Sweden’s Maja Stark held off World No. 1 Nelly Korda to claim a two-shot victory at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Stark started Sunday’s final round at Erin Hills Golf Course with a one-shot advantage and throughout the day no one was able to knock the Swede off top spot as her final-round 72 was enough to earn her the $2.4m winner’s share and collect her maiden major title.
Stark began the day with a string of five pars, before sinking her first birdie from 20 feet at the 6th. She bogeyed the par-5 7th which Korda managed to quickly capitalize on by recovering from a bogey on the 6th to sink back-to-back birdies at the 7th and 8th. Korda came within one shot of Stark, but Stark extended her advantage when she rolled a 15-foot birdie at the 11th. Korda bogeyed the 13th meaning Stark was ahead by three approaching the midway stage of the back-nine. Both made birdies at the 14th, missing their respective eagle attempts but Korda was unable to pile the pressure on the latter stages which dwindled when she bogeyed the last. Stark’s comfortable lead during the closing stages meant consecutive bogey’s at the 17th and 18th was enough for the Swede to claim a maiden major triumph.
Stark finished on 7 under for the week and makes history as the first European winner of the U.S. Women’s Open since 2006. Annika Sorenstam was the last to take home the trophy, and the 10-time major-winner phoned in to congratulate the fellow Swede on her victory.
“Before this week, I was worried that I wasn’t really going to play decent golf for a while because it felt like it was so far away,” the 25-year-old said afterwards. “So this just feels huge.
“You always kind of know that it (major victory) is possible, but there are so many good golfers on this Tour. I didn’t think I would be able to do it this week – I’ll be honest to say that.”
Korda, who is still in pursuit of her first win of the season, ended the tournament in a share of second with Japan’s Rio Takeda, both on 5 under.
“Definitely played pretty well today,” said the World No. 1. “Just didn’t see any of my putts really drop on the back nine. If anything, kind of made a silly three-putt, but then bounced back with a nice birdie. It does sting to come up short.
“At the end of the day, the work that I’ve been putting in, especially throughout the start of the season, to test it on conditions like the U.S. Women’s Open where you’re tested mentally, you’re testing your game in every department, and to play pretty solid golf shows that I’ve been working hard.”
What is the next event?
The next event on the LPGA Tour schedule is the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer taking place between 6-8 June at the Bay Course in New Jersey, U.S.