Ashleigh Buhai, the 2022 Women’s Open champion, goes off to celebrate with caddy Tanya and husband David, delirious and delighted all. The tears flowing, the champagne corks popping. Beautiful scenes, but then this is the Firth of Forth, you’d expect nothing less. Congratulations to Buhai, commiserations to runner-up Chun In-gee, and thanks for reading this blog. See you in Texas next year for the Chevron? Hope so. Nighty night!
-10: Ashleigh Buhai, Chun In-gee (Buhai won at the fourth play-off hole)
-9: Hinako Shibuno
-7: Leona Maguire, Minjee Lee, Madelene Sagstrom
-5: Celine Boutier, Naza Hataoka, Lydia Ko, Atthaya Thitikul, Brooke Henderson, Steph Kyriacou
After winning her first major – indeed her first title on tour – Buhai speaks! “I know there are a lot of people in South African with a lot of grey hairs right now, after that 15th hole! But I was very proud of the way I dug deep to keep myself together and get into the play-off. I was surprisingly calm. I just tried to stay in the moment. My caddy said, show them why you’re number one in bunkers. Maybe it’s something to do with South Africans here in bunkers! It’s a good stomping ground for us. It might only hit me in a few days. For me to be a female South African major winner, I have no words, it’s life changing!”
The speeches. David Meacher, the chairman of the Open Championships Committee, makes sure to thank “Muirfield and all its club members”, presumably for finally realising that it wasn’t the 19th century any more. Lucky for them they did, huh, as otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to watch these sensational women do their thing at close quarters. What a tournament this has been. Then the Smyth Salver is awarded to the low amateur Rose Zhang. And finally the winner of the gold medal and 2022 Women’s Open champion, Ashleigh Buhai, wipes away a happy tear before coming up to claim her trophy. What scenes, albeit under cover of darkness!
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Buhai is all smiles, as you’d imagine, but her expression seems to be more of relief and mellow exhaustion than pure joy. And no wonder: she’s had to work so hard for her win! Four holes of top-drawer play-off drama, in which she played all the shots to see off the reigning PGA champion. What a sand shot at 18 to seal the deal! And what a response to that triple-bogey debacle on 15, which would have seen lesser talents crumble. Buhai is the thoroughly deserved winner of this great championship; Chun In-gee its heroic runner-up.
Ashleigh Buhai wins the 2022 Women's Open!
Buhai taps in for her par, and it’s not long before she’s showered with champagne. Another South African winner at Muirfield! Gary Player, Ernie Els, Ahsleigh Buhai! Not bad company to keep, huh ... and you know Player and Els will be delighted to welcome the brilliant Buhai to their elite club!
Chun taps in for her bogey five, scrunches her nose in sadness, then smiles ruefully. Another year for the three-time major winner, then. But it’s not going to be enough, because...
Not for the first time today, but almost certainly the last, Chun In-gee leaves her putt short. Barring a preposterous mishap, the 2022 Women’s Open champion will be South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai!
Buhai needs to get up and over the grassy island in the middle of the trap ... and she plays one of the shots of her life! She gracefully whips her ball high out of the trap and into the heart of the green, the ball releasing and rolling to 18 inches or so! She’ll be making her par for sure, and now Chun has to make her putt from 15 feet ... maybe 20 ... to save herself!
“Aw Ashleigh.” Buhai berates herself as she shoves her approach wide right. Her ball dunks in the bunker, but thankfully for the South African doesn’t plug. There’s still work to do, though that could have been very nasty.
We’re an hour into this play-off, give or take a minute here and there. Chun, from 195 yards, needs some hybrid magic. She gets it, too, swishing her third into the green, the ball stopping in almost the same spot from which she woefully misread the second time round. She’ll have a look to save par from 15 feet.
Chun’s only option is to guzzle that medicine and play for position. She’s up against a very steep face. She makes sure of getting out, sacrificing a few extra yards to be certain. She’ll be playing her third, from further out, before Buhai takes her second. This is getting critical for the 27-year-old South Korean.
That might not be necessary, though. Chun becomes the first player to miss the fairway with their drive, sending her tee shot into a bunker down the right. She’s up against the face, and will be forced to chip out. Buhai creams her fourth drive out of four down the middle. Serious advantage to Buhai, though Chun has made a par this week despite driving into this bunker.
This is a quite brilliant play-off. Can’t both players win? Nope. It’s going to be heartbreaking for whoever eventually comes up short. They’re in a race against time, with the sun preparing to bugger off with extreme prejudice. This could be the last hole of the evening. If nothing’s decided on play-off hole number four, we could be coming back tomorrow.
Buhai puts a confident stroke on her birdie effort. It looks all the way like it’s heading in, but just as you prepare for the ball to disappear from view, it turns hard left and stubbornly stays on the lip! So close. So very close to a maiden major for Ashleigh Buhai. Hubby David covers his eyes with the palm of his hand, and may well be contemplating a malt chaser.
So much for my depth perception. In fact, it’s a close call as to who is going first. And in fact it’s Buhai’s ball which is closer, so Chun is up first. She’s got a downhill right-to-left swinger and her slightly tentative effort is always turning away on the left. It’s never reaching, either. But while it should be good enough for par, it gives Buhai her fourth putt for the title. Here goes, then!
