Maja Stark Wins The U.S. Women's Open
Swede staves off a brief run from Korda before winning by two at Erin Hills.
It’s clear what makes Maja Stark such a joy to watch.
The 2025 U.S. Women’s Open champion plays with a rare blend of fire, precision, meticulousness, and frequently flashes a huge smile (well, when warranted).
So much for the stoic Swede thing.
The 25-year-old from Abbekås, Skåne County plays like a Ludvig-meets-Annika hybrid with a huge career ceiling now that she’s armed with a breakthrough major. Stark’s joyous performance at Erin Hills arrives after a cup of coffee at Oklahoma State, six LET wins, a 10-5-1 Solheim Cup record, and a steady climb via the incredible Swedish national program. (One that also saw Linn Grant finish T9 and three others make the weekend.)
The 80th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally did, briefly, get nerve-wrackingly close Saturday when Nelly Korda made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 7 and 8, and just before Stark would bogey the par-5 seventh. A host of others suddenly had a shot at the title. But Stark always seemed in control, even battling a left miss that led to bogeys on her final two holes.
The only time Stark really had to work came at the long, severely overcooked, and dynamite-ready par-5 18th. She arrived three clear, drove it left as he had at the 17th, hacked out, and had her third finish short. Meanwhile, playing partner Julia Lopez Ramirez set up shop at the strange finishing hole. The Spaniard skulled a bunker shot, fell victim to a recovery wedge shot that had claimed Korda a few minutes earlier, and made triple bogey eight from the scoring tent. Even as this debacle played out and Stark’s patience was tested beyond any reasonable measure, the eventual champion waited calmly. When it was finally Stark’s turn, she took disaster out of play by wedging well away a flag surrounded by a steep falloff. Then two-putted from 42’5” for a bogey six to win by two.
Stark had posted an even-par 72 for a 7-under-par 281 total and two-stroke victory over America’s Korda and Rio Takeda of Japan.
“I didn't look at the leader boards until I was on like 17,” Stark revealed after hoisting the trophy. “I caught a glimpse of it. It was nice.”
Stark’s lively home stretch conversations with caddie Jeff Brighton were allowed to breathe by NBC’s announce crew because (A) they were insightful, (B) entertaining, and, (C) gave the impression the two have been working together a long time. Turns out, he’s pretty new on her bag after a long career working for multiple players, including Monty. So he heard everything. At select times, it sure seemed like Brighton’s willingness to artfully push back at Stark’s plans, was vital in getting this previous major contender across the line.
“I wasn't as nervous as I thought that I would be because it felt like I have somewhat control of my game and I kind of know what's going on,” Stark said. “Then, obviously, with the pressure and everything, your mistakes get bigger but it felt like I could just like control anything that was thrown at me today.”
For co-runner-up Korda, the second-place finish was her first top-five finish in 11 U.S. Women’s Open starts.
“Last year definitely put a dagger into my heart,” Korda said of her disastrous play at the 12th hole and subsequent missed cut. “I feel like I actually learn a lot about myself and my game and where I need to improve playing the U.S. Women's Open because it does test every part of your game. Maybe just a little bit of disappointment. But it's also super motivating.”
The other runner-up, Rio Takeda, has now gone T9 and T2 in just two USWO’s. The 22-year-old already has two LPGA Tour wins. Look out.
Statistically, Stark put on a stout performance in every category.
Thanks to the USGA employing the PGA Tour’s ShotLink for the championship, we know she finished the week fourth in Strokes Gained Approach, seventh Tee-To-Green, and fifth in Putting. Stark hit 54/72 greens, got up-and-down 10 of 18 times, made 300’5” of putts, averaged 269.5 on all drives (T5), and averaged a solid 38’11” on her approaches (T19).
Stark played Erin Hills’ par-3’s one-under-par, the par-4’s three-under, and another three-under on the par-5’s.
By winning at Erin Hills, Stark becomes the fourth woman from Sweden to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
Liselotte Neumann became the first Swede to take home the U.S. Women’s Open in 1988 and was joined in 1995 by Annika Sorenstam, who won her first of ten majors at The Broadmoor.
“They texted me yesterday,” Stark said. “[They said,] ‘bring it home.’ That was already cool to just get those texts.”
The final leaderboard:
The final round highlights:
Also…
Lottie Woad captured low amateur honors with a +5 total that was good enough to hold off American Farah O’Keefe and Spain’s Carolina Lopez-Chacarra. An impressive six amateurs made the cut, including 19-year-old American Kiara Romero who teed off first Sunday following a third round 84 only to post a final round 67, the lowest by amateur in U.S. Women’s Open history. She made six birdies in her 17-stroke turnaround. What a week for the amateurs.
Amari Avery opened with a 71. But on Friday morning at around 2 a.m. her family and boyfriend were awakened at their rental home by a possible intruder. Police were called, the miscreant had disappeared by their arrival, but the shaken group understandably moved to a hotel only to have her boyfriend take the wrong set of clubs for a flight home top Arizona. This left Avery without sticks for round two. Through generosity and a missed cut, she was able to borrow Gabriela Ruffels’s clubs, made the cut after a 73, and got her clubs back for the weekend rounds after Avery’s mom flew to Arizona to retrieve them. Avery closed with a pair of 76’s. Beth Ann Nichols with the full story here.
Lexi Thompson (73-74-MC) took to Instagram to clear the air on pace of play and her retirement status. After thanking the USGA, volunteers and fans and admitting her game was not ready for the week, she wanted “people to realize our group basically waited on every single hole on the group in front, we were never out of position/warned/or on the clock,” Thompson wrote. “I’ll be the first one to say I’m not as fast as my playing partners the two days, but I’m also the last person that wants to be out there for six hours. So before you make assumptions, make sure you get all the facts right before basing it on pictures and little clips. That’s all! 😊” Then she addressed her playing status. “AND I’m not sure how many times I’ll have to repeat this , but I never used the word retire, I said not a full time schedule, because I’m not sure how much I will play. Just taking it one at a time. That’s why I’m still playing the tournaments I actually enjoy or want to play in.” Thompson launched the fake retirement news last year with a thanks-for-the-memories video and spoke about leaving the game better than she found it at last year’s U.S. Women’s Open.
Co-manager/superintendent Zack Reineking and crew had Erin Hills playing incredibly well given an early-season date and brutal winter for turfgrass development. “This was the fifth USGA championship that we have prepared for and conducted with Zach and his team at Erin Hills,” said USGA championship agronomist Darin Bevard. “He has tremendous agronomic knowledge, strong organizational skills and a willingness to do whatever is necessary for the success of the championship.” The USGA awarded him that plate they now give every super and while a nice gift, I’m sure the satisfaction of having the place play so well this early into the season will be the ultimate reward.
Shannon Rouillard, the USGA Senior Director of Championships, found a delicate balance between U.S. Open difficulty and moving a field around. A bold green speed push on Saturday probably contributed to the glacial pace for threesomes play, but certainly gave the weekend a classic U.S. Open sensibility where every miss was heightened. The par-4 15th followed the 2017 U.S. Open setup of going forward and it was if players hadn’t done any homework, probably because they had not. Kudos to Rouillard for playing off the past while bringing the national championship intensity to the proceedings via the setup.