Haeran Ryu during today’s second round at Royal Lytham & St Annes – image R&A via Getty Images
Despite a slow start to her second round at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu has kept alive her hopes of a third consecutive major title with a round of 69 to take the 36-hole lead by one over Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki with Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and American Yealimi Noh another shot back in third place.
Bogeys at the 3rd and a double at the 5th today saw Ryu drop off the pace, but she was almost faultless from there, picking up five birdies, including one at the last, to move past the opening-round leader, Thitikul, and Kuwaki, both of whom had played earlier in the day.
Having won the KPMG Women’s PGA and Amundi Evian Championships at her last two starts, Ryu is chasing a unique treble of major championships. It has been 13 years since Korean Inbee Park won three in a row in 2013.
Moving from 13th in the Rolex Ranking at the beginning of the year to now 3rd, Ryu is seemingly on track to challenge Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul for the positions above her currently.
“I’m just trying to have fun on the course because this course is a lot of stress in the golf because a lot of bunkers and green is tough, so — and then windy, too — so just trying to find the fun in the golf course with my caddie,” said Ryu.
When asked how long it has taken her to become comfortable with a lead given her recent efforts Ryu responded: “I have been playing golf almost 15 years, so I think I’ve learned a lot of experience for the good position. So that’s why these days I’m pretty calm and pretty happy on the golf course.
“Yeah, I think I don’t want to focus on other players. I just keep thinking about my golf and the golf course. So because a lot of great players in here, that’s why I just want to think about my golf. Because this is a major; nobody knows what comes up. So I just want tomorrow to be happy with my play and just think about my swing and, yeah, that’s it.”
Australasian hopes are led by New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and a surprising performance by Open Championship debutante, Queenslander Robyn Choi, both at 1 under, six shots behind the lead and tied for 14th.
Ko’s mid-round stretch of three birdies in four holes around the turn played a big role in her round of 1 under 70, and she is not without at least some hope of winning this title for a second time, having won at St Andrews in 2024.
“I think this is the toughest Women’s Open championship venue I have ever played,” said Ko earlier in the week. “I don’t know what I thought when I played in 2018. I might have been in a lot of bunkers that are on the golf course that are in my memory bank. It actually feels like a very new course to me. I know they made a little bit of adjustments on a couple of the holes.
“But, yeah, it’s a hard golf course. Even on a pretty perfect day like today it’s playing hard. So when you win on that kind of caliber of golf course, I think it’s always something that you come off feeling extra proud.”
Choi has done remarkably well in her first attempt in this championship and in her first real experience on this style of golf course.
“I think I just really drove it well,” said Choi. “I tried to avoid all the pot bunkers out there. I think that was kind of huge.
“But just trying to keep steady golf, try not to make mistakes. I think trying not to make bogey is kind of the key out here rather than trying to play aggressive and making birdies. So just tried to stick to that game plan.
Honestly, it’s been great. It is kind of what I have been expecting: Tough conditions, major, windy.
“But, you know, I think I feel like after playing the two rounds I feel like my game is going to improve a lot just playing in this kind of condition. I’ve never really played on this style of golf course. I mean, in Australia, but I still feel like it’s kind of different.
“Yeah, I think I’ll just become a better player honestly after playing in those tough conditions.”
Hannah Green is at 2 over and tied for 31st, while New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey is the only other Australasian to make the weekend at 4 over, which was the cut score.
Leaderboard
Swanwick advances as Bai awaits his fate at US Amateur Championship
Josh Bai in action today – image USGA
The 36-hole qualifying phase of the US Amateur Championship has been all but completed at the Merion Golf Club and the Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania. A handful of players are still to finish their second rounds after darkness halted play and will need to return on Wednesday morning (US time)
One New Zealander is safe, and another remains a possibility for inclusion in the 64 golfers to contend in the knockout matches.
Hawkes Bay golfer, Zackary Swanwick, an attendee at Forida State University, began his campaign with a mediocre opening round of 72 at the Philadelphia Country Club on Monday, but playing the historic Merion Golf Club’s course on day two, he produced five birdies in seven holes through the middle of his round to eventually record an impressive round of 67 and finish in a share of 16th place in the field of 312.
