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Miyu Yamashita raised her arms and immediately bowed her head with tears in her eyes. It was an exhausting but exhilarating week for the Japanese star at the AIG Women’s Open.
She worked into the night on the driving range on her 24th birthday Saturday, fueled by the desire to fix what was broken in a swing that produced a two-over 74 to help the field close in on her at the top of the leaderboard. Yamashita clearly found a solution because the late sessions helped lead her to a victory at the Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Yamashita shot a two-under 70 Sunday, holding off British star Charley Hull and Japan’s Minami Katsu by two shots. Hull and Katsu shot three-under 69s to come up just short.
“This was a goal of mine from a very young age to win a major championship, and to be able to do that is a very satisfying feeling, very special,” Yamashita said through a translator.
The winning putt 🏆
A magical moment for Miyu Yamashita. pic.twitter.com/XC0o5sqQ7D
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 3, 2025
The standout was embraced by so many of the young, talented Japanese stars who already are some of the world’s best players. They shared hugs and sprayed champagne and if things continue on this path, those smiles, tears and celebrations will continue. Yamashita is the fourth Japanese major champion in the last two years. Before 2024, Japan had just two major champions in the history of the LPGA. Mao Saigo won the Chevron Championship earlier this year.
“It was an amazing feeling for them to stay and celebrate with me, something that was so great for me,” Yamashita said. “Also just something that I appreciate. To have so many Japanese players doing so well at the moment is something that provides a motivation for me and keeps me going. For us to support each other is something that I’m really looking forward to in the future as well.”
Yamashita won for the first time on the LPGA, although she’s won 13 times on the Japan LPGA and relied on that experience to close it out in Wales. Chisato Iwai won the Mexico Riviera Open earlier this year, making it three Japanese victories on the LPGA in 2025 to go with Yamashita and Saigo.
Hull, who was 11 shots back after 36 holes, closed within one shot twice on Sunday, but Yamashita held her off each time. Hull, who has yet to win a major but has finished second in majors five times, had to play aggressive over the final holes but bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes and parred the par-5 home hole.
Oisin Keniry/R&A
“Listen, coming into this week I didn’t think I was going to make the cut,” Hull said of her back injury. “That’s the truthful [part] of it. I wasn’t hitting it very well. I couldn’t prepare as well as I wanted to because I was [feeling] poorly. I obviously collapsed three times in the round in Evian, and then still wasn’t feeling well until Sunday last week. So I think I done pretty well, and considering my mindset coming into it, I’m pretty proud of myself.”
Yamashita was the 36-hole leader and fought through a difficult round Saturday. She shot a two-over 74 with four bogeys and two birdies but played to her strengths as she leads the tour in scrambling.
The Japanese movement in golf is real. Seventeen players from Japan played in the Women’s British Open. Six Japanese players are ranked in the top 27 in the world, including Saigo (10), Rio Takeda (12), Yamashita (15), Ayaka Furue (19), Akie Iwai (27) and twin sister Chisato Iwai (29).
She’s the second Japanese player to win this major since Hinako Shibuno in 2019, and she finished in the top 10 in a major three times. And yet, her name was mispronounced twice in the trophy presentation. Surely, that will change as her star power seems destined to rise.
Everything for Yamashita came down to the aforementioned range session with her father late Saturday. In fact, the discussion even continued well after she was done hitting balls.
Warren Little
“We did go to the practice range, and it still wasn’t quite feeling as I thought it should be,” Yamashita said. “When we got home, we were together, we looked through some of the finer details on the swing, found some points to improve, and today it felt a lot better just from the get go.”
In an uncanny statistic, Yamashita is the 21st different winner on tour as all 20 events—there is one team event with two winners—have been won by different players. She won $1,462,500 from a record $9.75 million purse.
British phenom Lottie Woad, playing in her first major as a professional, used a final-round one-under to tie for eighth place with Steph Kyriacou and Spanish amateur Paula Martin Sampedro. Nelly Korda shot a final-round 75, her worst round of the tournament, to tie for 36th and Jeeno Thitikul shot 74, also her worst round of the tournament, but tied for 30th. Korda, who has not won yet this year on tour, is projected to lose her No. 1 ranking, according to an LPGA spokesperson.
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Main Image: Morgan Harlow/R&A
