1. Lexi Thompson leads the U.S. Women’s Open through 54 holes for the first time in her career after a sparkling 5-under 66, her lowest career round in the championship. Thompson was bogey-free in round three, the only player this week to record a round without a bogey or worse. Thompson gained more than eight full strokes on the field on Saturday (8.12, to be exact), the fourth-most in any weekend round at the U.S. Women’s Open going back to 1992.
2. Through two rounds, Thompson understandably struggled when missing the fairway, playing those nine holes in 4 over par. It was a different story in Round 3, as Thompson was 2 under on the five holes where she missed the fairway with her tee shot. With an average of 26 feet, 1 inch, Thompson led all players in proximity to the hole on approach shots on Saturday. She ranks second in the field in that statistic for the week.
3. While this is the first 54-hole lead in Thompson’s U.S. Women’s Open career, it will be her third in a major championship. Both of her previous instances came at the ANA Inspiration, when she won in 2014 and finished in fifth place two years later. Thompson is trying to become the first American winner of the U.S. Women’s Open since 2016, and the first American woman to win any major championship since Angela Stanford won the 2018 Evian Championship 994 days ago.
4. Just one shot off the lead is 19-year-old Yuka Saso, who is trying to become the first woman or man from the Philippines to win a professional major championship. Saso’s brilliant putting has kept her in the mix this week: she is tied for the fewest putts per green in regulation this week, at 1.62. With a win, Saso would match Inbee Park as the youngest champion in U.S. Women’s Open history, at 19 years, 11 months and 17 days – identical ages, right down to the day.
5. 17-year-old amateur Megha Ganne continued her great play (72 on Saturday) and will enter the final round just four shots off Thompson’s lead. Ganne’s 54-hole total score of 210 is tied for the second lowest by an amateur in U.S. Women’s Open history, bettered only by Hye Jin Choi four years ago. In a tie for third, only one amateur in the last 15 years has had a better 54-hole position in this championship than Ganne (again, Choi, who was tied for second in 2017).
6. Ganne has shone brightest on the greens, needing the fewest putts through three rounds (77) of any player in the championship. Ganne is a perfect 37 for 37 putting from five feet and in, but her most stellar statistic comes when putting between 10 and 20 feet, where she has made 9 in 16 attempts. Compare that percentage (56.3, best in the field) to the PGA Tour average this season from that range – 25.7%.
7. For the second time in three years, Jeongeun Lee6 will try to come from behind on Sunday to win the U.S. Women’s Open. In a tie for third and four shots off the lead, she’s in a comparable position to where she stood Saturday evening in Charleston in 2019, when she was in sixth place, two off the pace. Lee6, who has the best strokes gained per round average of any player in the U.S. Women’s Open in the last decade, can take solace in this: six of the last seven winners of this championship were multiple shots off the lead entering the final round.
8. Perhaps no player in the field has ridden The Olympic Club roller coaster quite like Angel Yin this week. Yin opened with a round of 68, backed it up with 79, then shot 67 on Saturday to move back into a tie for ninth. In the last 30 years, only one player has recorded a round of 79 or higher at any point during the week and finished in the top-ten: Paula Creamer, who shot 79 in the third round in 2009 and finished tied for sixth place.
9. With both Maja Stark (tied for ninth) and Megha Ganne (tied for third) in the top ten, this marks just the second time in the last 40 years that two amateurs have been in tenth place or better entering the final round of this championship. The other instance came in 2005, when Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie not only were in the top ten, but tied for the lead going into the final round at Cherry Hills Country Club. The last time more than two amateurs were in the top ten entering the final round was back in 1964.
10. The largest final round comeback to win the U.S. Women’s Open is five strokes, done on seven occasions. The biggest comeback to win by position is tied for ninth, by A Lim Kim last year. That means no player in this championship’s history has ever won from outside the top ten entering the final round. With Lexi Thompson in front, though, it might not matter: Since 2017, Thompson has the lowest scoring average of any player in the final rounds of the women’s major championships (69.57).
Justin Ray is the head of content for Twenty First Group. He has also worked as a senior researcher at ESPN and Golf Channel.