Buhai responds by creaming her hybrid pin high. Maybe 30 feet right. Putting competition coming up! Meanwhile her husband David, who has been caddying this week for Jeongeun Lee6, is pictured in the crowd, getting stuck into the pints. Can you blame the poor man?
Chun to go first. Again. But she’s not hitting fairway wood this time. Instead she gives her hybrid a smooth wallop, and having missed right on the first sudden-death hole, and left on the second, she fires this one straight at the flag. It skips 15 feet past, but holds the green, and she’ll have a decent look at birdie! Over to Buhai, who is under some serious pressure now.
... so having said that, Chun hits her longest drive of the play-off so far. Straight down the middle, of course. Buhai’s drive flirts with the bunkers down the left, but stays on the fairway. That one’s not quite as long as her previous efforts, so although Chun will still be hitting first, the dynamic of these approaches has slightly changed.
The third sudden-death play-off hole, then. It’s getting colder, and the 18th will be playing longer and longer. That’s to Buhai’s advantage, who has been hitting her approaches from a much shorter distance than Chun. But good luck guessing how this is going to pan out.
Chun rolls in the slight right-to-left slider for her bogey! She stays alive! You have to wonder if Buhai was unnecessarily tentative and overly careful with that downhill putt for the win. If it doesn’t reach, it isn’t dropping, and she took that possibility out of the equation. What a putt by Chun, though! My word, that took some nerve, especially after the awful stroke beforehand. Back we go again!
Buhai has a downhill right-to-left swinger from 15 feet. She nearly makes it, too, but it stops a dimple shy, short and right. She taps in. Chun needs to make an eight footer if she’s to force a third play-off hole. You could hear a pin drop. There may be some compensatory noise one way or the other soon.
Chun hits a woefully excitable putt ten feet past the hole! A complete misread of both pace and line! Serious advantage to Buhai now. She’s got another putt to win. Two will be enough if Chun can’t make the bogey putt she’s left herself.
Chun takes too much grass. Her chip only just makes it onto the fringe. She’s very lucky her ball doesn’t topple back down a slope and into the bunker. That’s not quite in Rocca-Lyle territory of disasters, but it’s a flubbed chip at the 18th nonetheless. It’s still her honour.
Buhai’s ball is on an uphill slope. Ever so slightly plugged. She catches a little too much sand, and though the ball squirts onto the green, she’s left with a 20-footer for her par. A chance now for Chun to apply some pressure ... though her ball is hidden in the long rough. This is far from an easy shot.
The players aren’t sure who’s up first here. Over to the referee. He makes his judgement using the time-honoured method of pacing it out. Buhai to go first.
Buhai goes with fairway wood this time. She yelps “Big!” after sending her ball towards the traps on the right of the green. It slaps into the bunker at the back. A little longer and that was in serious trouble. As it is, what’s left it far from ideal ... but probably an easier shot than the one facing Chun.
Chun takes her fairway wood again. This time she hits straight, but the right-to-left wind snatches her ball and dumps it into the long rough to the left-hand side of the green. She’s pin high, but with the rough thick and going against the ball, that’s not going to be an easy shot at all. Door open again for Buhai!
Chun to hit her approach first. She’s 204 yards from the pin. Buhai is in fact 14 yards further up the fairway. With the air colder, the hole is playing longer. A lot of hand rubbing still going on as Chun and her caddy decide what’s what.
It’s an action replay for Buhai, too. She splits the fairway, her ball rolling perhaps 20 yards further on. Both players grip hard on their hand warmers as they walk down the track. The temperature dropping as the night draws in.
Chun and Buhai arrive at the 18th tee box again, to do it all over for the second sudden-death play-off hole. Chun, coming off the back of that world-class up and down, looks relaxed. All smiles. It’s an action replay of her first drive, a gentle draw down the right, the ball ending up smack in the middle of the fairway.
There’s a little right-to-left movement on Chun’s putt. But she’s never missing it. Into the centre of the cup it goes. Buhai follows her in. That’s a nerveless, drama-free par for Buhai; an amazing sandy save by Chun. What drama here! What tension. Back to the tee they chug. They go again.
From 35 feet, Buhai’s birdie effort is always missing on the left. But she’ll surely tidy up what’s left for par from a couple of feet. She pops a coin behind her ball, and the pressure is batted back to Chun, who surely has to make her slightly longer effort.
Chun has a downhill lie in the bunker, and she’s got to get up and over a grassy island in the middle of the trap. She’ll be looking to land this one just a few yards in front of the flag, hoping for the ball to release towards the hole. And she smiles excitedly as she lands her ball 20 feet short and rolling to four feet. A great chance of saving par ... though Buhai will now have a putt for the win.
Buhai squints into the sun. She doesn’t look particularly happy either ... but that’s a wonderful shot, sent sailing into the front of the green. She’ll have a long look at birdie, but given where Chun is, par may be more than enough. Over to Chun, who needs some wedge magic right here.
