Leta Lindley, who had knocked on the door twice at the U.S. Senior Women’s Open, finally gained entry to the winner’s circle on Sunday with a sizzling final-round, 7-under-par 64 at demanding Fox Chapel Golf Club to win the championship by two strokes over Kaori Yamamoto. Lindley’s 72-hole winning score was 9-under-par 275.
Beginning the final round five strokes behind Yamamoto, who led after each previous round, Lindley made birdies on five of the first eight holes to pull two strokes ahead. By the time play entered the treacherous back nine, Lindley was at 7 under par and Yamamoto at 6 under with no one else closer than five strokes, essentially becaming a two-woman race down the stretch.
Yamamoto drew even at 7 under when she knocked her approach shot to 5 feet on the par-5 11th hole, but when she three-putted for bogey on No. 13 and Lindley birdied No. 14, the lead became two again. Lindley, 52, the runner-up in the past two U.S. Senior Women’s Opens, sealed the title with three consecutive clutch putts: a 5-foot par save on No. 13, a 40-foot birdie on No. 14 and a 20-foot birdie on No. 15.
“It sounds amazing,” Lindley said when asked how it felt to be introduced as the champion of the U.S Senior Women’s Open. “Amazing. There's no words. I've been dreaming about this day for so long, three years now before I turned 50, and I've imagined myself hoisting this trophy and winning this championship, and I dared to dream big. It's just so satisfying to stand here now as your champion.”
Lindley was simply magnificent in her seven-birdie, no-bogey performance, hitting 12 of 14 fairways, all 18 greens and needing just 29 putts. For the week, she hit 64 of 72 greens, tied with Juli Inkster for best in the field. She was also first in the field in putts with 127. In 44 U.S. Women’s Open rounds, Lindley never bettered 68.
Her final-round score shattered the 18-hole championship record by two strokes, previously owned by four others, including 2018 champion Laura Davies and 2023 winner Trish Johnson.
“That's amazing,” said Lindley when asked about the 18-hole scoring record. “I don't know that anybody would have thought to write that kind of story for me. I've always been an underdog player, sneaky, under the radar. I have dared to dream so much bigger this season than I did when I was playing on the LPGA Tour.
“That's a pretty amazing feat, and I'm proud. I knew if I played like I was capable of that I would possibly hold this trophy one day. I felt like as each year ticked by, there would be a new group of 50-year-old rookies coming out, and it would just get tougher and tougher, so third time is a charm, and I'm excited to go back to San Diego Country Club (in Chula Vista, Calif.) where I grew up in San Diego and to be the reigning champion and play there next year.”
Nobuko Kizawa finished third at 281 with 2021 champion and three-time U.S. Women’s Open winner Annika Sorenstam at 282, Mikino Kubo at 283 and Inkster at 284.
Yamamoto began Sunday with her nearest challengers five strokes back, a foursome that included her playing partner, Kubo, also of Japan, Sorenstam and Inkster, both winners of multiple USGA championships, and Lindley. No one else was within seven strokes of Yamamoto going into Sunday.
Yamamoto made bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6, then birdies on Nos. 8 and 11 to right the ship. But on this day, Lindley’s play was simply too much to overcome. When the final round commenced, it seemed as if the even-par 71 Yamamoto shot in the final round would be good enough to win. Lindley, however, changed the narrative.
“I did get a big boost with this experience being second in such a prestigious tournament here, and I am very grateful that I was able to compete in this,” said Yamamoto, who posted the best finish by a qualifier in the championship’s brief history. “I am pledging that as long as I am healthy physically and as long as my bank account agrees, I would love to continue playing next year, the following year, [and] the following year. As long as everything is there mentally, physically and financially, I will be challenging [at] this tournament.”
