After dodging rain drops for the first two rounds, the 6th U.S. Senior Women’s Open got back on schedule Saturday with Kaori Yamamoto of Japan atop the leader board at 8-under-par 134, four strokes clear of Christa Johnson and Stefania Croce. With Lisa Grimes at 138 and Annika Sorenstam, Juli Inkster and Leta Lindley at 140, the stage is set for an exciting weekend at Fox Chapel Golf Club.
No one has yet to win this championship twice and Sorenstam, who took the title in 2021 at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn., has a chance to be the first. Inkster is looking to add the U.S. Senior Women’s Open to her three triumphs in the U.S. Women’s Amateur (1980, 1981, 1982) and two in the U.S. Women’s Open (1999, 2002), which would make her one of only seven players with victories in three different USGA championships. Yamamoto would be the first qualifier to win.
Here are 3 things to know going into the final two rounds of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Back on Track
When darkness halted play on Friday after a more than three-hour weather-delayed start to the second round, 48 players were still on the golf course. Play resumed at 7:08 a.m. on Saturday and concluded at 9:11 a.m. The third round started at 10 a.m. with 17 threesomes and a pair of twosomes going off two tees. The final grouping of Kaori Yamamoto, Stefania Croce and Christa Johnson teed off at 11:54.
The fact that the Fox Chapel Golf Club maintenance staff and the USGA competitions staff readied the golf course so quickly, combined with the fact a relatively low number of 55 players made the cut – and the fact they are using threesome off two tees – gives the championship some wiggle room for a Sunday finish even if there are further weather delays.
Going Home
Among those to miss the cut at 9-over-par 151 were Hollis Stacy, a six-time USGA champion, and her sister Martha Leach, who was the low amateur in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open in 2018 and 2021. They both finished at 152, one stroke short of qualifying for the final 36 holes. Also missing out by one stroke was Sherri Steinhauer, a two-time major winner on the LPGA Tour.
Among the others who did not make it to the final 36 holes were 2022 U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion Jill McGill, Vicki Goetz-Ackerman, a two-time winner of the U.S. Women’s Amateur playing in her first U.S. Senior Women’s Open, and 85-year-old JoAnne Carner, the eight-time USGA champion who nevertheless matched her age in the first round and shattered it by five strokes in the second round. She’s now equaled or shot below her age in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open eight times, including in seven of her last eight rounds.
On the plus side of the cut line were 18 qualifiers, including leader Kaori Yamamoto. As previously noted, no qualifier has ever won the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Race for Low Amateur
Amateurs continue to shine in the U.S. Senior Women’s Open. There were 33 in the field of 120 at Fox Chapel Golf Club and seven qualified to play the final 36 holes. A record nine made the cut in 2023. This year, leading amateur at the midway point is Terrill Samuel at 145. Judith Kyrinis, who was the low amateur in both 2019 and 2023, is at 147 along with Sarah Jones Gallagher and Kristine Franklin. Michele Thompson is at 148 with Brenda Corrie Keuhn and Shelly Stouffer at 149.
The fact that the seven amateurs are separated by only four strokes should make for an exciting weekend. Thompson and Franklin are in the same threesome for the third round with Kuehn in the grouping after them and Stouffer in the following threesome off No. 9 tee. Gallagher, Kyrinis and Samuel are spread out over the first four groupings off the front nine.
Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer whose work has previously appeared on USGA websites.
