Yamashita holds off Hull to win Women’s Open

Final leaderboard for the AIG Women’s Open 2025 final round

-11 Yamashita (Jpn), -9 Hull (Eng), Katsu (Jpn), -7 AL Kim (Kor), Takeda (Jpn)

others were screened.

-4 Woad (Eng), -2 M Lee (Aus), -1 Hall (Eng), Rhodes (Eng), + 1 Thitikul (Tha), + 3 Ko (NZ), Korda (US)

The Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl was won by Miyu Yamashita in an almost faultless final round that drew a blank on Charley Hull from England.

Following top-10 finishes in each of the previous two Women’s PGA Championships, the 24-year-old Japanese player has won his first major championship.

Yamashita finished two shots clear of 29-year-old Hull, who carded a three-under-par 69 to finish second in a major for the fourth time in her career.

At nine under, Japan’s Minami Katsu birdied the final shot to claim the championship from Hull.

With a seven-under-par round of 65 on Friday morning, Yamashita took control of the tournament and led from the beginning.

In the final round, she briefly shared the top spot with her playing partner A Lim Kim, but the South Korean’s birdie at the second-round quickly came after further bogeys.

Hull quickly emerged as the main rival to world number 15 Yamashita, who propelled herself into contention with a six-under-par 66 on Saturday.

Yamashita made it three shots clear of the turn after playing their first nine holes in three under par.

Hull continued to attack and close the gap to one shot until a costly trip to a fairway bunker on the 16th.

Yamashita stayed superbly composed and was able to limit the damage caused by her rare errors, superbly saving par with a lengthy putt at the 14th.

When Yamashita found the rough with her first two shots, knowing a bogey on the par-five 18th would be enough to win, a safe chip onto the green ensured she would become the third Japanese woman to win the Women’s Open.

She stated during the trophy presentation, “To win such a historic tournament in front of all these amazing fans is such an incredible feeling.”

At the halfway point, Yamashita had led by 11 shots before turning in her final two rounds, which she only managed to improve by a shot better than Katsu.

Hull, who finished second behind Lilia Vu at Walton Heath in 2023, said, “I really enjoyed it out there.”

I had such complete control over my game that I didn’t feel like I whiffed a shot or a drive. On 16, I had a good shot.

You know what I mean when I say that I don’t feel like I actually messed things up by hitting any shots, which I believe everyone else will probably agree with? I had a great time.

I didn’t think I would make the cut coming into this week, she continued. That is actually the case.

I wasn’t hitting it very well, I thought. Because I was weak, I was unable to prepare as well as I should. I obviously fell three times during the Evian round, but I hadn’t recovered until last Sunday.

Mimi Rhodes, an England player who has won three times in a row this year, finished one under par for the tournament and made an incredible hole-in-one on the par-three fifth to cap her Women’s Open debut.

Steph Kyriacou, her playing partner, hit her tee shot to the side just as it did at the eighth hole on Friday, who had already recorded an ace of her own.

Rhodes’ effort was headed just to the left of the cup shortly after, but her ball deflected into the hole after colliding with Kyriacou’s.

The 23-year-old said, “I hit a really good eight iron, right where I wanted it to go. I just picked up my tee and heard everyone going crazy because I didn’t expect it to go in.

I was aware that something had happened because the noise was louder than usual. The green was in the hole when we went up to it.

That’s unbelievable because I didn’t know it hit Steph’s ball until I watched the video.

At the conclusion of the third round, Rhodes was one of four English players who had a lead over Yamashita by six shots.