Sweden’s Maja Stark captures US Women’s Open for first Major title

CHICAGO – Maja Stark has won tournaments around the world, but a professional victory in the United States eluded her.

Now she is a US Women’s Open champion.

“This just feels huge,” said Stark, who admitted her best golf “felt like it was so far away” coming into the week.

She carded an even-par 72 to win the second Major of the year by two shots on June 1 at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin.

The 25-year-old from Sweden led the championship by one stroke through 54 holes and outlasted world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who got within a shot of the lead before petering out on the back nine.

“I just didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I thought there’s still a lot of golf left to be played,” said Stark.

“I just felt like people are going to pass me probably, and I just had to stay calm through that.

“I didn’t look at the leader board until I was on like 17. I caught a glimpse of it. It was nice.”

Stark posted a seven-under 281 for the week. American Korda (71) tied for second with Japan’s Rio Takeda (72) at 283.

Choi Hye-jin of South Korea carded a 68 to claim a share of fourth place at 284 with Japan’s Mao Saigo (73) and China’s Yin Ruoning (70).

Korda had a two-under front nine to get to six under for the championship. Stark was nursing a one-stroke lead when she birdied No. 11 from 14 feet.

American Korda bogeyed the par-three 13th and birdied the next hole, but only after an eagle opportunity slid by.

Stark made a two-putt birdie at No. 14 to get to nine under and had enough cushion to absorb bogeys at the difficult Nos. 17 and 18, where she missed each fairway.

“You need to kind of think about every shot here,” Stark said of the difficult course set-up. “Maybe not the tee shot on 10. I think that’s fine.

“But everything else, you’ve just got to have your brain working for you, whereas like on normal weeks, you can kind of bail out. Here, not really.”

Stark has six wins on the Ladies European Tour. One of those, the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, was co-sanctioned by the LPGA and earned her a tour card in 2022.

Before June 1, the highlight of Stark’s minimal Major resume was placing second to Korda at the 2024 Chevron Championship. Now, she is just the third Swedish woman to win a US Women’s Open, after Liselotte Neumann and legend Annika Sorenstam.

“It’s so cool. They texted me yesterday and just kind of said, ‘Bring it home’,” Stark said. “That was already cool to just get those texts.

“Just looking at all the names on the trophy. I love the US Opens. I’m so happy that it’s mine now.”

Korda came up short of a third Major victory. She earned her best finish at a US Women’s Open and her third top-10 after she missed the cut in 2024.

“To have that showing last year definitely put a dagger into my heart, but that’s just golf. You’re going to lose more than you win a majority of the time,” she said.

“I feel like I actually learn a lot about myself and my game and where I need to improve playing the US Women’s Open because it does test every part of your game.

“It’s also super motivating... to see where my game’s at. Hopefully, I can continue trending in the right direction for a long season ahead.”

Takeda made an early double-bogey in an otherwise solid round to stay close to the top of the leaderboard all day. She tied for ninth in 2024 in her Major debut and followed that with a T-2 on June 1.

“This is a Major, of course, and it is a big tournament. So I always thought that I would like to do my best here,” Takeda said.

Spain’s Julia Lopez Ramirez played in the final pairing with Stark after shooting a 68 on May 31. She struggled from the outset and finished on one-over 289 after a triple-bogey eight on the final hole destined her to a score of 79.
REUTERS, AFP