ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Maja Stark shot a 2-under 70 and avoided the mistakes that befell other contenders Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills.
The 25-year-old from Sweden had a 7-under 209 total. Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain was second after a 68, the best score of the day.
The Japanese trio of Rio Takeda (70), Hinako Shinobu (72) and second-round leader Mao Saigo (75) followed at 5 under. Top-ranked Nelly Korda was 4 under after a 73.
Saigo took a three-shot lead into the day but slumped as Erin Hills proved much tougher for the entire field than it had seemed the last couple of days.
Saigo made three straight bogeys at Nos. 4- 6 to drop into a tie for first. She made an 8 1/2-foot birdie putt on No. 12 to move back into sole possession of the lead, but Stark tied her with a 21 1/2-foot birdie on the par-3 16th. Saigo then bogeyed the last two to fall two back.
Speedier greens and tricker pin placements wreaked havoc with just about everyone on the course, leading to plenty of double bogeys and triple bogeys.
The most notable example of this came on the par-4 15th, when Esther Henseleit’s eagle putt from 55 feet away rolled 90 feet beyond the hole and went into the rough. Henseleit ended up with a double bogey.
Plenty of other contenders faced similar misfortune.
A Lim Kim, who entered Saturday in a six-way tie for second place, birdied No. 1 to get to 6 under, then went 7 over for the next four holes. Kim bogeyed No. 2, double-bogeyed No. 3, triple-bogeyed No. 4 and bogeyed No. 5. She ended up with a 77.
Jinhee Im and Yealimi Noh also had been part of that six-way tie for second at the start of the day. Im birdied two of her first three holes to get to 6 under before she triple-bogeyed the par-4 fourth. Noh also was at 6 under before a double bogey on No. 3. Im ended up with a 79, and Noh shot 75.
Korda also struggled early before coming on strong late. Korda had a 40 on the front nine with four bogeys and no birdies, but rallied with three birdies on her last five holes.
This U.S. Women’s Open won’t have a repeat champion. Yuka Saso, who won this event in 2021 and 2024, missed the cut.
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