After a long, brutally difficult day at Erin Hills, where the course showed its true teeth for the first time this week, Maja Stark survived better than anyone else, taking the lead at -7 going into Sunday.
After doing what she needed to on the front nine, which has been playing much more difficult this week than the back, shooting even par, Stark turned it into gear on the back. She made birdies on 10 and 16 and found pars on every other hole. That was enough to call it a great round during a day where only nine players turned in under par scores.
Stark’s putting was terrific, gaining 3.68 strokes on the field with the flat stick. That ranked No. 4 in the field. She also hit 12 greens, which for the standard of the day, was impressive.
Stark is looking for her first major, her previous best finish was a runner up at the 2024 Chevron Championship. She is a six-time LET winner and has played on the last two European Solheim Cup teams.
Chasing is a crowded leaderboard, including long-hitting Julia Lopez Ramirez being her closes competitor one back at -6. She had a terrific day, placing top seven in strokes gained off the tee, approach and putting. Her -4 score was two strokes better than anyone in the field.
Nelly Korda had a disastrous front nine 40, but recovered brilliantly, looking every bit the best player in the world. At the start of the back nine, Korda strung good shots together to start but missed some putts to make four pars. She heated up late though, with birdies on 14, 15 and 18 and had good chances on 16 and 17. She sits three back and feels like a real threat to win.
The lead entering round three was -8, the lead entering round four is -7. That shows the difficulty the course was playing at. The final round of the U.S. Women’s Open will kick off tomorrow morning, with coverage beginning at 2:00 est. on NBC.
