Miyu Yamashita (-11) remains unfazed, executes flawlessly, and doesn’t blink. What a winner. This Sunday, the Japanese player lifted the first Major of her career at Royal Porthcawl. She is the champion of the AIG Women’s Open 2025, fully deserving. Don’t be surprised if more Majors follow.
There are many things to highlight about a player who is a natural winner. She has accumulated 13 victories on the Japan Tour and holds the lowest stroke average in the history of that circuit. This year, in her LPGA debut, she hadn’t won yet, but she had six top-ten finishes under her belt and finished second at the KPMG Women’s. She arrived in Wales ranked fifteenth in the world and leaves with her first Major.
Quietly, discreetly, shyly, calmly, without fuss, but with eyes filled with the blood of victory. That’s how Yamashita won this Sunday. A rock who managed to keep her nerves in check and signed a round with a solitary bogey when everything was already decided. However, as soon as the tournament ended, she let her emotions out, and we saw the young woman who turned 24 on Saturday raise her arms to the sky. Believe it or not, there were doubts about whether she would do it.
She started as the leader and finished as the leader. Only for two holes did she share that position with A Lim Kim (-7). Between the tee of the 3rd hole and the green of the 4th, they were tied at -9, but a birdie on that hole combined with the Korean’s bogey gave her a two-stroke advantage. She wouldn’t share the lead for another minute.
It must be said, the great rival of the day was Charley Hull. The Englishwoman crowned a spectacular weekend. On Saturday, she started eleven strokes behind the leader and came within one. She herself fell with two bogeys on the 16th and 17th. She was very close, it’s true, but she remains just short of lifting her first Major. It eludes her, repeating the second place from two years ago. The burden is becoming significant.
The Japanese player wielded the putter like a katana to seal the tournament. Hull was pressing hard with a round of five under par and was just one stroke behind the Japanese player. Miyu went into the bunker from the 12th tee, could only get it back to the fairway, and her third shot went to the left escape route. She had a delicate approach and a five-metre putt to avoid stumbling and level the contest. She didn’t blink and sank the putt right in the centre. For the first time, she showed a small gesture of joy. One hole later, she holed another great three-metre putt to save par. That, combined with Charley’s two bogeys, gave her a three-stroke lead, and the tournament had names and surnames for eternity.
This victory is another boost for Japanese golf. Until March 2024, Japanese golf had accumulated three Majors in its entire history. In the last 18 months, it has added three more with Ayaka Furue, Mao Saigo, and now Yamashita.
Paula Martín (-4) delivered the best card of the day and bid farewell to the tournament with the best round of the day and a card of 68 strokes, which allowed her to win the Smyth Salver as the best amateur of the tournament and she will return in twelve months to the Open as she finished among the top ten of the tournament.
Additionally, Jeeno Thitikul will become the new World Number One starting this Monday. Nelly Korda needed to finish among the top twenty-five of the tournament to have a chance to stay at the top. She finished beyond the thirtieth position, and the Thai player reaches the pinnacle of world golf.
