Legends Tour
Featured Categories
-
ISPS Handa - Ladies Scottish Open returns to Dundonald
Preparations are well underway at Dundonald Links as the Ayrshire venue gears up to welcome back the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open.
-
Major Maja: 25-Year-Old Swede Stark Wins Title at Erin Hills
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.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.uswomensopen.com/&ved=2ahUKEwjTmNTEv9ONAxX0WUEAHSWAN5gQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1wlUOZ0eKCtFZ8NN4OWqTW
-
Lorna McClymont off to great start in Pro Career
After thrilling last-day tussle,
's Lorna McClymont 
finishes runner-up in Sunshine Ladies Tour's Jebra Ladies Classic at
Westlake GC in Cape Town. Home player Casandra Alexander retained the
title, but it was a brilliant effort from McClymont in just her third
start as a pro
-
Rookie pro Lorna McClymont signs for Scottish management company
By Martin Dempster - The ScotsmanWinning Curtis Cup team member joins posse of top Scots on Bounce Sport booksLorna McClymont will be making her second appearance as a professional as a new stablemate of both Bob MacIntyre and Louise Duncan after signing for Edinburgh-based Bounce Sport.
The Dumbarton woman, who joined the pro ranks after securing a category for the 2025 Ladies European Tour, has been unveiled as the company's newest client ahead of her appearance in this week's Standard Bank Ladies Open on the Sunshine Ladies Tour in South Africa.
In addition to Genesis Scottish Open champion MacIntyre and 2021 AIG Women's Open leading amateur Duncan, McClymont also joins Stephen Gallacher, Grant Forrest, Calum Hill, Marc Warren and Euan Walker in the Bounce Sport stable.
“I am very excited to be taking this next step in my golf career,” said McClymont, who made the cut on her debut in the paid ranks in the LET’s Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco earlier this month.
“I am really looking forward to competing on the Ladies European Tour and Access Tour. I think that now is the right time for me to test myself in the professional ranks, and I am ready for the challenge.”
Through committing to Bounce Sport, the Curtis Cup-winning GB&I team member from 2024 has secured the support of Callaway, as well as backing from Zenith Black, Arnold Clark, Kingsbarns Golf Links and Murray Sharp Foundation.
“Lorna is another very exciting talent in the Scottish women’s game, and her success as an amateur fits in superbly alongside all of the other players we work with,” said Iain Stoddart, Bounce Sport’s founding partner.
“As always, we are delighted to take up what we believe is a responsibility to help Lorna as she embarks on her professional career and to work with her as she looks to climb the ladder in world golf.”
McClymont is flying the Saltire in this week’s event at Durbanville Golf Club along with Duncan, Kylie Henry, Jane Turner and Laura Beveridge.
-
LPGA 2025 Schedule
https://www.skysports.com/golf/news/12176/13257351/lpga-tour-in-2025-schedule-tournaments-dates-venues-womens-golf-majors-events-and-more
-
Hannah Darling enters LET Q School
Best of luck to reigning Scottish Women's Amateur champion Lorna McClymont and the other eleven Scots aiming to capture a Ladies European Tour tour card at Q-School
Pre-qualifying takes place at Lalla Lalla Aicha Qualifying School on 10-12 December, with 20 cards then up for grabs in the final stage on 16-20 December.
-
LPGA OFFERS RECORD $131 MILLION PRIZE MONEY IN 2025 FOR 75TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON
LPGA golfers will compete for a record $131 million in prize money over a 33-event season in 2025, the tour's 75th anniversary campaign, LPGA officials announced on Wednesday.On the eve of the season-ending Tour Championship at Naples, Florida, next year's schedule was unveiled, including two new tournaments and two unofficial events.Total prize money will have jumped $62 million in four years, next season's payout jumping 90% from the pandemic-hit 2021 campaign."The 2024 season was another year of historic growth for the LPGA Tour, and with this 2025 schedule we will continue to improve on that growth," LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said.The LPGA's global schedule will begin two weeks later than this year and see competition in the United States and 11 other nations.The season-opening LPGA Tournament of Champions in Orlando on January 30-February 2 will be followed the next week by the Founders Cup at Bradenton before the tour heads for Asia in February and March for events in Thailand, Singapore and China.The LPGA Match Play will be contested April 2-6 in Las Vegas ahead of the year's first women's major, the Chevron Championship at The Woodlands, Texas.May will feature two new LPGA events, the Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah on May 1-4 and the first LPGA event in Mexico since 2017, the Riviera Maya Open in Cancun on May 22-25.The second major, the US Women's Open, will be contested May 29-June 1 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin followed by the Women's PGA Championship on June 19-22 at PGA Frisco in Frisco, Texas.The year's final majors will be the Evian Championship in France on July 10-13 and the Women's British Open on July 31-August 3 at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.The LPGA returns to North America until a late-season Asia swing with events in October at Shanghai, South Korea and Malaysia and a November stop in Japan before two final events, the Annika on November 13-16 and the 2025 season-ending Tour Championship in Naples on November 20-23.The Korean tournaments will include the biennial International Crown team event.The FM Championship in Boston on August 28-31 will have a $4.1 million purse, the first event to crack $4 million in prize money outside of the majors and Tour Championship.In all, nine tournaments will have elevated purses from 2024.INQUIRER GOLF
-
Team GB&I ready for action at WPGA Cup in Oregon
Team GB&I ready for action at WPGA Cup in Oregon.
