(Reuters) -Miyu Yamashita won the Women’s Open by two shots to claim the first major of her career after the 24-year-old kept Charley Hull and Minami Katsu at bay to become the fourth different major champion from Japan in the last two years.
Yamashita finished with an overall score of 11-under at Royal Porthcawl after she sank three birdies on the front nine and she remained steady on the back nine before weathering a late stumble with her first bogey of the day on the par-four 17th.
Hull mounted a spirited challenge with five birdies that brought her to within one shot of Yamashita. However, the Briton’s title hopes crumbled with back-to-back bogeys on the 16th and 17th, while a missed birdie putt on the 18th sealed her fate.
Katsu also tied for second with four birdies, offset by a bogey on the second, to finish with a final-round score of 69.
Yamashita showed championship composure despite the bogey and survived a nervy finish when she found the rough with her first two shots on the final hole, but she avoided the bunkers to land her third shot on the green.
Yamashita missed her birdie putt by inches but made par to spark wild celebrations that culminated with the new major champion holding back tears of joy before she was drenched in champagne by her compatriots.
“To win such a historic tournament in front of all these amazing fans is such an incredible feeling and to have my family around me, to have so much support from everyone here, it’s just been amazing,” Yamashita said through an interpreter.
“Being my first major win as well is something that’s very special and to celebrate with everyone is just an amazing feeling.”
EARLY WARNING SHOT
Yamashita had struggled on Saturday with a stuttering 74 in the third round but she sent out a warning early on with a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth hole, following it up with back-to-back birdies before the turn.
She saved par with a long putt on the 13th after finding a bunker and nearly became the only golfer at the event to go without a bogey on the final day until the 17th hole.
Hull, meanwhile, had been 11 off the halfway lead, but clawed her way back over the last two rounds to give the local crowd a glimmer of hope.
She moved within one of the lead and looked confident with her stroke play, especially on the par-three holes where she sank three birdies.
The crowd erupted when she made a birdie putt on the 14th but that was her last of the day as she made errors with the back-to-back bogeys.
EMOTIONAL HULL
Hull looked visibly emotional when she missed a short putt for par on the 17th and acknowledged the polite applause on the 18th, knowing she had let a slender chance at the title slip through her fingers.
“It was a bit unfortunate, but I felt like I was very much in control of my game today. I don’t feel like I mishit any shots out there. I hit it pretty pure today,” Hull said.
The shot of the day came from Mimi Rhodes when she made a hole-in-one on the fifth, with her tee shot hitting Steph Kyriacou’s ball near the hole before dropping into the cup.
“I had no idea it hit Steph’s ball until I just saw the video, so that’s unbelievable,” she said.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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