Chun draws her fairway wood. Disappointment washes across her face as she sends her ball into the bunker guarding the right-hand side of the green. She’ll have work to do from there. The door ajar for Buhai!
Both players reach their balls. A pause. A lot of yardage-book study going on right now.
The tension is palpable as Chun In-gee tees it up. It doesn’t get to the 27-year-old PGA champion, though. She belts one of the drives of the day down the right-hand side of the fairway, drawing it gently back into the centre. Over to Buhai, who responds by smoothly arrowing her tee shot straight down the middle. Both in prime position. Shoot-out coming up from the centre of the fairway. With Buhai maybe 15 yards longer, Chun will have the opportunity to go first, and either crank up the pressure by going close ... or leave the door wide open for her opponent.
The players arrive back at the 18th tee on buggies. They bump fists, ahead of a sudden-death play-off. One hole, played again and again if needs be. Chun will have the honour. Here we go, then!
Buhai seriously threatened to blow it ... but that street-fighting par keeps her Open dreams alive. Chun, as a three-time major winner, goes into the play-off as favourite. Buhai, after the sand-infused farce on 15, will wonder how she’s let it come to this. But while Chun’s final round of 70 compares favourably to Buhai’s 75, neither player can boast any particularly decisive momentum: Chun hasn’t made a birdie since the 6th, Buhai since the 5th. What a time it would be to break those particular runs.
Buhai and Chun to contest play-off
Ashleigh Buhai rolls the putt into the centre of the cup for her par and a place in the play-off! She punches the air, in relief more than celebration. Lovely to see: it would have been too painful to watch her miss a short one on the last after everything that’s happened. Onto a play-off with Chun In-gee, then! Back down the 18th they’ll go!
-10: Chun, Buhai
-9: Shibuno
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Ashleigh Buhai lines up her 30-foot putt to win. Up and over a ridge across the middle of the green it goes. It doesn’t break left as she intended, and having been given a good run, sails four feet past. Brave – she went for that birdie and the win – but will it prove costly? She’s forced to wait and consider her heartbeat as Shibuno rolls in her par saver for a 71 and third-place finish. Here we go, then.
Hinako Shibuno wastes no time. She gives her chip a good run, but it’s always missing on the left. No second title for the Smiling Cinderella, but the 23-year-old Japanese star still has the grace and style to live up to her nickname, beaming warmly as the gallery showers her with sympathetic and loving applause.
Buhai up next, and from the centre of the fairway, she whips a 4-iron into the heart of the green. She leaves herself a 30-footer for birdie and the win; less improbably, two putts for a place in a play-off. Buhai and Shibuno both receive a warm ovation as they walk up the last. What a show they’ve put on. What a show everyone’s put on. And to think some bampots didn’t want women around this place. Whatever happens now: what a Women’s Open this has been!
Shibuno doesn’t have much of a lie. Generating spin a pipe dream. But she’s got to take a shy at the flag and hope for the best. She lashes her hybrid straight at the flag, the ball scampering into the front of the green. It’s never stopping, though, and rolls past the pin and into the rough at the back. She’ll have to hole out from there if she’s to make any possible play-off.
Shibuno cracks her drive at 18 down the right of the fairway ... and is unfortunate to see her ball glide right and disappear into the second cut. Buhai, whose head must be swimming after the events of the last three holes, gathers herself and splits the fairway with a moment of carpe-diem steel. Despite it all, she’s put herself in a position where birdie is more than possible ... and birdie will win her this Women’s Open.
... leaves it short, of course. Shibuno’s done that all afternoon, the pace of the greens an almost unsolvable conundrum for her today. Up on 18, Chun’s birdie putt stops a turn shy, and it’s a final round of 70. She’s the new clubhouse leader at -10. She’s also still sharing the tournament lead, because while Shibuno tidies up for her birdie, the shell-shocked Buhai’s birdie effort lips out. Just the par, and this is completely in the balance.
-10: Chun (F), Buhai (17)
-9: Shibuno (17)
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Buhai has a good lie and stance. But she can’t see the flag from the bunker. She’ll have to pick her line and trust her judgement ... and she splashes up and over the tall face, rolling up to five feet! That’s an exceptional shot under any circumstances; given what happened to her on her last visit to sand, that shows plenty of moxie. She’ll have a look at birdie. Over to Shibuno, who lines up her eagle putt, and ...
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Chun cracks her drive down the middle of 18. Back on 17, Buhai’s second finds a bunker front right of the green. It looks as though she’s got a much better lie this time. Shibuno piles on the pressure by biffing her second straight down the track and into the front of the green. She’ll have a look at eagle from 30 feet. And then up on 18, Chun sends her second into the heart of the dancefloor. A birdie chance coming up. So much will depend on Buhai’s escape from the bunker. It didn’t end too well last time.
Shibuno and Buhai both cream their drives down 17. In the meantime, up on 18, last year’s runner-up Madelene Sagstrom pulls her approach long and left, and can’t get up and down from thick rough. Bogey, which leaves her where she started the day, at -7. And then there were three.