“It’s just trying to get people to play the best they can, try and keep it good fun - it’s a very important competition, but you don’t want people to get nervous about it. I want them to enjoy the experience, have a laugh - that’s the way I’ve always done it,” says Cathy.Read the full preview online: https://bit.ly/3XLOnji #WPGACup24
-
Lydia Ko wins AIG Womens Open
Everything Lydia Ko touches turns to gold.
The New Zealander was calmness personified as she cut through the field on her way to glory at St Andrews.
Four under-par rounds ensured the Olympic champion was always in contention at the AIG Women’s Open, but she let world number one Nelly Korda, defending Champion Lilia Vu and a resurgent two-time winner Jiyai Shin grab the headlines as she waited patiently in the wings.
And when her opportunity arrived, she was ready.
A round of 70 sandwiched in between two 71s had left Ko three strokes off the lead at the start of play on Sunday. Birdies at 4, 10 and 14 pulled her into the heat of battle alongside Korda, Vu and Shin. A dropped shot on 15 temporarily halted her momentum, but a nerveless birdie putt on 18 gave her a one-stroke lead when it mattered most.
Korda stumbled in behind and Vu, who won so magnificently at Walton Heath 12 months ago, was unable to pick up a birdie on either of the final two holes that would have ensured a play-off.
-
Catriona Matthew to retire at St Andrews
What an amazing golfer, captain, champion and ambassador for golf in Scotland
Good luck to Catriona Matthew as she tees it up today at St Andrews in her 30th and final AIG Women’s Open appearanceThe 2009 champion and Solheim Cup legend is one of the game’s true role models and continues to inspire the next generation of female golfers through her captaincy of the GB&I Curtis Cup team.If you’re at St Andrews over the next few days, give her your support. Let’s roll back the years and roll in some putts, Beany!
-
Michelle Thomson to play PTS Services Pro-Am at her home club at Ellon Golf Club
We are delighted our very own Ladies European Tour professional Michele Thomson has stepped in during her busy schedule to play in our PTS Services Ellon Pro-Am tomorrow following a late withdrawal.
Michele is an honorary life-time member of McDonald Golf Club, Ellon, and was runner-up in the 2017 Hero Women's Indian Open and won the team event of the 2020 Saudi Ladies Team International.
We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for what will be a fantastic day of golf and fun.
-
Laura Coughlin wins Women's Scottish Open by 4 shots
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwomenandgolf.com%2Fnews%2Ftour-news%2Flauren-coughlin-wins-isps-handa-womens-scottish-open
-
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is Gold Medalist, LPGA Hall of Famer at Long Last
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France – Lydia Ko couldn’t hold back the tears when her national anthem began to play. After all the close calls and near misses and bad breaks, she had finally become a gold medalist and earned her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame.
At long last.
“It would be a hell of a way to do it,” said Ko when asked what it would mean to secure a spot in one of sport’s most exclusive Halls of Fame by winning a gold medal on Saturday at the Olympic women’s golf competition. Little did she know that come the end of the final round, that premonition would have become reality, a sweet, sweet dream finally realized for the 27-year-old superstar.
“I repeat those words,” Ko said of becoming a Hall of Famer. “It's a hell of a way to do it. You say those kind of things, and until it happens, it's not really factual. For it to have happened here at the Olympics, unreal. I do feel like I'm a mythical character in a fairytale. It really couldn't have gotten any better than I could have imagined, and I've had so many grateful things that happened in my career so far, and this really tops it. I couldn't have asked for anything more, to be honest.”
