CHARLESTON, S.C. — Jeongeun Lee6 is No. 1 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The 23-year-old South Korean shot a 1-under 70 on Sunday, enduring some shaky moments after opening up a three-stroke lead with three to play to hold off third-round co-leader Celine Boutier.
Lee6 was ahead by three after a birdie on the par-5 15th, but took bogeys on the 16th and 18th to give Boutier a chance over the final two holes. But Boutier missed a long birdie attempt on the 17th and put her approach to the par-4 18th in a bunker. Her sand shot rolled off the green.
Lee6, playing two groups ahead of Boutier, was practicing putts when the Frenchwoman could not make the sand shot. Lee6 bent down in joy when her victory was secure, countrywoman and 2011 U.S. Women’s Open winner So Yeon Ryu coming over to embrace the new champion.
“I felt pretty nervous starting on the holes 16, 17, and 18″ after opening the large lead,” Lee6 said. “But I tried the best that I can.”
Lee6 finished at, naturally, 6-under 278 to claim the USGA’s first $1 million women’s winner check a few days after Tiger Woods’ former swing coach, Hank Haney, made disparaging remarks about women’s golf by predicting a “Korean” would win and “I’d go with Lee.”
Lee6 has the number in her name because she was the sixth player with the name on the Korean LPGA. She has embraced the number, answering to it and writing a large “6” on her balls. Her South Korean fan club is called “Lucky 6.” Jeongeun Lee5 also plays the LPGA Tour.
Lee6 won a few days after Haney was suspended for his comments on his PGA Tour SiriusXM radio show when asked who’d win. “I’d go with Lee,” Haney said. “If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right.” Haney was suspended for his remarks.
Boutier made a double bogey on the final hole to fall into a tie for fifth at 3 under. She shot 75. Lexi Thompson, Ryu and Angel Yin tied for second, two shots behind. Thompson shot 73, Ryu 70 and Yin 68.
Boutier tried to get on No. 18 in two. “And then if I made the putt, then it would be best,” she said. “But I missed the green, so …”
Gerina Piller, Jaye Marie Green, Mamiko Higa of Japan, and third-round co-leaders Yu Liu of China and Boutier were tied for fifth. Piller was the only under par at 68. Higa and Liu shot 74s.
Boutier and Liu, the good friends and former Duke teammates, figured to fight for the title. Instead, both threw away chances early as they combined for three bogeys and a double bogey on the first three holes.
Thompson began the round a shot off the lead in search for a second career major. But she too struggled early with bogeys on the first, third and fourth holes to drop off the pace.
Lee6 is hardly a surprise winner. She came in ranked 17th in the world and has won six times on the KLPGA Tour. She tied for fifth in this event in her 2017 debut and has three top 10s on the LPGA Tour this season.
“So looking at her as a rookie to play this tournament so well, I’m really proud of her as a fellow competitor and same country girl as well,” Ryu said.
Higa faded in the final round after being a major contender at her first U.S. Women’s Open. She set the tournament mark for lowest debut with her opening 65. She was a stroke in front through 36 holes and only a shot behind when the final round began. But she had five bogeys on her first 13 holes to fall back. She finished tied for sixth after a 74.
Cantlay rallies at the Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Patrick Cantlay got another handshake with Jack Nicklaus, this time as the Memorial winner.
Starting four shots behind, Cantlay closed with an 8-under 64 for a two-shot victory Sunday. It was the lowest final round by a winner in tournament history, and it moved the 27-year-old Californian into the top 10 in the world.
Martin Kaymer, trying to end five years without a victory, started with a two-shot lead and never recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the back nine. He shot 38 on the back nine and finished with a 72.
Adam Scott was the last player with a chance to catch Cantlay when he ran off three straight birdies to get within two shots, but he narrowly missed birdies on the last two holes and had to settle for a 68.
Cantlay first met the tournament host in 2011 when he won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top player in college at UCLA. And he leaned on the advice of Nicklaus going into the final round to relax, enjoy the surroundings and finish it off.
“I finished it,” Cantlay told Nicklaus as he walked off the 18th green after making an 8-foot par putt that effectively sealed it.
Cantlay finished at 19-under 269 and won for the second time in a PGA Tour career that is younger than it seems. A rising star coming out of UCLA — he was low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open and opened with a 60 at the Travelers Championship a week later — he missed two full years with a back injury that nearly cost him his career.
He is in his third full year since returning, and a victory over a strong field on a strong course is what long was expected of his skills.
And there some atonement at Muirfield Village for Cantlay. A year ago, he took a two-shot lead to the back nine and didn’t make a birdie the rest of the way, missing a playoff by two shots. This time, he putted for birdie on every hole on the back nine until the 18th.
“Being able to win on this golf course, in front of Jacking, making that putt on the last hole, I can’t tell you how good it feels,” he said.
Scott finished at 17-under 271. Only six other players have had a lower 72-hole score at the Memorial since it began in 1976.