-10: Chun (17), Buhai (16)
-8: Shibuno (16)
-7: Maguire (F), Lee (F), Sagstrom (F)
Chun doesn’t really commit to her birdie putt on 17. It’s always dying apologetically to the left, and that’s a huge chance to make a claim for the title passed up. She’s still got a share of the lead at -10, but Buhai and Shibuno are still to play a par-five that’s been giving up birdies and the odd eagle today. A huge few minutes of golf coming up!
A break for the co-leader Chun In-gee on 17. She pulls her second towards bunkers down the left, but flies them and ends up in the first cut, with an opportunity to chip close. She grabs it with both hands, bumping over a ridge and up to six feet. Her flat stick has been a little erratic today, but she’ll be throwing down one hell of a gauntlet to Ashleigh Buhai if she can make that one. Meanwhile back on 16, Buhai and Hinako Shibuno take two careful putts for their pars. They remain at -10 and -8 respectively.
Hinako Shibuno is first up at the 184-yard par-three 16th. The adrenaline no doubt pumping, she whistles a hybrid through the green and over the back ... though the backstop returns her ball to the fringe. She’ll have a speculative look at birdie ... as will the stunned Ashleigh Buhai, who calms herself to find front centre of the green. Meanwhile up on 18, Minjee Lee can’t get up and down from greenside sand, and she settles for a 69, which gives her a share of the clubhouse lead at -7 with Leona Maguire.
Triple-bogey disaster for Buhai
Minjee Lee is this close to draining a long eagle putt on 17. The tap-in birdie brings her up to -8. Madelene Sagstrom, following Lee’s group, does pretty much exactly the same thing. She moves up to -8 as well. Hinako Shibuno then nearly drains a long birdie putt on 15. Par will do, and now over to Ashleigh Buhai, who sends a hot chip a good 15 feet past the hole. She leaves the putt short, and that’s an ugly triple-bogey seven, a disaster met with almost total silence from the stunned and sympathetic gallery.
-10: Chun (16), Buhai (15)
-8: Lee (17), Sagstrom (17), Shibuno (15)
-7: Maguire (F)
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Uh-oh. Trouble for Ashleigh Buhai. Serious trouble for Ashleigh Buhai. She tries to chip out backwards from the fairway bunker on 15, only to send her ball flying straight left and into the thick rough. She then takes a hack at her third, the long grass grabbing her shaft and turning the club over. The ball squirts a mere 30 yards forward, disappearing into more thick rough. But she catches a break, her ball sitting up nicely, so much so that she can take a wood to it. She crashes her fourth onto the fringe at the front of the green. This could be costly enough ... but it could have been a whole lot worse.
... so having said that, Buhai tugs her tee shot at 15 into a bunker down the left of the fairway. She’ll almost certainly have to chip out sideways, leaving a long third. Meanwhile up on the green, a two-putt par for Chun, who remains three behind at -10. Up on 18, Thitikul finishes with a disappointing bogey, but signs for a 70 and ends the week at -5.
Buhai bumps a lovely chip up to six feet. Far from a gimme, but she’s given herself a great chance to escape with par. Shibuno then leaves her long par effort short, the latest in a series of undercooked putts today. She then gives her five-foot bogey putt a good old rattle, and it horseshoes out. A double bogey at exactly the wrong time, and that’s the 2019 champion’s race pretty much run. Buhai tidies up for par, and this is beginning to look very promising for the South African now!
-13: Buhai (14)
-10: Chun (14)
-8: Shibuno (14)
Shibuno is forced to take her medicine and splash out of the high-faced bunker. Whether or not the mistake will become too costly is yet to be seen, however, because Buhai’s second balloons up into the air and lands a good 40 yards short of the green. Both have work to do for their pars, and Shibuno’s third, while into the heart of the green, isn’t particularly close. Bogey most likely, and Buhai has a slight advantage here ... as well as the small matter of her three-shot cushion, of course. You get the gist.
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Shibuno has been a little wayward with the big stick today, and on 14 she finds another fairway bunker. Not yet sure whether a shy for the green is an option. Buhai flirts with sand as well, but her ball stays up, albeit in the semi-rough, a long way back. Meanwhile on 14, Chun pulls her birdie putt, which lips out on the left, and she’ll get no reward for the outstanding second she crunched at the flag. Holes running out for the chasing duo. Right now, Buhai looks in control of her game, and more than capable of closing this out without fanfare or drama ... though when you’re chasing your first major, five holes must feel like an awful lot of holes.
-13: Buhai (13)
-10: Chun (14), Shibuno (13)
Shibuno up first ... and she races an excitable birdie effort six feet past the flag. Audible gasps. Buhai then nearly tickles in her putt, but the ball stays up on the high side. Par will do, though. Shibuno then shows great moxie to tidy up for her par, and nods her thanks to the crowd as they warmly applaud her staunch effort.
Sky Sports flash up a graphic that may give Ashleigh Buhai pause. Here’s how the three leaders have played holes 13 through 18 during the first three rounds ...