The effort was no doubt made even more enjoyable for Swanwick after missing out on the matchplay by one shot last year.
Auckland’s Josh Bai, who along with Swanwick attends Florida State University, also played the Merion Golf Club today. After an encouraging round of 69 at the Philadelphia Golf Club on day one, he struggled to a round of 73, and when he bogeyed his final hole it appeared he might have fallen short of the required mark.
Bai was forced to wait all day to see if he would advance into the matchplay stage, and as the day progressed his chances improved. He would eventually finish in a share of 54th place, and so with darkness halting play with a few left to complete their strokeplay rounds, Bai is forced to wait until Wednesday morning to hopefully survive a playoff with as many as 17 players vying for one of ten spots
Bai, the runner-up in the US Junior Championship in 2023, and the winner of the prestigious North and South Amateur last month, made the matchplay last year after surviving a playoff to get there but was eliminated in the Round of 64.
Australians Kayun Mudadana and Harry Takis have unfortunately been eliminated from the championship after failing to make the cut.
Sydney’s Mudadana appeared to be well enough placed after an opening round of 71 at the Merion Golf Club and through 10 holes at the Philadelphia Country Club today, but he bogeyed his 11th and 12th holes and was unable to pick up the extra birdie he needed to get into the playoff for one of the final 64 spots.
Queensland’s Takis, the leading world-ranked of the Australasians in the event and who is also attending college in the US, disappointed with his opening round of 74 at the Merion Golf Club on day one, and although he improved to a round of 71 at Merion on day two, he fell three short of the playoff.
The Round of 64 matches begin on Wednesday US time.
SCORING
Lee, Fox and Scott make it to FedEx Cup Playoffs
Min Woo Lee – finished best of the Australasians in the FedEx Cup rankings
Last week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, brought to a close the PGA Tour’s regular season for 2026, and now the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin with the staging of this week’s FedEx St Jude Championship at the TPC Southwind in Texas.
Just three Australasians have made it to the first of the Playoffs, where the leading 70 players from this season’s FedEx Cup standings will play the US$20 million event.
Min Woo Lee in 17th position, Ryan Fox in 22nd place and Adam Scott 29th, look to be inside the top 50 by week’s end to advance to the second and penultimate Playoff event, the BMW Championship in St Louis, followed a week later by the leading 30 advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta, each of the playoff events worth US$20 million.
Lee, Fox and Scott are guaranteed full PGA Tour status for 2027 by finishing inside the top 70.
For Jason Day 82nd and Karl Vilips 129th, their season is not yet over; they will have the opportunity to retain full playing privileges by participating in the FedEx Cup Fall Series.
The players finishing 71st or worse in the regular season standings can earn their PGA Tour status for next season through the FedEx Cup Fall, which starts after the playoffs. The top 100 players in the standings at the end of the FedEx Cup Fall will retain their cards.
FIELD LIST FOR FEDEX ST JUDE
Kelsey Bennett continues fine season on Ladies European Tour
Kelsey Bennett in action this week – image courtesy of Ladies European Tour
Kelsey Bennet has continued her impressive Ladies European Tour season with a 5th place finish in the lucrative PIF London Championship at the Centurion Club, maintaining her third place in the 2026 L.E.T Order of Merit.
Bennett, from Mollymook on the south coast of NSW, won €61,000 for her 14 under par total behind the winner, Anna Huang of Canada, adding this performance to a win in Australia and two runner-up finishes earlier in the season.
Tournament sponsors PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) have proven a good source of prizemoney for Bennett in 2026 having finished 12th in the season opener in Saudi Arabia, where she earned €80,000.
It is perhaps ironic that there was so much song and dance about the PIF’s support of LIV Golf in the early days given the role of women in that country, that they have become such a supporter of women’s golf and yet we now hear no such reaction to their involvement.
Huang won by two over local Charley Hull, who four-putted the 17th green after taking a one-shot lead and eventually finished two behind Huang in second place.
