SAN FRANCISCO – Give the women an epic stage and watch them rise to meet the moment. The first championship Sunday at The Olympic Club that featured women was always going to be unforgettable. Firsts are like that.
But with Lexi Thompson on top of the leaderboard and a couple of teenagers chasing – including Megha Ganne, a showstopping amateur who was clearly born for the spotlight, and Yuka Saso, who could become the Se Ri Pak of the Philippines – the pieces are in place for something special to happen.
Thompson, 26, exudes joy right now. She looks lighter than she has in years, unburdened and fresh. She’s back working with performance coach John Denney for the first time since 2017. In the recent past, a bad tee shot would’ve sent Thompson into “oh, my gosh, this is awful, this is a terrible lie, like, I got to wedge it out now” mode. Now it’s something more along the lines of “I can pitch it out, wedge it up, give myself a par opportunity, and if I make bogey, I’ll move on to the next hole.”
Thompson, who in 14 U.S. Women’s Open starts has yet to win one, is talking a lot about coming from a place of gratitude and it sounds genuine.
“I was just taking it way too seriously,” she said, “and thinking that Lexi depended on my score.”
On a sun-splashed Saturday, Thompson posted the first bogey-free round of the championship, a flawless 5-under 66, which also happens to be her lowest score at the U.S. Women’s Open. She has four top-10 finishes at this event, including a runner-up to Jeongeun Lee6 two years ago at the Country Club of Charleston. She debuted at Pine Needles in 2007 at age 12.
“Is it going to be enough?” – @Kstupples
… YES, it is! @Lexi is now 4 under for the day and 6 under in the #USWomensOpen at @TheOlympicClub. pic.twitter.com/a0uKKQwkAI
— U.S. Women’s Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen) June 6, 2021
Juli Inkster won her first U.S. Women’s Open title in her 20th start. Thompson would be second to her on that list should she win in her 15th appearance. She has one major victory in 50 starts.
Thompson leads the field at Olympic in driving distance at 278.5 yards, is tied for fifth in greens in regulation (69 percent), tied for 24th in fairways hit (67 percent) and T-11th in putts.
Late last year Thompson went to see instructor Martin Hall, who has worked with her brother Curtis for nearly two years. Hall encouraged Thompson to focus on her breathing when she’s on the greens.
“Concentrating on what the putter head is doing would be about the single worst thing she could do,” he said.
Through 54 holes in San Francisco, Thompson certainly finds herself in the right frame of mind. She leads young Saso by one stroke at 7-under 206. Only seven players remain under par at the Lake Course, including Ganne, a one-putt machine who leads the field overall in putting and sits in a share of third with Lee6, four shots back.
“I wish it wasn’t over so quickly,” a gushing Ganne told the media after her round. “It’s been so much fun. I can’t wait to go back out there tomorrow, and I’m already counting down the hours until I tee off again.”
Ganne, a 17-year-old high school junior from Holmdel, New Jersey, encouraged the crowd to get loud, cupping her hand behind her ear, after pouring in a 10-foot putt for bogey on the sixth hole. It felt exactly as she’d pictured it.
Megha Ganne reacts to a putt on the sixth hole with her caddie Michael Finn during the third round at the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California, on Saturday, June 5, 2021. Photo by Kathryn Riley/USGA
“I’ve always imagined myself engaging with the fans like that,” said Ganne, who salvaged a 1-over 72 after hitting only five fairways and seven greens.
Ganne was excited to learn that she’d be in the final group with Thompson and Saso, a friend from junior golf. The pair of teens played a practice round together earlier this week.
“She’s one of my favorite people ever,” said Ganne. “If I wasn’t playing, I would be rooting for Yuka to win.”
No man or woman from the Philippines has ever won a major championship. Saso, a two-time winner on the Japan LPGA who modeled her swing after Rory McIlroy, has a chance to match Inbee as the youngest player to ever win a U.S. Women’s Open at exactly 19 years, 11 months and 7 days.
The AJGA’s Ganne, of course, would trump them all.
When asked when she started thinking about winning this week, an honest Ganne said before she even arrived in San Francisco.
“You can’t really come into a tournament expecting to play well if you don’t deep down know that you got a shot to win it,” she said. “I think people who say, I just want to play well. … I guarantee you all 156 people in this field have thought about winning this championship, and they just don’t say it because they want to seem humble.
“But, yeah, it’s been down there and hopefully I have a chance tomorrow.”