-3: Chun
-2: Shibuno
E: Buhai
... so it’s far from done and dusted. However Buhai responds by clipping a delicious tee shot pin high at the par-three 13th, using the slope to the right of the flag to bring her ball to ten feet. A great look at birdie from there! Shibuno follows her into the green, leaving herself an uphill birdie chance from 20 feet. Meanwhile on 14, Chun creams her second straight at the pin, from 200 yards to eight feet. Birdie putts coming up for everyone!
Nice, safe, lovely two-putt pars for Buhai and Shubuno on 12. Up on 13, Chun nearly steers in her left-to-right slider for birdie, but remains three off the lead. Another step closer to Buhai’s breakthrough.
-13: Buhai (12)
-10: Chun (13), Shibuno (12)
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Chun responds by nearly slam-dunking a one-bounce ace into the cup at 13! She’s unlucky as the ball takes a hard second bounce and rolls 15 feet past the hole, well away from gimme range.
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Buhai and Shibuno are forced to wait in the middle of the 12th fairway as Chun goes into Repair Mode up on the green. Chun leaves her long par putt six feet short, but takes time to gather herself, and rolls in the bogey putt. That’s a second dropped stroke in three holes for the reigning PGA champion, who slips to -10. Once the dancefloor is vacated, Shibuno nearly sends her approach into a bunker guarding the front right of the green, but gets a lucky bounce and finds the putting surface. Buhai follows her in, in slightly less dramatic style.
-13: Buhai (11)
-10: Chun (12), Shibuno (11)
-7: Maguire (F), Lee (14), Sagstrom (13)
The 19-year-old Thai sensation Atthaya Thitikul really isn’t hanging about in the majors. She’s coming off the back of a fourth-place finish at the PGA and a tie for eighth at last month’s Evian, and is surely a major champion in waiting. She’s not going to break through this year, but she’s about to make another statement nonetheless, with back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16, the first the result of a putt trundled in from distance, the second a delightful iron to five feet. She’s -6 overall and 2023 is hers for the taking.
Buhai and Shibuno both go close with their birdie efforts on 11, but both balls stay stubbornly out. Buhai is one hole closer to home, one hole closer to glory. Meanwhile up on 12, Chun, chipping off hard pan, decides to throw her ball up high and well past the flag, looking for backspin to bring her ball towards the flag. But she doesn’t get the requisite spin, and very nearly sends her ball into bunkers on the other side of the green. There’s just enough spin for the ball to grab the fringe and stay up. A long two putts coming up for bogey. Damaging enough, but that was very close to a tournament-jiggering fiasco.
A big mistake by Chun In-gee on 12. She pulls her approach way left of the green, her ball bounding off down a swale. She’s left with a 40-yard chip over a pot bunker ... and with the flag tucked behind, is seriously shortsided. Bogey will be a good result from where she is now. Meanwhile back on 11, both Ashleigh Buhai and Hinako Shibuno are on in regulation, with mid-range birdie putts to come.
The 2020 US Open champion Kim A-lim drains a monster from the fringe at the back of 17 for eagle. She rises to -5, and if it were at all possible, could trade that putt for many buckets of ready money to the folk in the last couple of groups.
Buhai and Shibuno play the par-four 10th carefully, and without too much fuss. Both on in regulation, they cradle long putts up to tap-in distance and tidy up for par. Expect more of this, as Leona Maguire explains to Sky: “You have to make your score on the front then hang on.”
For the nth time today, Minjee Lee leaves a birdie putt one turn short. She’s two under for her round, but it could so easily have been so much better. For the want of an inch or two at 4, 7, 9, etc. Meanwhile on 18, par for Lydia Ko and the former world number one signs for a 68. She’ll finish inside the top ten at -5.
... and so, with the leaders hitting the turn, welcome to the start of the 2022 Women’s Open! Good luck calling this one. Ashleigh Buhai is nine solid holes away from her first major title, but this back nine is playing tough today, and anything could happen. Here we go, then!
Leona Maguire pars the last to sign for a brilliant final round of 66. She won’t be winning the tournament ... not this year, anyway ... but this will be her second top-ten finish in this season’s majors. Don’t rule out the 27-year-old from County Cavan making the breakthrough next year. But for now, she’s the new clubhouse leader. Steph Kyriacou joins her at -7 with birdie at 11, hanging on to hope, but Chun In-gee can’t make her par saver on 10 and so the gap at the top is still two.
-13: Buhai (9)
-11: Chun (10)
-10: Shibuno (9)
-7: Maguire (F), Kyriacou (11), Lee (11)
Chun In-gee does indeed chip out of the bunker halfway down 10 sideways. She knocks her third into the centre of the green, and she’ll have a chance to save her par from 20 feet. Ashleigh Buhai can’t make her long par putt, but lags up well to kick-in distance and limits the damage to bogey. Meanwhile her playing partner Hideki Shibuno pours in her birdie putt, and that’s a two-shot swing between the pair in the final group.
-13: Buhai (9)
-12: Chun (9)
-10: Shibuno (9)
... but Chun makes a mistake from the tee of her own on 10. She whistles her drive into sand down the right, and will almost certainly have to take her medicine by splashing out sideways. Meanwhile back on 9, Buhai finds the heart of the green with her fourth, but pulls it a bit, and will have to hole out from 30 feet if she’s to save her par. Shibuno meanwhile is on in regulation, with a 15-foot look at birdie.