SCORES
Two Australians and two New Zealanders play US Amateur Championship
Queensland’s Harry Takis leads the Australasians in world ranking – image APAC
Four Australasians will look to add to the victories of Nick Flanagan, Curtis Luck and Danny Lee as US Amateur Champions from our part of the world when they play the game’s most prestigious amateur championship in Philadelphia later today.
Queensland’s Harry Takis and Sydney’s Kayun Mudadana will be joined by Hawke’s Bay’s Zackary Swanwick and Auckland’s Josh Bai in the field of 312 looking, initially, to play their way into the leading 64 who qualify for the matchplay phase of the event.
Takis earned his right to play the event courtesy of his 15th-place standing in the world men’s amateur rankings; Swanwick, as a result of being 20th in the same ranking; Mudanda, in 99th place, played his way into the field via Final qualifying; and Bai recently won the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst.
Takis, Swanwick and Bai are all playing collegiate golf in the US, Takis for San Diego State, while Bai and Swanwick are teammates at the University of Florida.
With 312 of the game’s best amateurs competing over 36 holes at both Merion Golf Club and the Philadelphia Country Club to earn their way into the leading 64, it is a demanding task just to reach the match-play phase of the event.
SCORING/TEE TIMES
Australians eliminated at US Women’s Amateur Championship
Ella Scaysbrook during her Round of 16 match today – image USGA
Australia’s bid for a second US Women’s Amateur Championship title has ended at the Round of 16 stage at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee, the last two of six Australian entrants in the event, NSW’s golfers, Ella Scaysbrook and Rachel Lee, being defeated after an impressive run to reach the last 16.
Scaysbrook, who was no doubt keen to put to bed the memories of her semifinal loss twelve months ago, bounced back from a 2-down deficit in her Round of 32 match against Japan’s Yurina Hiroyoshi to win 1 up, but in her Round of 16 matchup against Seojin Park of South Korea, she lost her last three holes of the match to lose 3&1.
Sydney’s Rachel Lee, the 2025 Australian Amateur Champion, but still only 18 years of age, had an easy win in her Round of 32 match against American Macy Pate. In her Round of 16 match against the brilliant Asterisk Talley, however, despite recovering from a three-hole deficit through 8 holes and fighting back to tie the match through 13, she would lose 3&2.
Earlier in the Round of 32 matches, Victorian Raegan Denton fought her way back from a three-hole deficit through 13 holes of her match against Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang, playing her last five holes of regulation at 4 under, only to suffer an agonising loss at the 20th hole.
The US Men’s Amateur Championship gets underway this week at the Merion Golf Club and Philadelphia Country Club in Pennsylvania, where two Australians, Harry Takis and Kayun Mudadana, and two New Zealanders. Zackary Swanwick and Josh Bai are in the field of 312 vying to make the leading 64 to advance to matchplay.
Scoring
Three Australians remain alive at US Women’s Amateur
Sydney’s Rachel Lee – won in extra time against highly regarded Aphrodite Deng
Five Australians safely negotiated their way into the match play phase of the US Women’s Amateur Championship in Tennessee, but three now remain after the opening day of knockout matches.
Unfortunately for the leading qualifier amongst the Australians, Jazy Roberts, she fell victim to Thailand’s Pimchompoo Chaisilprungruang in her opening encounter, made even more disappointing after being 3 up through five holes. The Thai golfer played her last 13 holes in 5 under par to win 2&1.
Victorian Raegan Denton was 5 under par when her match against Floridian Grace Carter finished with Denton producing one final birdie at the 14th to win 5&4.
Last year’s beaten semi-finalist, Ella Scaysbrook of Sydney, was never down in her match against Californian Jude Lee and eventually won with a rush late in her match to win 3&2. She keeps alive her chances of atoning for an agonising semi-final loss to the eventual winner Megha Ganne last year.
Sydney’s Rachel Lee survived an early onslaught from one of the female game’s leading young amateurs, Aphrodite Deng, coming from 3 down through 5 holes and 2 down through 9 to eventually take a 1-up lead playing the last. Deng birdied the 18th to take the match into extra time, but Lee birdied to win at the 19th.
