogeys in the first four holes and two more in the last five holes.
Rising British star Lottie Ward, who won last week in his professional debut, birded the final hole of 71 and rolled up six shots.
Women’s golf No. 1 player Nelly Korda could end a major championship season without a title. She shot a 74 and defeated a 9 shot. Korda has gone to 13 tournaments without winning and risks losing his No. 1 ranking to Jeeno Thitikul depending on the final round.
The LPGA Tour has already got off to a historic start with the inability to win multiple winners throughout the 19 tournaments. This year, only Kim and Takeda from the top 10 on the leaderboards won.