Chun In-gee makes her way carefully down the par-five 9th, the wind in her face all the time. She leaves herself a 12-footer for birdie, but there’s plenty of left-to-right swing and she can’t quite steer it in. However that gap may still be closing soon. Back down the hole, Ashleigh Buhai clumsily sends her tee shot into a steep-faced bunker to the right of the fairway, and can only advance another 30 yards. She can only lay up with her third, and needs to get up and down from 107 yards to save her par.
A disappointing par on the 17th for Leona Maguire. She’d have been dreaming of eagle, and posting something to give those still out on the course pause. She remains at -7. Meanwhile another birdie effort slips by for Minjee Lee, this time at 10. Her chances become ever more slim.
-14: Buhai (8)
-12: Chun (8)
-9: Shibuno (8)
-7: Maguire (17), Lee (10)
From thick rough, Shibuno throws a wedge high into the air, landing her ball eight feet past the flag. About the best she could do. Buhai nearly drains a 30-footer for birdie, but is more than happy to tap in for par. That ramps the pressure up on Shibuno ... but she makes her bogey putt. Not ideal, but that could have been so much worse, and that damage-limitation job may give her a little succour. Buhai remains at -14, Shibuno slips to -9.
Shibuno’s had to take her medicine. She chips out from the bunker and will have a long third into the green. From 180 yards, she pulls a long iron into thick rough to the left of the dancefloor. Cinderella is not Smiling right now. Buhai twists the knife by whipping her second into the centre of the green. She’ll have a long look at birdie, but her partner will do well to limit the damage here to bogey.
Chun’s second into 8 topples down a swale to the left of the green. She can consider herself unlucky: a couple of feet further right and she’d have been close to the flag. Shortsided, she does extremely well to bump a delicate chip up to four feet, and tidies up for par. Back down the hole, Shibuno sends her tee shot into the face of a fairway bunker on the right, and will be lucky if she’s left with a shot to the green. Meanwhile Buhai pulls one into the rough on the left.
Minjee Lee pars the 9th and turns in 34. Nothing much wrong with that on its own terms, but not for the first time she’s left a downhill birdie putt short, and at -7 she really needs everything to drop. Pars meanwhile for Buhai and Shibuno on 7. The final pair are taking it steady for now.
Garden-variety pars for Buhai and Shibuno at 6. A fine par-saving up and down from the side of 7 by Chun. Time to take stock as the last pair complete the first third of their final round. This is probably going to become a three-way tussle ... though Maguire and Lee won’t be throwing in the towel quite yet.
-14: Buhai (6)
-12: Chun (7)
-10: Shibuno (6)
-7: Maguire (15), Lee (8)
-6: Sagstrom (7), Kyriacou (7)
-5: Boutier (F), Yamashita (8)
The 19-year-old American Rose Zhang will be lifting the silver salver for low amateur at the prize-giving ceremony. The only amateur to survive the cut, she finishes with a bogey but smiles widely anyway, carding 73 today and ending an extremely impressive week at +1. She’s already got an 11th-place finish at the ANA Inspiration on her resumé, and we’ll be hearing from her again in 2023, no doubt in a professional capacity.
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Minjee Lee isn’t quite out of this yet. A second birdie in three holes, this time at 8, despite taking an iron off the tee for safety and missing the fairway. She’s -7. But a mini-disaster for Steph Kyriacou at the par-three 7th. She misses the green short and right, then fails to get up the bank with her chip. A clumsy second effort leaves a long bogey putt, and she can’t make it. A double, and in short order, she hands back the two shots she picked up at 5 and 6. Such a shame for the young Australian.
Eagle for Hinako Shibuno at the par-five 5th! She responds to back-to-back three-putt bogeys by crashing her second into the heart of the green, and rolling in the 15-foot putt. She was walking after that the second she hit it. Her partner Ashleigh Buhai looks to be in a spot of bother, facing a downhill bunker shot, but splashes out wonderfully to four feet, and tidies up for a nerve-settling birdie. She’s been scrapping for pars since the get-go today, so that up and down could be a game-changer. Meanwhile another birdie for Chun In-gee, who makes up for the disappointing par at 5 by sinking a monster for birdie at 6.
-14: Buhai (5)
-12: Chun (6)
-10: Shibuno (5)
-8: Kyriacou (6)
Stephanie Kyriacou drains another long birdie putt! This one at 6 takes her to a share of third at -8. The 21-year-old from Sydney has already made a couple of splashes in the majors, tying for 13th in this tournament last year at Troon, then making it into the top ten at her first PGA earlier this year. This is shaping up to be her best finish yet.
Chun In-gee is this close to reducing the deficit at the top to one. She tickles a downhill 12-footer at 5 to the lip, the ball stubbornly refusing to drop. She smiles wryly, perhaps aware that a big chance for birdie at the par-five 5th is gone, and back up the hole, the leader Ashleigh Buhai has just battered a monster drive down the middle.