Queensland’s Amy Hodgkins was never ahead in her match against Texan Farah O’Keefe but got the encounter back to all square through 11 holes before losing the next three and the match 3&2 at the 16th.
None of the three will clash in tomorrow morning’s Round of 32, so there is a good chance that Australia will have some representation through to the Round of 16 in the afternoon.
SCORING
Several Australians to advance to knockout phase of US Women’s Amateur
Jazy Roberts in action today – image Darren Carroll USGA
Victorian golfer Jazy Roberts has, by some margin, done best of the six-strong Australasian contingent during the 36-hole qualifying for the US Women’s Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee.
While several players are still required to finish their second rounds tomorrow due to a weather delay and then darkness, Roberts will finish the qualifying in around 8th place and comfortably qualify for the knockout rounds, which will commence after resumed play on Thursday (US time)
Australia’s highest-ranked female amateur (32nd in the world), Roberts won the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship earlier this year and has since won events such as the Riversdale Cup, the English Women’s Strokeplay Championship, and the Porter Cup in the US.
Last year, Roberts made it through to the Round of 32 in this event after qualifying 7th in the strokeplay, but the Bendigo golfer is a considerably more credentialed golfer now and her experience and success in some significant events over the last few months should bode well for her chances this week.
In 2019, Victorian Gabi Ruffels became the first Australian to win the title and lost in the final the following year before turning professional.
Roberts began with a round of 72 on Tuesday, but she opened round two with an outward nine of 33, and although she dropped two shots late in her round, a last-hole birdie has given her a high ranking amongst the qualifiers.
Queensland’s Amy Hodgkins, a recent winner of the Colorado Women’s Amateur Championship, is now at college in the US, initially at Northern Arizona and now in Louisville, and, interestingly, her sister Kirsty also played college golf in the US.
Hodgkins has two holes to play when play resumes tomorrow, and at 2 over par she sits inside the current cutoff mark of 4 over.
Victorian Raegan Denton bounced back from an opening round of 77 with a round of 70 on day two and made it into the field for the match play beginning on Thursday (US time), while last year’s semi-finalist Ella Scaysbrook of NSW is also at 3 over and having completed her 36 holes, she is safely into the knockout phase and on track for another shot at the title.
18-year-old NSW golfer, Rachel Lee might yet have work to do if she is to advance. Lee is at 4 over and, with 65 players on that score or better and 64 advancing, she is on the cusp, although she is likely to have done well enough to avoid a playoff. The 2025 Australian Amateur Champion has been a prolific winner of titles already in her career, and it is hoped she can make it through to test herself against the match play field.
64-year-old Victorian Sue Wooster will unfortunately miss out on advancing after struggling through the 36-hole qualifying.
SCORING
Shiho Kuwaki wins AIG Women’s Open playoff
Shiho Kuwaki poses in front of the iconic Royal and Lytham clubhouse – image R&A via Getty Images
Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki recorded a final round of 1 under 70 to come from three behind the 54-hole lead at the AIG Women’s Open Championship and then emerge the winner of a two-hole playoff against Germany’s Esther Henseleit.
Playing two groups ahead of Henseleit and third round leader, Yealimi Noh, Kuwaki birdied the second before dropping shots at the fourth and fifth and holes but on a day where blustery winds and tough pin positions made an already demanding Royal Lytham & St Annes layout even more so, the 23 year old played her last 13 holes in 2 under and waited while those behind tried to match her 5 under total.
Kuwaki, who has been a prolific winner on the Japan LPGA Tour but without status on the LPGA Tour, needed to wait 25 minutes or so while the final two groups attempted to join the leader, and it boiled down to the final pairing of Noh and Henseleit needing to birdie the last to do just that.
Both found the green, but Henseleit, from some 40 feet away, holed out, ensuring the event would need extra holes to determine the winner.
Kuwaki and Henseleit returned to the 18th, and it would be Kuwaki who found the thick rough short of a fairway bunker and could only advance her second 70 yards or so. Henseleit, in the meantime, hit her approach to 25 feet and appeared to have the front running before Kuwaki pitched from 100 yards to 4 feet. Henseleit missed, and Kuwaki holed for par, and so it was back to the 18th once again.
