When Yealimi Noh decided to skip the Women's Scottish Open at Dundonald and return home to reset, her trajectory on the LPGA Tour appeared to be stalling. She had missed three consecutive cuts and had not sniffed a top-ten finish since last October. Yet, standing on the 18th green at Royal Lytham & St Annes on Saturday afternoon, the 25-year-old Californian wasn't nursing a grievance or a lingering slump. She was signing for a 2-under 69, capping a bogey-free back nine that launched her to 7-under 206 and a commanding three-shot lead heading into the final round of the 2026 Women's British Open.
Noh's ascension to the top of the leaderboard was as unexpected as the unraveling that preceded it. For much of Saturday along the blustery Lancashire coast, South Korea's Haeran Ryu looked entirely untouchable. Seeking to become the first player since Inbee Park in 2013 to capture three consecutive majors in the same calendar year—having already swept the Women's PGA Championship and the Evian Championship—Ryu opened her third round with a pair of birdies on the front nine. She stretched her advantage to four, and briefly to five shots, reaching 9-under par and seemingly locking the rest of the field out of the championship conversation.
Then came the pot bunkers and the unpredictable wind of Royal Lytham.
Ryu's slide began innocently enough with a bogey on the par-5 seventh hole. It metastasized into a staggering sequence: five bogeys over an eight-hole stretch that completely eroded her cushion. Trapped against the back lip of a pot bunker on the 10th hole, Ryu played out sideways just to salvage a bogey, avoiding double-bogeys but bleeding momentum. By the time she scrambled home with four consecutive pars for a 74, her aura of inevitability had vanished, dropping her into a five-way tie for second place at 4-under.
Today my shot was a little higher than the other two days. So I'm just trying to keep lower and no bunker,
Ryu said by Associated Press regarding her tactical adjustments for the closing stretch.
While Ryu retreated, Noh surged with quiet precision. After a jittery start that featured early bogeys—buffered only by a chip-in par save on the second hole—Noh rediscovered her tempo. She reeled off three consecutive birdies starting on the par-3 ninth, highlighted by a 12-foot conversion on the 10th. She navigated the firm links layout without a single blemish on her inward nine.
It was good for me to go home and reset, refresh and come here with a different mindset,
Noh told reporters via The Independent about her decision to bypass Scotland.
Noh's preparation had an unconventional assist. Working alongside her fiancé, an amateur golfer, she spent time practicing at Sahalee, a tree-lined course near Seattle that taught her how to manage tight corridors—lessons she successfully applied to avoiding Lytham's penal fairway hazards and deep greenside traps.
Behind the leader, the championship remains tightly congested. Ryu is joined at 4-under 209 by a formidable group of pursuers who have yet to taste major glory. World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul ground out nine consecutive pars on the back nine for a 72, while Germany's Esther Henseleit fired the day's low round with a 67. They are flanked by Lucy Li, who matched Noh's 69, and Japan's Shiho Kuwaki, who missed a crucial 10-foot birdie look on the 18th that would have pushed her into the final pairing.
English amateur Lottie Woad kept home hopes alive by grinding out a 70 to sit at 3-under, four strokes back, noting that the wind off the coast made the back nine play exceedingly long and difficult. Meanwhile, world No. 1 Nelly Korda saw her championship ambitions derailed by a late unraveling. After climbing the leaderboard with a birdie on the 17th, Korda hooked her tee shot on the 18th into trouble, walking off with a double-bogey six for a 73 that leaves her buried in a tie for 17th at even par, seven shots adrift.
The Chasing Pack at Royal Lytham
| Player | Country | Third Round Score | Total To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yealimi Noh | United States | 69 | -7 |
| Haeran Ryu | South Korea | 74 | -4 |
| Jeeno Thitikul | Thailand | 72 | -4 |
| Esther Henseleit | Germany | 67 | -4 |
| Lucy Li | United States | 69 | -4 |
| Shiho Kuwaki | Japan | 72 | -4 |
| Lottie Woad (Amateur) | England | 70 | -3 |
Sunday's final round will test whether Noh's reconstructed tempo can withstand the psychological weight of protecting a major lead, or if one of the five players lurking three shots behind can hunt her down on the firm links.
Just focus on playing the round,
Noh said via Associated Press. I don't want to think too much about the lead. Just settle into a good tempo and have fun out there.
Sources
These sources formed the evidence pack for this article. Links open the original publisher; inclusion does not imply endorsement.
- Jon Super - AP original
- Kristopher Knox original
- audacy.com original
- thestar.com.my original
- the-independent.com original
- apnews.com original
