US Women’s Open golf 2024: fourth round – live | US Open

She struggled against Andrea Lee in fourth place. She hits her tee shot into the creek on the lower right. If she lands near there, she can’t get over the big tree on the way to the green. So she has to fall back down to the hole, going in a straight line from where she entered the hazard. Now she can get over the tree, but it’s a much longer shot to the green. And she ends up hitting the tree and missing the green, and her ball lands in the long grass near the creek. This could get ugly.

Hannah Green, the 2019 PGA champion, was the early leader in the clubhouse. A fantastic round of 66 was her best score of the day so far and she won again at +5. The aforementioned Charlie Hull closed with a 67 after losing her only stroke of the day on 17 to finish the week at +6.

Minjee Lee hits a beautiful chip shot a few feet away. That erased just one stroke.Her partner and namesake Andrea had a birdie putt from 25 feet that would have put them both back where they started, but she couldn’t make it.It was one stroke for par, but that made the difference just one stroke.

-5: M. Lee (3)
-4: A Lee (3)

On the third hole, leader Minjee Lee made an unforced error. From the first cut, left of the fairway and just 50 yards short, she carves her wedge into the sand on the right side of the green, then sends a powerful ball hurtling hysterically across the dance floor and nearly into a bunker on the other side. It comes to rest on the fringe, but she’ll be forced into a tough up-and-down swing to minimise the damage from a bogey.

Hinako Shibuno is the latest member of the top pack to start falling behind. An inadvertent lip out a few feet from the third hole cost the 25-year-old Japanese player a stroke, but there is another player catching up in the closing stages and hoping to get in. Arpichaya Yubol, a 22-year-old from Thailand making her U.S. Open debut this week, started the final round well with birdies on the first and fourth holes and is catching up with the pack with a par.

-6: M. Lee (2)
-4: A Lee (2)
-3: Saso (4), Meechai (3)
-2: Shibuno (3)
E: Yubol (4)

Wichanee Meechai made another three-putt bogey, this time on the second hole, and things were looking bad fast for the Thai underdog. She’s at -3. Then, in the final group, chasing from behind, Andrea Li fell into a deep greenside bunker on the same hole but gracefully popped out to three feet to save par and avoid a bogey-bogey start. She remains two strokes behind Minjee Lee.

Charlie Hull has star quality, as anyone who saw her score an eagle on Sunday at Walton Heath last summer can attest. She’s been making waves on social media this week for…

…that’s her novel strategy for quitting e-cigarettes. Anyway, she’s still smoking on the course today. Birdies on the 1st, 5th, 13th and 16th have propelled her up the leaderboard to +5. No breakthrough in the majors this week, but it’s only a matter of time. More anecdotes of smoking golfers can be found in the article below, featuring 1946 U.S. Open winner Lloyd Mangrum, who exudes unpretentious cool like Hull. Hey, I don’t write the rules.

Minjee Lee starts off with a birdie! She hit her approach into 1-12 feet and made the putt, but it resulted in a careless three-putt bogey for Andrea Lee, and in no time, a three-way tie for the lead had widened to two strokes behind the 2022 champion.

-6: M. Lee (1)
-4: Meechai (1), A. Lee (1)
-3: Sasao (2), Shibuno (1)

2021 champion Yuka Sasao made the first breakthrough of the day by birdieing the second hole to move to the top of the leaderboard. A 30-foot rake. Back on the first hole, Hinako Shibuno’s 20-foot birdie shot was stubbornly high and off, leaving the 2019 British Open champion content with an opening par. Meanwhile, Wichanee Meechai couldn’t make par. Her first putt was okay, up to four feet behind from a fair distance, but she didn’t learn from Shibuno’s putt and left her second putt high and to the right.

-5: M Lee, A Lee
-4: Meechai (1)
-3: Sasao (2), Shibuno (1)

Meechai will be playing a round today with Shibuno Hinako, who is on the green with the required number of strokes. Meanwhile, on the tee, the final group hits their opening shot. Andrea Li is looking to win her first major title and drives right down the middle. Her namesake Minjee Lee has two major titles to her name: this one in 2022 and the Evian in 2021. The Australian hits a long shot down the left of the fairway, easily clearing Meechai’s bunker. Everyone is on the course. Time to start!

Wichanee Meechai knows a thing or two about fast starts. The world No. 158 was one of the surprise winners after opening the second round on Friday afternoon with four consecutive birdies between No. 10 and No. 13, and has remained in the lead ever since. But it wasn’t an ideal start today for the 31-year-old Thai. Her first drive came to a halt beside a bunker on the left side, forcing her to stand in it, grip the shaft and swing with a baseball bat at the waist-high ball. It’s the kind of thing that can go horribly wrong and ruin your round before it even begins… but she’s made some big par saves this week, and after clipping the ball about 100 yards down the fairway and hitting it into the edge of the green, she’s on track for another one! It was an incredible recovery, an unlikely one, and quite an accomplishment, even if it left her with two long putts to make par.

So let’s get started! Lancaster Country Club has certainly played hard, but that doesn’t mean someone can’t make a score today. Kim Ah Lim, the 2020 champion, is currently proving that. The 28-year-old from South Korea started too far back to challenge today, but if she can pitch a start against the leaders, she should rake in a fair few coins. Birdies on the fourth and fifth holes quickly moved her to +3.

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