Henseleit’s tee shot at the second attempt was right and heading close to the gorse bushes before it hit a Marshall’s foot and bounced right into a near unplayable lie. Kuwaki had found the fairway and waited as Henseleit advanced her ball about 60 yards to set up a very similar but reverse situation to the first playoff hole after Kuwaki’s second finished 25 feet left of the hole.
Henseleit pitched to 15 feet or so but on a similar line to her remarkable birdie putt in regulation time, she was unable to save par, and when Kuwaki two-putted for par the title had gone to Japan for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in the history of the event.
Overnight leader, Yealimi Noh, from the USA finished third on four-under-par after a closing 74 while World numbers one and two Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul tied for fourth place on two-under, with English pair Lottie Woad and Charley Hull and South Korea’s Haeran Ryu a shot further back.
“I just can’t believe it,” said the champion. “I was planning to go play in Q-School later this year so I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Yeah, just to have all those things you said coming my way is just something that’s very, very special and hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”
When asked about her style on the golf course, Kuwaki responded: “I’m not one of the longest hitters, but I feel like my accuracy allows me to compete, and that’s something I am very proud of.
“I was planning to go play in Q-School later this year so I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Just to have all those things coming my way is just something that’s very, very special and hasn’t quite sunk in yet.”
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko finished as the leading Australasian in 20th place. Ko birdied the second hole to move within three of what would eventually be the playoff score but played the remaining 16 holes in 4 over par to finish at 2 over.
Fellow New Zealander Amelia Garvey posted one of her best performances in professional golf, with a six-birdie final round of 68 to finish 3 over and tied for 23rd.
Hannah Green was another shot further back while Robyn Choi struggled to a final round of 78 to finish in a share of 47th.
Leaderboard
Yealimi Noh moves three clear at Royal Lytham – Lydia Ko stays in touch
Yealimi Noh – facing the biggest day of her career – image R&A via Getty Images
American Yealimi Noh, at 7 under, takes a three-shot lead over five players into the final round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes after the leading contenders through 36 holes battled an increasingly demanding layout.
Noh, who has won only once since joining the LPGA Tour in 2020, faces the prospect of winning not only a second title but a major at that and one carrying a first prize of US$1.5 million, so tomorrow is shaping as the biggest day of the 25-year-old’s career.
Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki, Haeran Ryu from South Korea, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Lucy Li of the USA, and Germany’s Esther Henseleit are those golfers in a share of second place at 4 under.
Noh began the day in a share of 3rd place, and two behind the then leader, Haeran Ryu, and bogeys at her 4th and 5th holes suggested staying in touch might have been a struggle. But Noh was not alone in coming to terms with the windy conditions, and although Ryu made a fast start to the day, she began dropping shots soon after, and Noh’s recovery for a round of 69 saw her move three clear as she finished her round.
Earlier in the day, Japan’s Ayaka Furue had produced four birdies and an eagle for a round of the day 65 to move from just inside the cutline to what would eventually be 47 places better and in a share of 8th and Esther Enseleit also made considerable ground with her round of 67.
At the completion of the day only 13 players are under par, and those at 1 under are just six from the lead and, more importantly, in the event of a Noh struggling with the demands of leading a major, they are just three from second place. No player has held a three-shot lead or better in this event previously and failed to go on and win, but the task will not be an easy one.
“Yeah, I had a little bit of a rough start, a couple bogeys on the front nine, ” said Noh. “Actually a chip-in par save on the second, which was nice. Yeah, I just fell out of tempo a little bit and then got it together for the back nine, and it was really solid. Had some good par saves.”
Noh paid credit to her fiancée for improving her mindset following some ordinary efforts of late. “He’s been the best supporter, my biggest supporter besides my parents. I really wouldn’t be able to do anything without him, especially out on the golf course. You know, we’re always so stressed, and whether it’s going good or bad, it’s a lot with golfers. He’s been a really great supporter. He also plays golf, and he’s really good, so he understands a lot of it.
