Yealimi Noh went from seven shots back to three ahead on Saturday at the AIG Women's Open, turning the final major of the year into a much tighter race for the leaderboard and the Women's Open Prize Money implications that come with a Sunday finish.
Noh's turnaround started early in the round and kept building. She had already shot a 4-under 67 in the opening round after entering the week with just seven of 14 cuts made and zero top 10s. She also had not broken par in an LPGA stroke-play event since April before the tournament began, which made her start at Royal Lytham and St. Annes even more notable.
How Noh seized control
On Saturday, Haeran Ryu opened with a four-shot lead after six holes before the windy conditions and the brutal back nine began to change the picture. Ryu bogeyed the par-5 seventh hole, then dropped shots at Nos. 8, 10, 12 and 14 as the lead slipped away.
Noh made her move on the heart of the round. Birdies at Nos. 9, 10 and 11 pulled her into a share of the lead, and another birdie at No. 16 gave her the separation she needed. With 18 holes to play, she stood three shots clear and in position to chase her first major title.
Who is still in the mix
Noh is not the only player with a path on Sunday. Charley Hull, Lottie Woad, Jeeno Thitikul, Esther Henseleit, Lucy Li and Shiho Kuwaki remained among the players still in contention after Saturday, leaving the final round with several names close enough to make a run.
That matters because Royal Lytham and St. Annes has already shown how quickly the scorecard can flip in the wind. One big swing can change the tournament, especially when the back nine is punishing and a player who once led by four can suddenly be chasing instead.
For Noh, the bigger story is not just the lead itself. It is how she handled the pressure after a year that had included missed cuts at the KPMG Women's PGA and the Evian before she worked on her game in the U.S. Now she has a chance to finish the week with the biggest win of her career, while the Women's Open Prize Money and the major itself remain up for grabs.