Early in the week, it wasn’t immediately apparent that the New Zealander would wind up in this position. She kicked off her bid for the medal trifecta with a quiet, even-par 72, making up some ground on Thursday with a 5-under 67 to sit three back of the lead with 36 holes to play.
A Friday 68 saw Ko share the top of the leaderboard with Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux through three rounds, and when Saturday’s final round got underway, Ko hung tough and held steady as her competitors ran one after one into the buzzsaw that is Le Golf National, with not even a double bogey on the par-4 13th hole derailing her gold medal hopes.
She came to the last with a one-shot lead over eventual silver medalist Esther Henseleit of Germany at 9-under, and like the 20-time LPGA Tour winner has done so many other times before, she calmly found the fairway, laid up, knocked a sand wedge to 7 feet and drained the birdie putt. But this time, it meant so much more.
“Being tied for the lead going into today, I knew that the next 18 holes were going to be some of the most important 18 holes of my life,” Ko said. “One of the things that I had said earlier in the week was I don't know if there is another Olympics for me, and I will say, this is my last Olympics. I think that was at the back of my mind. I didn't want to publicly tell anyone because I knew that being in this kind of position, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“I kept telling myself, I get to write my own ending and that Simone Biles had said (that) and I had heard in her documentary. I kept telling myself that, and I wanted to be the one who was going to control my fate and the ending to this week. To have ended this way, it's honestly a dream come true.”
Ko took the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and claimed bronze after losing in a playoff to silver medalist Mone Inami of Japan at Tokyo 2020, always just a few shots here or a missed putt there from finding the top spot on the Olympic podium. Her quest for gold was something that had continued to propel Ko in her professional golf career, and now that she can finally call herself an Olympic champion, there’s another achievement to add to her laundry list of accomplishments.
The LPGA Hall of Fame didn’t feel within reach for Ko until she won the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in January to earn the 26th of 27 total points she needed for automatic qualification. She nearly got the job done the very next week at the LPGA Drive On Championship, losing in a playoff to Nelly Korda at Bradenton Country Club, a win that Ko was “gutted” by as she knew it would take another monumental effort to win for a 21st time on the LPGA Tour.
Ko then lost her way a bit, finding herself oh-so-close to another victory on numerous occasions, but always coming up just a touch short. The doubts that had plagued her at different points throughout her career began to creep in once again.
Would she get that 27th point? Was the Hall of Fame in the cards? Would she qualify? Could she? Was time running out?
Paul Cormack, Ko’s caddie, knew his player’s goals when he picked up her bag at last year’s CPKC Women’s Open. After seeing the Hall of Fame pressure weigh on her throughout the latter half of the 2023 season and the first portion of this year, Ko seemed a little bit different this week, much calmer about it than she had previously appeared.
“(Lydia) very relaxed all week, very focused,” said Cormack. “The big thing was the Hall of Fame, but then I knew that with the Olympics coming up, there was gold to complete the set. She was just very relaxed and very focused (this week). That’s when she plays her best golf.”
With a whirlwind of Hall-of-Fame and medal-trifecta fanfare swirling around her, Ko kept her cool in the eye of the storm, and to the victor go the spoils, rewards that are twofold for the now the only three-time medalist in the history of Olympic golf.
And while she answered many of the questions she has been asked with her triumph on Saturday, there’s a new one that will be on everyone’s lips in every press conference and interview she does from now until the end of the season: When will she retire?
“I know I'm playing the Scottish Open next week and the (AIG Women’s) Open the week after. There's still so much golf to be played this season,” Ko said. “I have great days and I'm like, ‘I want to play as long as I can,’ and then I have days where I wake up with a sore low back, and I'm like, ‘I don't think I can make it anymore.’
“I don't think there is a specific date, and now that I've got in the Hall of Fame, I don't know if that affects anything. Golf has given me so much, and I know that my ending is sooner than when it first started. So, I wanted to really enjoy it, and while I am competitively playing, I want to play the best golf I can. I think this takes a little bit of weight off my shoulders.”
But that eventuality isn’t on Ko’s mind right now. That’s a tomorrow, next week, next month Lydia problem.
For now, it’s time to soak in this gold-medal moment and celebrate her Hall of Fame qualification with those who love her most.
She might even dry her tears with the ribbon of her gold medal.
-
Leona Maguire leads Aramco Series at Centurion Club
Leona Maguire sits at the top of the leaderboard in both competitions at the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London.