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A birdie-birdie finish for Celine Boutier. She cards a final round of 67, and we have a new clubhouse leader at -5. Meanwhile the tournament leader Ashleigh Buhai makes another par saver at 4, but Hinako Shibuno makes her second three-putt from distance in a row, again leaving her first effort well short. The 2019 champ is in danger of drifting out of contention here.
-13: Buhai (4)
-11: Chun (4)
-8: Shibuno (4)
-7: Maguire (13), Sagstrom (5), Kyriacou (5)
-6: Lee (6)
-5: Boutier (F), Yamashita (6)
Two distinctly average tee shots at the par-three 4th by the final pairing of Buhai and Shibuno. They’re on the green, but way short and well right, and facing difficult two-putts for their pars. Meanwhile birdie for Stephanie Kyriacou at the par-five 5th. She joins her playing partner Madelene Sagstrom – who missed a good birdie chance herself – at -7. And up on the par-three 13th, yet another birdie for the street-fighting Leona Maguire, reward for knocking her tee shot to eight feet. She’s also at -7, and if she can keep this going, could post a clubhouse total that’ll give the leaders pause for thought as the nerves begin to jangle on major-championship Sunday.
Scrub that. Hinako Shibuno is forced to play out from the sand slightly sideways ... but there’s enough room to get out, over and onto the green if she takes a brave line. She splashes out and, using the camber on the left, holds the green. But she’s left with a long two putts for par, and after underhitting the first one, ends up dropping a stroke. A garden variety par for Ashleigh Buhai. Meanwhile bounceback birdie for Minjee Lee on 5 ... and a stunner on the par-three 4th for Chun In-gee, who curls in a huge right-to-left swinger for a birdie that cuts the lead to two! The PGA champ on the charge!
-13: Buhai (3)
-11: Chun (4)
-9: Shibuno (3)
-7: Sagstrom (4)
-6: Maguire (12), Lee (5), Kyriacou (4)
The small margins between success and failure are evident on 3. Hinako Shibuno takes one club too many off the tee, unnecessarily bringing two fairway bunkers into play. She finds one of them. Ashleigh Buhai learns nothing, but her drive kicks off the shoulder of one of the bunkers and scampers back down the middle of the fairway. That’ll improve the leader’s mood after that egregious bogey on 2. Shibuno might not have a shot out of that bunker, she’s up against a tall face.
Eagle for Park Sung-hyun at 5, to follow birdie at 4. That’s more than made up for bogeys at 1 and 3, and she’s -5. Madelene Sagstrom repairs the damage of bogey at 2 with birdie at 4. And there’s another birdie for she of the sensational Sunday charge, Leona ‘61’ Maguire, this time at 11. The brilliant Irish player is now tied for fifth at -6, and may already be ruing her uncharacteristically unremarkable 71s on Thursday and Saturday.
Some careless play from the leader on 2. Buhai shoves her wedge wide right of the green and is extremely fortunate to miss the pot bunkers guarding that side of the hole. Her wedge in takes a hot bounce and trundles 12 feet past the green. Another big par putt coming up ... but she can’t make this one, and that’s only her fourth bogey of the week. Meanwhile her partner Shibuno wedges to six feet and strokes in a calm birdie putt. It hasn’t taken too long for Buhai’s five-shot lead to become just three. This is on!
-13: Buhai (2)
-10: Chun (2), Shibuno (2)
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Any outside chance Inbee Park had of repeating her 2015 triumph is kaput. A double at 2 to follow her opening bogey, and she’s out of the running at -4. Meanwhile up on the par-three 4th, Minjee Lee creams a tee shot pin high to ten feet, but overhits her right-to-left slider for birdie ... then horseshoes out from a couple of feet. Audible gasps, and the US Open champion, who will have half-expected to rise to -7, instead slips to -5. Several slapdash seconds that look like being extremely costly for the world number two.
Ashleigh Buhai’s approach at 1 nearly topples off the back of the green, but clings onto the fringe. She races her first putt a good six feet past the hole, but rolls the one coming back straight into the middle of the cup. That could be a huge putt, because bogey suddenly became a very real possibility there. However, with Chun In-gee tidying up for her birdie on 2, the lead is cut to four. Hinako Shibuno meanwhile pars 1 without too much fuss.
-14: Buhai (1)
-10: Chun (2)
-9: Shibuno (1)
-6: Lee (3), Kyriacou (2), Sagstrom (2), Park (1)
-5: Maguire (10)
Minjee Lee joins the party at -6 with birdie at 3. Meanwhile on 2, Chun In-gee very nearly spins in a wedge from 80 yards for eagle. She’ll be tapping in from 12 inches, if that, to move to within four of Buhai at -10.
Not the start Inbee Park was after. A slightly wild drive leads to an opening bogey, and the seven-time major winner slips back to -6. Joining her on that mark, but in a more positive direction: Steph Kyriacou, who drains a long birdie putt at 2. Kyriacou’s playing partner Madelene Sagstrom hits a couple of undercooked putts, tapping in a third for bogey that drops her back to -6.
