Charley Hull‘s quest to land a maiden Major championship came up agonisingly short once again at the U.S. Women’s Open as the Englishwoman finished T2 behind Nelly Korda despite a sensational weekend charge.
The result sees the 30-year-old finish second at a Major for the fifth time in her career while Korda, the World No 1, lands back-to-back Majors following her heroics at last month’s Chevron Championship to take her tally to four.
Hull sat in T45 position following 36 holes of action but soared up the leaderboard on Saturday with a round of the week 65 (-6) to sit three shots adrift of Korda and South Korea’s Sei Young Kim heading into the final day.
Sunday at The Riviera Country Club then produced a finale worthy of a Hollywood script in Los Angeles – Hull carding an eagle on her opening hole as she went out in 32 (-3) to pile the pressure on her Solheim Cup rival.
Two birdies followed at the 10th and 11th as Hull stormed into the outright lead for the first time this week on eight-under par.
A nail-biting back-nine ensued as Hull dropped shots at the 12th and 14th to see Korda, South Korea’s In Gee Chun and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez leapfrog the Englishwoman and lock horns in a tie at the top.
The 17th and 18th would prove to be a decisive at The Riviera Country Club – Hull making an excellent birdie on the penultimate hole despite her second shot finding the bunker. She would then get up-and-down at the last to claim the clubhouse lead on seven-under par.
Lopez would join the Englishwoman shortly thanks to a clutch birdie at the 18th to bounce back from a bogey at the 16th. Chun meanwhile – the solo leader with seven holes remaining – dropped three shots coming in including at the final hole to leave Hull’s Major hopes riding on the World No 1.
Then, Korda did what she does best. A brilliant birdie at the 17th taking her into the solo lead before she striped her tee shot down the 18th. After finding the green in regulation, Korda would two-putt for victory – albeit with her three-feet par effort sneaking in around the back of the hole – to claim Major victory number four and finally hoist the U.S. Women’s Open.
Hull’s wait for one of the big five continues as she adds the T2 finish to her runner-ups at the 2016 Chevron Championship, 2023 U.S. Women’s Open, 2023 AIG Women’s Open and 2025 AIG Women’s Open.
“It’s just frustrating,” Hull said. “Another second place. I think that’s five second place finishes I’ve had in Majors now. So yeah, it’s pretty annoying. But I played really well the last day. Obviously I missed a couple putts on the back-nine, but it was quite windy and I hit the ball fantastic so fair play to Nelly Korda for back-to-back wins.
“I just love playing in the Majors. Like I pretty much only get up for the Majors, it’s really weird I just love playing in mMjors like if it’s a normal week-to-week I struggle sometimes getting like the motivation. But when it comes to Major week, I just love it. Like if I just even just make the cut I have like at the weekend I can make a massive charge. But, no, I loved it out there. It was so much fun. The crowds were great and it was nice to see many so many young kids around.”
On her stunning victory in California, Korda said: “I feel like I’m in a dream. Gosh, I just can’t even explain how much this means to me. Thank you all for coming out and cheering me on. It really brings tears to my eyes.
“Obviously I’ve had doubts of like even mid-round I was like, well, ‘will I ever win it, right?’ I mean you always have those doubts. But I think you’re just a human being if you have them. Like everyone will have them eventually at some parts of their career.
“I don’t know if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, but I just think I’m just extremely proud of my fight this week and the dream of that little girl that you kind of get to check that off your bucket list.”
Elsewhere in Los Angeles, defending champion Maja Stark from Sweden enjoyed a good weekend finishing inside the top-10 on two-under par. Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit leader Casandra Alexander finished the week in T40 position after a strong first two rounds. The final leaderboard can be found here.
