Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss the U.S. Women’s Open, Robert MacIntyre’s familial victory, an interesting Ryder Cup decision and more.
Yuka Saso burst onto the scene with an unexpected U.S. Women’s Open victory in 2021, but after a couple of winless seasons she picked up her second career LPGA victory at this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club. Was this an unexpected winner?
James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): I’m not sure I’d call a player who finished 2nd and T3 at the KPMG and Evian last year an ‘unexpected’ winner. Some players have a gift for playing well when the conditions get tough. A 68 on Sunday — when only 13 players in the entire field played under par — would seem to be proof.
Zephyr Melton, assistant editor (@zephyrmelton): It’s not as if Saso disappeared the last couple of years — she just didn’t win. As James noted above, she finished inside the top 3 twice in majors last summer. It was only a matter of time before she broke through and won on the biggest stage again. I’d be surprised if this is the last time we see Saso hoist the trophy on major Sunday.
Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): I’d love to have a so-so year like Saso had in 2023. Winning’s hard. So many things have to go right (like, for instance, Nelly Korda missing the cut). And then you have to be ready when they do. Saso was. Great combination of power and poise. I second Zephyr. I’d be surprised if she doesn’t repeat the feat before long.
Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): Surprising: Nelly Korda missing a cut. Not surprising: A player who already has proven she can win a U.S. Women’s Open doing it again. And Yuka did it by dropping the hammer. Four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine as the other contenders were struggling to make pars? That is seriously stout stuff. Also cool: that Yuka has now won U.S. Opens for two countries that never had one (Philippines in ’21 and Japan this year).
One player who didn’t make the weekend at Lancaster was 29-year-old Lexi Thompson, who stole the headlines earlier in the week when she announced that after this season she’ll no longer play a full-time LPGA schedule. Surprised? Not surprised?
Colgan: The timing was unexpected, but the news wasn’t. Lexi has long appeared from afar to be one of golf’s most tortured players. No amount of money or fame is enough to overcome plain disenchantment with the life of a pro golfer. Good on her for making a decision for her happiness.
What event from the past week was more surprising? Nelly Korda recording a 10 and missing the cut, or Charley Hull going viral (and gaining a ton of publicity and social media followers) for, well, a cigarette?
Colgan: Nelly was the best player on the planet, male or female, over the last six months. Her dumping three in the water on the third hole at the national championship isn’t just the most surprising development of the week, it’s the most surprising non-jail-related development in pro golf during this major season.
Melton: Gotta be Nelly. Seeing her make a 10 was downright shocking. The only thing more shocking would’ve been waking up to her mugshot, a la Scottie Scheffler.
Sens: Based on what we know about social media by now, does anything that happens on it ever count as surprising anymore? Nelly’s 10 all the way.
Bastable: Tough to compare the two, but I was fascinated by the reaction to the Hull video. Feel like the virality of the moment could easily have gone two ways for her: Gasp! A pro golfer tugging on a ciggy in front of young fans! Or…Amazing! A pro golfer with vices and weaknesses just like the rest of us! Clearly the public embraced Hull’s everywoman appeal, and the balance tipped toward praising her. Really interesting to watch this sociology experiment play out in real time. If the LPGA had a PIP ranking, Hull might be in poll (pull?) position.
Robert MacIntyre, with his dad caddying, shot a final-round 68 to win the RBC Canadian Open to claim his first career Tour victory. This comes just weeks after the Scot talked about battling homesickness and getting comfortable with the PGA Tour’s more business-like environment. Is this an important element of the game we often overlook when it comes to non-Americans trying to have success on Tour?
Colgan: I think the learning curve on the PGA Tour is steep for anyone, particularly a proper Scottish son like Bob MacIntyre, and I’d say the same for living full-time in Orlando, Fla.
Melton: Life on the road can get lonely! I’ve experienced it, and my travel schedule pales in comparison to Tour pros. I can’t imagine having to live out of a suitcase across the pond — let alone making my homebase Orlando for my rare offweeks.
Sens: Wait, James, are you suggesting that Orlando might not in fact be the Happiest Place on Earth? I’m canceling my Disney trip. Tour pros are people, too, so, of course, those types of adjustments matter. But I don’t think we overlook them. We often hear stories about the interplay between the personal and the professional, and how what happens off the course affects what happens on it, and the other way around. Sometimes, we even hear about it in tabloid headlines.
Bastable: Credit to Bobby Mac for baring his soul and giving us the PGA Championship’s most interesting presser this side of Scottie Scheffler’s post-arrest musings. The camaraderie the Europeans enjoy on the DP World Tour is in short supply stateside, where there’s far more of an every-player-for-himself mentality. MacIntyre clearly isn’t accustomed to the lone-wolf lifestyle, and it’s been wearing on him. Maybe a PGA Tour title will make him feel a bit more at home.