Team Maguire is in a share of first place on 14-under-par alongside Team Iturrioz and Team Hall at Centurion Club.
It was a day when Team Maguire, who are made up of the Solheim Cup winner, England’s Liz Young, Spain’s Marta Sanz Barrio and amateur Yana Wilson didn’t have a dropped shot on their team scorecard.
The quartet had a very steady day as they made the turn in seven-under-par and also had a back nine of seven-under-par to be tied at the top.
“We were all making a few birdies today which always helps and there were no dropped shots on the team card either which I think helps a lot in these conditions,” said Maguire.
“I think we had a nice atmosphere, a nice team. It was very comfortable out there and nice to roll in a few. It will be a bit of a quick turnaround, a long day. It will be a bite to eat then straight to bed and we’ll get out early in the morning again.”
Young explained: “I was playing quite well, it’s always nice to see the ball go in the hole a lot with Leona. That gave me some confidence to try and follow her on a few. Our amateur played really well too, so it was like having four pros. It was really nice, we gelled well.”
Sanz Barrio added: “I am very happy my team did all the job for me and hopefully, I can bring it in tomorrow and help us win tomorrow.”
-
Justin Rose Ladies Pro Series
- The Rose Ladies Series was created in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.
- Inspired by Liz Young’s idea of a roll up at Brokenhurst Manor during lockdown, Kate and Justin pledged to put their own money into a series of events to give the ladies an opportunity to keep playing.
- 2020 - 8 one day tournaments, each with a prize fund of £5k across England.
- 2021 – 11 events, each with a prize fund of £10k.
- 2022 & 2023 with the LET & LETAS schedules being so strong, the Rose Ladies Series is now a condensed series of 5 events in April/early May which act as a great warm-up opportunity for the professionals.
- The Series has taken place at fantastic courses like Wentworth, The Berkshire, West Lancs, Bearwood Lakes, Southport & Ainsdale, Sunningdale, Royal St George’s, Royal Birkdale and Hillside over the years.
- The winner of each event receives a £10,000 cheque, which remains the biggest prize fund for one-day competitions in Britain, regardless of gender.
- There have been a total of 29 RLS events over 4 years.
- Over £450k has been paid out in prize money.
-
WOMEN'S US OPEN - Lancaster Country Club • Lancaster, Pa. • May 30 - June 2, 2024
- Japan's Yuka Saso overturned a three-shot deficit to became the youngest player to win two US Women's Open titles.
There had been a three-way tie heading into what became a dramatic final day, with Australia's Minjee Lee, American Andrea Lee and Thailand's Wichanee Meechai level at the top of the leaderboard.
Saso, 22, produced a run of four birdies in five holes on the back nine to snatch victory by three strokes.
"It feels great," said Saso. "I really wanted it, as well.
"Not just to get a second win but also to prove something to myself. I haven't won in two and a half or three years. I definitely had a little doubt if I can win again or if I won't win again."
Her two-under-par 68 saw her triumph on four under at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, with compatriot Hinako Shibuno finishing second.
That gave Saso, who switched her international allegiance from the Philippines in 2022, her second LPGA Tour title - both coming at the US Women's Open.
Saso became the first Filipino player to win a major when she clinched her first US Women's Open title as a teenager in 2021.
"Winning in 2021, I represented the Philippines [and] I feel like I was able to give back to my mom," Saso said at her trophy presentation.
"This year, I was able to represent Japan, and I think I was able to give back to my dad. I'm very happy that I was able to do it."
She was obliged to renounce one of her two citizenships before she turned 22 and chose to take Japanese citizenship.
Saso suffered an early blow on Sunday when she followed a birdie on the second by four-putting the sixth for a double bogey.
But after steadying the ship she stormed clear as only two players finished under par, with Minjee Lee limping home in 41 for an eight-over 78 while Meechai struggled to a closing 77.
Andrea Lee posted a 75 to share third place with fellow American Ally Ewing, who surged through the field with a 66.
Saso is the third player to win major championships with their first two LPGA Tour titles, after after Se Ri Pak and In Gee Chun.
Link to Final Leaderboard
https://www.lpga.com/tournaments/us-womens-open/results
-
WOMEN'S US OPEN - Lancaster Country Club • Lancaster, Pa. • May 30 - June 2, 2024
- Link to live scoring
https://www.uswomensopen.com/
Copyright © 2024 All Rights Reserved.