Maja Stark holds off Nelly Korda for 2025 U.S. Women's Open title

The latest out of the blue champion of the U.S. Women’s Open, 25-year-old Maja Stark managed her way around a challenging weekend at Erin Hills en route to a two-shot victory over Nelly Korda and Rio Takeda. She joins countrywomen Liselotte Neumann and Annika Sorenstam as the only Swedes to win the championship, a surprising result for Stark, who has struggled this year with three missed cuts and just one top-five finish.

Stark chose the biggest event of the year to pick up her first win in America and take home a $2.4 million check. Nervy and a little unsteady to start the day, she rode a series of fortunate breaks on the front nine to avoid losing ground on the field. Her drive on the par-4 fifth skirted a bunker on the left side and ended up in the fairway. Then a mishit on the next hole, the par-3 sixth, bounded up the front of the green and led to birdie.

From then on, Stark put on an execution display, picking her spots and taking advantage of the 11th and 14th holes, the two easiest on the back nine. Her second shot into the par-5 14th gave her a look at eagle, but she took the two-putt birdie and built a comfortable buffer for the final stretch. Despite playing partner Julia Lopez Ramirez's best efforts on 18 to make Sunday yet another five and a half hour round, Stark got into the house with a bogey-bogey finish.

A trio of Japanese players – Hinako Shibuno, Rio Takeda, and Maio Saigo – along with world No. 1 Nelly Korda, tried to put the pressure on Stark, with Korda poised to tie her with a nine-foot putt for her third birdie in a row at the ninth hole. In what would be the theme of Korda's week, she couldn't take advantage and missed the putt on the low side. Another miss for par at the 13th was the writing on the wall for Korda. She ranked in the top 10 in every statistical category for the week, except putting. Of the 60 players who made the cut, Korda ended the week at 52nd in SG: Putting. This is the first time she's been in contention in the U.S. Women's Open, which will be her positive spin on the week.

The spoils of the day go to Stark, who said in her post-round press conference that she “didn’t even know” she was walking away with the biggest paycheck of her life, but she was aware of the company she has joined. Neumann and Sorenstam texted her on Saturday, telling her to “bring it home.” Stark was happy to oblige. “I love the U.S. Open. I’m so happy that it’s mine now.”

Erin Hills Act II

Through 108 holes of U.S. Open golf at Erin Hills, the results on the course still didn't resemble what we've come to expect of our nation's championship. Saigo was the second-round leader at 8 under, exactly halfway to Brooks Koepka's winning score of 16 under from 2017. With calm winds forecasted for the weekend, the USGA took matters into its own hands, double-cutting and rolling the greens before play on Saturday and Sunday. That pushed green speeds well over 13 on the Stimpmeter, and the average score jumped to over 75 on Saturday with only one sub-70 round. Tucked pins combined with players being sent off both tees in threesomes made patience, an already critical skill, even more important.

On Sunday, Erin Hills played slightly easier but still challenged the best in the world in a way we never saw in 2017. Rolling fairways and properly placed bunkers made precision off the tee a factor even with the course's width. Firm greens and lower ball flights made targets smaller than they already were. Thick yet playable rough made for exciting recovery shots all week long. Short grass surrounds punished even the slightest miscues. It was tough, but fair, just as the USGA likes it. The week gave a little dose of redemption to Erin Hills. If it is given another U.S. Women's Open, it won't be for quite some time, but it's clear that Erin Hills presents a dynamic and entertaining challenge for how the women's game is played.

Scottie Passes One of Golf's Great Tests

By Joseph LaMagna

Another week, another world-class exhibition from the top-ranked player on the planet. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler fired a 2-under 70 in the final round to successfully defend his title at the Memorial Tournament. He led the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and neither gained nor lost strokes with the putter en route to a four-shot victory over a red-hot Ben Griffin.

Some still scoff at comparisons between Scheffler and Tiger Woods, offering golf’s history of short-lived peaks as a cautionary tale for falling prisoner to the moment. But with each trophy Scheffler adds to the shelf, the number of resistant voices shrinks. His latest victory marks his 16th PGA Tour title and second at Muirfield Village — just three shy of Woods’ total at Jack’s Place. Given how effectively Muirfield Village identifies skill and rewards elite ball-striking, Scottie should have a few more chances at tracking down Tiger’s win total at one of the PGA Tour’s best venues.

Griffin, Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor, Russell Henley, and Maverick McNealy rounded out the top five, all of whom have won on the PGA Tour since November. The top three finishers – the trio of Scheffler, Griffin, and Straka – have won each of the past six weeks on the PGA Tour.  

A key ingredient in Muirfield Village’s formula for rewarding skill is featuring enough width and an effective playing area so that shots are achievable to execute. For as much as people like to associate Muirfield with thick rough, which is a significant component of the test and how offline shots are punished, the dimensions of the golf course should not be diminished. Players don’t struggle here because well-struck shots miss ridiculously narrow fairways. They struggle because poorly-struck shots get demolished. Fairways and greens are hittable. The course plays to its intended scale without resorting to artificially narrow corridors under the guise of difficulty. Achievable shots and a penalty for errancy through thoughtful design: that is the Muirfield Village recipe.

In other Memorial Tournament results, Rickie Fowler finished T-7 on a sponsor exemption, “earning” his way into the Open Championship as the top finisher not otherwise exempt via the Open Qualifying Series. While many will see this as validation of the sponsor’s selection, I cannot disagree more emphatically. If handpicking marketable faces to shake sponsors’ hands in hospitality tents and pro-ams is so necessary and additive to the Tour’s business model that it justifies undermining the meritocracy the Tour purports to be, fine. But spots in major championships, Ryder Cup points, and future status on Tour are too consequential to hinge on who has found favor with the corporate sponsors cutting the PGA Tour checks.

Anyway, good for Rickie. I can’t blame him for cashing in on his popularity and past accomplishments. But players who feel slighted by the Tour’s propensity to reward members of the boys’ club with career-changing perks have every right to feel aggrieved. Their frustrations are well-founded.

‍This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.