Major Maja: 25-Year-Old Swede Stark Wins Title at Erin Hills
Playing with the patience and precision
reminiscent of another champion from Sweden, Maja Stark won the 80th
U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally on Sunday when she mastered the
demands of Erin Hills and the challenge of the No. 1 player in the world
close behind. The 25-year-old closed with an even-par 72 for a
7-under-par total of 281, and a two-stroke margin of victory over Nelly
Korda and Rio Takeda from Japan.
Mao Saigo, Hyejin Choi and Ruoning Yin were at 284 with qualifier
Hailee Cooper and Hinako Shibuno at 285. Angel Yin, Linn Grant and 2018
U.S. Women’s Open champion Ariya Jutanugarn finished five back at 286.
Stark started the day one stroke ahead of qualifier Julia Lopez
Ramirez, two clear of Takeda, Shibuno and Saigo with Korda three back.
Her three-birdie, three-bogey performance was very much out of the
playbook Annika Sorenstam used to win this championship three times, the
last in 2006.
Stark played with great control and waited for others to make the
mistakes. When she was in trouble, she made certain that bogey was the
worst number she could make. She is the third Swede to hoist the Harton
S. Semple Trophy, joining Liselotte Neumann (1988) and Sorenstam
(1995-96 and 2006).
Stark is clearly a star on the rise, finishing second in the 2024
Chevron Championship and tying for ninth in the 2023 U.S. Women’s Open
at Pebble Beach Golf Links. She now has nine professional wins after a
standout college career at Oklahoma State.
“[This means] so much,” said Stark. “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. So this just feels huge.”
The key moment came midway through the final round when a two-stroke
swing was created by a Korda bogey on No. 13, the result of a three-putt
and miss from 5 feet, and Stark converting a 14-foot birdie on No. 11.
Both occurred almost simultaneously. That moved Stark three strokes
clear of Korda, Shibuno and Takeda and she brilliantly protected the
lead over the final four holes.
Stark showed off her steely nerves with a gutsy two-putt par from 50
feet. The 4-footer continued the momentum Stark had created following a
two-putt birdie at the par-5 14th hole.
When she found trouble on Nos. 17 and 18, she minimized the damage by
taking her medicine and making bogey when the results could have been
far worse.
Saigo, the year’s first major winner (Chevron), had held the lead at 8
under par after 36 holes, and brieflygot to 9 under after the third
hole of Saturday’s third round, a number no competitor reached until
Stark’s birdie on 14.
That Korda bounced back from a front-nine 40 in Saturday’s third
round to play the final 27 holes in 4 under par showed a grit and
determination that put to rest her struggles in 10 previous appearances
in this championship. Korda called her relationship with the U.S.
Women’s Open “complicated.” She had missed the cut in three of her last
five starts. The tie for second was her best U.S. Women’s Open finish in
11 starts, which dates to 2013 when she competed as a 14-year-old
amateur.
“Last year definitely put a dagger into my heart,” Korda said about
missing the cut at Lancaster Country Club. “But that's just golf. I
mean, you're going to lose more than you win a majority of the time. I
feel like I actually learn a lot about myself and my game and where I
need to improve playing the U.S. Women's Open because it does test every
part of your game. Maybe just a little bit of disappointment. But it's
also super motivating.”
Stark opened the final round with all pars until she rolled in a
20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 sixth hole to get to 8 under par. Saigo
and Korda, playing two groups in front of Stark, both birdied No. 1,
putting Saigo one stroke off the lead at 6 under par and Korda at 5
under par.
After a bogey on No. 6, Korda made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 7 and
8 with putts of 7 and 17 feet, respectively, to get to 6 under, tied
for second place with Saigo and Shibuno, two strokes behind Stark. When
Stark bogeyed the par-5 seventh hole, her lead was a single stroke over
Korda and Shibuno.
Then came that key two-stroke swing a few holes later. Once she had
the lead, Stark was both relentless and smart. An even-par final round
was good enough for the victory and that’s exactly what she did.
Sorenstam was only a year younger than Stark when she won her first
professional championship at the 1995 U.S. Women’s Open at The
Broadmoor’s East Course. That should be an inspiration for Stark to
build on her success. She even received notes from both Sorenstam and
Liselotte Neumann, who was the first Swede to take home the U.S. Women’s
Open in 1988.
“They texted me yesterday,” said Stark after her round on Sunday.
“[They said,] ‘bring it home.’ That was already cool to just get those
texts.”
Now she has a trophy to go with those messages.
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