The leader Ashleigh Buhai creams her opening tee shot down the middle. She’s looking to become the third South African winner of an Open here at Muirfield, following Gary Player in 1959 and Ernie Els in 2002. Just another 17 tee shots as calmly struck, and she’ll be on that board. Her partner today, the 2019 champ Hunako Shibuno, hits an almost identical first ball. Here we go, then!
Leona Maguire nearly drains a 30-footer for birdie on 9. Just the par. She turns in 33 strokes, a couple of inches here (at 9) and there (at 7) from a front nine of 31. Meanwhile a sensational bounceback birdie for Miyuu Yamashita at 2: a fairway-splitting drive, a wedge nearly holed from 100 yards, and a tap-in. She’s back to -5.
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A fine closing-day 69 by home favourite Louise Duncan. The 21-year-old Scot wins her first money as a professional, finishing the week in red figures at -1. She currently holds the clubhouse lead alongside the 23-year-old Swede Linn Grant, who shot 68 today.
An opening par for US Open champion Minjee Lee. She remains at -5. Her partner today is the 4ft 10in Miyuu Yamashita; the 21-year-old from Japan ships a shot immediately, the result of a wayward tee shot, and slips back to -4. So with the final two matches preparing to tee off, how about a first update of the old leaderboard? Why not.
-14: Buhai
-9: Shibuno, Chun
-7: Park, Sagstrom
-5: Maguire (8), Lee (1), Kyriacou
-4: Boutier (13), Ko (7), Kim (6), Yamashita (1)
News of another former world number one. Lydia Ko cards three birdies on the bounce, at 4, 5 and 6, to move up the standings into a tie for tenth. She’s -4, as is Celine Boutier after birdies at 8, 11 and now 13. The 28-year-old French player shot 66 on the final day at Woburn in 2019 to take sixth place; a second top-ten major finish of the year, after her tie for fourth at the Chevron, is on the cards right now.
The new Evian champion Brooke Henderson is out. She doesn’t reach the 1st green in regulation, but very nearly trundles a chip in for birdie from the semi-rough down the right. She’s left with a tricky right-to-left curler from five feet, and she doesn’t send it out far enough. So close to birdie, she walks off having made bogey. Her playing partner today, the former world number one and two-time major winner Park Sung-hyun, also bogeys, having come up well short of the green with her second. Both players slip back to -3, and any slim hopes of a sensational smash and grab are surely already shot.
The wind really is up, and Leona Maguire is forced to take a hybrid at the 147-yard par-three 7th. She calmly swishes it to ten feet. The resulting putt is as straight as they come, but she doesn’t give it enough oomph and it dies a couple of turns short. She remains at -5.
Ewan Murray is at Muirfield this week. To further set the scene, here’s his third-round report.
The wind’s blowing a bit at Muirfield, so none of the earlier starters have made much of a move up the leaderboard. There’s always one exception to prove the rule, though, and here comes Leona Maguire. The star of last year’s Solheim Cup knows a thing or two about going low on the final day of a major – she shot a record-equalling low round of 61 at the Evian just 13 months ago – and she’s taking it to Muirfield today. Birdie at 4 is followed by eagle at 5, and the 27-year-old Irish star has shot up 13 places to -5 ... though she’s still nine shots off Ashleigh Buhai’s lead. Still, she’s showing what’s possible, and the folk at the head of the peloton chasing Buhai are sure to have taken note.
Preamble
After 54 holes of the 2022 Women’s Open, the top of the leaderboard looks like this ...
-14: Ashleigh Buhai
-9: Hinako Shibuno, Chun In-gee
-7: Inbee Park, Madelene Sagstrom
-5: Steph Kyriacou, Minjee Lee, Miyuu Yamashita
... while the largest final-round comebacks in the tournament’s 46-year history are these ...
4: Pak Se-ri (2001)
3: Karrie Webb (2002), Mo Martin (2014), Inbee Park (2015)
... and all 54-hole leaders of this year’s majors have gone on to lift the trophy: Jennifer Kupcho at the Chevron, Minjee Lee at the US Open, Chun In-gee at the PGA, and Brooke Henderson at the Evian. So on the face of it, this looks like a shoo-in for the 33-year-old South African Buhai. Procession ahoy!
Procession ahoy? Yes, very possibly. But it’s Sunday afternoon at a major, and you know what’s what. Firstly, only Lee converted her aforementioned 54-hole advantage this year without drama. Kupcho stuttered on the back nine at Mission Hills; Chun found herself two behind with three to play before overhauling Lexi Thompson at the PGA; and Henderson, having suffered a four-putt, required a birdie at the last to secure the Evian. Nothing’s ever that simple.
Additionally, Buhai has a quality pack in hot pursuit. Chun and Lee are both hoping to make it two majors in 2022 should the South African slip. Inbee Park is a seven-time major champion, and won this thing with a final-day 65 in 2015. Madelene Sagstrom will be desperate to put last year’s near miss to bed. And then there’s the Smiling Cinderella, Hinako Shibuno, who shot 66 on Sunday at this year’s Chevron ... and 31 on the back nine at Woburn in 2019 en route to claiming this very title. Her playing partner that day? Ashleigh Buhai. Of course it was. So buckle up, folks. Either a procession or a classic awaits. Here we go! It’s on!
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