Maja Stark, a 25-year-old star golfer from Sweden, has put herself in contention for a hopeful maiden triumph at the U.S. Women’s Open. After Saturday’s quality effort, Stark fired a 2-under 70 for an overall mark of 7-under 209. She’ll go into the final round on Sunday with a one-shot lead over her nearest competitors.
Stark’s birdie blitz on the front nine laid the groundwork for her successful day. She made birdie on two of her first three holes, getting to 6-under for the tournament in a hurry. The kicker of her round was on the par-3 16th hole, where she made a remarkable 8 1/2-foot birdie putt. On her vision for what would be the last day, Stark said,
“I think I’m just going to try to play freely.”
Some of the results thus far on the Erin Hills layout shown in practice that it’s a brutal course. She knew going into Saturday that these conditions were going to be a real test of all the players’ skill sets.
That window hasn’t changed as the chase and lead group continued to experience fortunes both good and bad over the course of their rounds. Jinhee Im didn’t take long to get things going herself, as the KLPGA star birdied two of her first three holes to level Stark’s scorching score of 6-under. Sadly, her momentum was quickly undone when she triple-bogeyed the par-4 fourth hole. Ultimately, she went on to shoot a score of 79 for the day.
Perrine Delacour, who won the week before in France, was all over the place and after a birdie on the 3rd she’d bogey the 5th. While her performance was enough to keep her in contention, it further underscored the unpredictable nature of the challenging course.
Julia Lopez Ramirez from Spain took one of the biggest leaps, shooting an incredible score of 68. This fantastic performance helped propel her into second place, right in Stark’s rearview. Meanwhile, a trio of Japanese players—Rio Takeda, Hinako Shibuno and Mao Saigo—are just a shot back at 5 under. Saigo entered the day with a three-shot advantage. He was challenged from the start, playing the first three holes in bogey-bogey-bogey and closing with two additional bogeys that left him two shots short.
As finalists get ready for the championship round, Stark has her eyes set on the prize in keeping her lead. She accepted the challenge that Erin Hills threw at players, especially when it came to putting.
“It’s so hard because they tend to put holes that are right on the edges of the slopes, so you can see going into the grain and up until the hole, and then after the hole you just see that the grain is going the other way,” Stark explained.
She further elaborated on the challenge of distance control on this course:
“It’s just so hard to get the distances right. It’s really scary when you know if you putt this five feet by, then that’s gone.”
Stark has one round of play remaining. How well she can hurdle these obstacles will be even more important as she goes for the win at this elite competition. As players head into the homestretch, a sharp focus will be placed on taking advantage of your opponents’ missteps.
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