“Last week I was able to relax more. He reminded me that golf could be fun, like I said yesterday, just that it’s just a game. So he’s really helped me be in a good mindset for this week.”
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko heads the Australasians in a share of 12th place, her round of even par 71 today keeping her in touch of a high finish if she can produce a strong round tomorrow.
Robyn Choi, who is playing her first AIG Women’s Open has impressed with her showing, the Queenslander in a share of 16th place at 1 over par, while Hannah Green is two shots further back at 3 over.
Leaderboard
Lydia Ko – in action during round 3 – image R&A via Getty Images
Haeran Ryu leads again, Ko and Choi lead Australasians at Women’s Open
Haeran Ryu during today’s second round at Royal Lytham & St Annes – image R&A via Getty Images
Despite a slow start to her second round at the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu has kept alive her hopes of a third consecutive major title with a round of 69 to take the 36-hole lead by one over Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki with Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul and American Yealimi Noh another shot back in third place.
Bogeys at the 3rd and a double at the 5th today saw Ryu drop off the pace, but she was almost faultless from there, picking up five birdies, including one at the last, to move past the opening-round leader, Thitikul, and Kuwaki, both of whom had played earlier in the day.
Having won the KPMG Women’s PGA and Amundi Evian Championships at her last two starts, Ryu is chasing a unique treble of major championships. It has been 13 years since Korean Inbee Park won three in a row in 2013.
Moving from 13th in the Rolex Ranking at the beginning of the year to now 3rd, Ryu is seemingly on track to challenge Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul for the positions above her currently.
“I’m just trying to have fun on the course because this course is a lot of stress in the golf because a lot of bunkers and green is tough, so — and then windy, too — so just trying to find the fun in the golf course with my caddie,” said Ryu.
When asked how long it has taken her to become comfortable with a lead given her recent efforts Ryu responded: “I have been playing golf almost 15 years, so I think I’ve learned a lot of experience for the good position. So that’s why these days I’m pretty calm and pretty happy on the golf course.
“Yeah, I think I don’t want to focus on other players. I just keep thinking about my golf and the golf course. So because a lot of great players in here, that’s why I just want to think about my golf. Because this is a major; nobody knows what comes up. So I just want tomorrow to be happy with my play and just think about my swing and, yeah, that’s it.”
Australasian hopes are led by New Zealand’s Lydia Ko and a surprising performance by Open Championship debutante, Queenslander Robyn Choi, both at 1 under, six shots behind the lead and tied for 14th.
Ko’s mid-round stretch of three birdies in four holes around the turn played a big role in her round of 1 under 70, and she is not without at least some hope of winning this title for a second time, having won at St Andrews in 2024.
“I think this is the toughest Women’s Open championship venue I have ever played,” said Ko earlier in the week. “I don’t know what I thought when I played in 2018. I might have been in a lot of bunkers that are on the golf course that are in my memory bank. It actually feels like a very new course to me. I know they made a little bit of adjustments on a couple of the holes.
“But, yeah, it’s a hard golf course. Even on a pretty perfect day like today it’s playing hard. So when you win on that kind of caliber of golf course, I think it’s always something that you come off feeling extra proud.”
Choi has done remarkably well in her first attempt in this championship and in her first real experience on this style of golf course.
“I think I just really drove it well,” said Choi. “I tried to avoid all the pot bunkers out there. I think that was kind of huge.
“But just trying to keep steady golf, try not to make mistakes. I think trying not to make bogey is kind of the key out here rather than trying to play aggressive and making birdies. So just tried to stick to that game plan.
Honestly, it’s been great. It is kind of what I have been expecting: Tough conditions, major, windy.
“But, you know, I think I feel like after playing the two rounds I feel like my game is going to improve a lot just playing in this kind of condition. I’ve never really played on this style of golf course. I mean, in Australia, but I still feel like it’s kind of different.
“Yeah, I think I’ll just become a better player honestly after playing in those tough conditions.”
Hannah Green is at 2 over and tied for 31st, while New Zealand’s Amelia Garvey is the only other Australasian to make the weekend at 4 over, which was the cut score.
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