Story of the Championship

A new Champion, two holes-in-one, record crowds, and a week full of memories – the 2025 AIG Women’s Open delivered in spades.

Hosted magnificently by Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, this was the biggest women’s sporting event ever to be staged in Wales – and it produced four days of exhilarating action.

Miyu Yamashita became the third Japanese winner of the Championship, the final golf major of the season, just a day after celebrating her 24th birthday.

She struck the front on Friday after an exquisite second round and held off a Sunday charge from Charley Hull; standing firm to take her place among the game’s greats.

Here’s a day-by-day breakdown of how she did it.

Round One

Japanese players completely dominated the early exchanges in Wales, at one stage occupying the first six places on the leaderboard.

Rio Takeda birdied the very first hole on her way a five-under 65. The world number 11 birdied a further six holes, her only blemish being a double-bogey on the par-5 9th. It was enough for a share of the clubhouse lead, alongside compatriot Eri Okayama.

Miyu enjoyed a bright start too, becoming the first player to reach five-under-par following an eagle at the 9th. She ended day one just a shot adrift of the leading pair.

Three more Japanese – Shiho Kuwaki, Mao Saigo and Chisato Iwai [below] – were tucked in behind on three-under following a wholly impressive day by golfers from the land of the rising sun.

Much of the pre-Championship attention was focused on Lottie Woad – and whether she could maintain an astonishing start to her professional career – and Porthcawl member Darcey Harry.

Lottie carded a respectable level-par 72 while Darcey finished on two-under, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Meanwhile, 2020 Champion Sophia Popov had the honour of getting proceedings under way by hitting the opening tee shot of the Championship.

Round One leaders

-5 Eri Okayama, Rio Takeda
-4 Miyu Yamashita
-3 Shiho Kuwaki, Mao Saigo, Chisato Iwai, In Gee Chun, Mimi Rhodes

Round Two

A hole-in-one and an ultimately unassailable run by the would-be Champion were the highlights of a weather-beaten second day on the Bristol Channel.

In the fifth group out, Miyu made the most of the relatively benign early conditions to surge to the top of the leaderboard. It was a position from which she was to never be ousted.

Carding a seven-under 65 – the best of the day – she was safely back in the clubhouse on 11-under-par just as the winds picked up.

In the same group as Miyu, Rio stayed on her compatriot’s coat tails with some exquisite iron play, most notably the approach shots she stuck to within a few feet on both 10 and 11 which set up simple birdie putts. Rio finished Friday just two shots off the summit.

There was a moment to savour for Steph Kyriacou, who landed the first hole-in-one at the AIG Women’s Open since 2018. It came at the 8th, with her tee shot bouncing just once before diving into the cup. Incredibly, Steph went on to eagle the 18th to make it inside the cut line.

Despite her relatively low-key entrance, Lottie showed why she is very much one to keep an eye on with a flurry of crowd-pleasing birdies – which was only undone by a triple-bogey 7 at the 16th.

Round one joint-leader Eri Okayama endured a horrible day as nine bogeys saw her tumble to four-over-par, meaning she missed the cut. So too did a host of major winners including Maja Stark, Ruoning Yin, Allisen Corpuz and Yuka Saso, not to mention four former AIG Women’s Open Champions; Hinako Shibuno, Jiyai Shin, Lilia Vu and Popov.

It was a stark reminder of how tough links golf can be.

There was, though, a heartwarming moment for two-time Champion Yani Tseng, who summoned all her powers of recovery to make her first cut in a major since 2017.

Round Two leaders

-11 Miyu Yamashita
-8 Rio Takeda
-4 Lindy Duncan, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Chiara Tamburlini, Laura Fuenfstueck

Round Three

Moving Day certainly lived up to its billing as the chasing pack closed in on a stuttering leader.

After opening with two bogeys in the first three holes, Minami Katsu caught fire, landing seven birdies and an eagle on her way to a seven-under 65, the best round of the day.

2020 US Women’s Open winner A Lim Kim carded a blemish-free 67 to move onto eight-under, just one stroke behind birthday girl Miyu who struggled to a two-over 74. Things could have been worse had the leader not holed a monster par putt on 17.

The ever-popular Charley Hull, runner-up in 2023, enjoyed another AIG Women’s Open birdie-fest to move ominously up the leaderboard, while Andrea Lee birdied six out of seven holes in the middle of her round for a five-under 67.

It was all set up for a tense final day …

Round Three leaders

-9 Miyu Yamashita
-8 A Lim Kim
-7 Andrea Lee
-6 Charley Hull, Minami Katsu, Megan Khang, Rio Takeda

Final Round

With a buoyant Charley Hull on a final-round charge and Minami Katsu continuing her form from Saturday, Miyu Yamashita faced a real battle to convert her 54-hole lead.

That she did so with such relative ease speaks volumes of her grit, her class and her ability to hole huge par putts when they mattered most.

As she often does, Charley had the galleries purring with a three-under-par front nine. Minami reached the turn in 35 to further crank up the pressure on Miyu.

But it mattered not. As the morning winds and rain cleared, Miyu kept all challengers comfortably at arm’s length. She didn’t need to do anything spectacular, but by the time she birdied the 8th and 9th, the engraver could well have begun work.

Miyu parred eight of the next nine holes to effectively glide to victory. She bogeyed the 17th, but by that stage her nearest challengers had stumbled too, including playing partner A Lim Kim.

Miyu tapped in for another par on 18, held her arms aloft in celebration and was showered in champagne by her closest friends on Tour.

Miyu may have been 69th out of 71 for driving distance, but it was her accuracy and ability on the greens that were the cornerstones of her remarkable victory. She was third in greens in regulation, fifth in fairways hit and T15 for average putts per round.

Meanwhile, Paula Martin Sampedro won the Smyth Salver – awarded to the best-placed amateur who completes all four rounds. She began the final round three strokes clear of Carla Bernat and bogeyed her first two holes to give her fellow Spaniard hope.

But a spectacular run of five straight birdies from the 11th allowed her to saunter to the coveted amateur prize. Paula’s score of 30 was the lowest back nine of the week.

Finally, without a hole-in-one since 2018, the Championship was treated to two inside three days as Mimi Rhodes got a helping hand from Kyriacou’s ball for her own piece of history.

More than 47,000 fans attended the five days of the Championship (including the Practice Day on Wednesday) while Sky Sports reported record viewing figures for the opening two rounds.

Digital engagement was also through the roof as fans eagerly logged on to follow all the twists and turns from a thrilling week of action.

Final Leaderboard

-11 Miyu Yamashita
-9 Minami Katsu, Charley Hull
-7 A Lim Kim, Rio Takeda
-6 Megan Khang, Wei Ling Hsu
-4 Steph Kyriacou, Lottie Woad, Paula Martin Sampedro (a)