Concord's Yealimi Noh is one Sunday round away from turning a breakthrough week into a major championship shocker. The 25-year-old American takes a three-shot lead into the final round of the AIG Women's Open after shooting a 2-under 69 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. A victory would give her a second LPGA Tour title and her first major championship.
Noh had to work for that cushion, overcoming bogeys at three early holes before settling into a charge down the back nine. The AIG Women's Open reported that she mixed five birdies with three bogeys and birdied three straight beginning at the ninth. She will play alongside Esther Henseleit in Sunday's final pairing at 2:35 PM local time.
Royal Lytham Is Making Everyone Work
Noh's 69 was one of only nine under-par rounds during a punishing third day at the Lancashire course. Overnight leader Haeran Ryu struggled through six bogeys and slipped into a five-player tie for second at 4 under, alongside Henseleit, Lucy Li, Jeeno Thitikul and Shiho Kuwaki.
The pressure will be familiar, but Noh is approaching it with a different mindset than she once did. The New York Times' Athletic reported that she has been imagining herself winning so she can “manifest” it, a little positive visualization for a tournament where the leaderboard has already done plenty of manifesting on its own.
For Bay Area fans, this is more than a random leaderboard cameo. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in March that Noh grew up in Concord, spends part of the offseason in San Francisco with her fiancé Jackson Suh, and practices at the Olympic Club when she is home.
Her Concord connection also extends to the family restaurant business. Noh's parents, Kim and Brian, own Happy Roll sushi restaurant, whose menu includes a crab, avocado and mango roll named after the golfer, according to the Athletic's report.
A Second Win Would Change The Conversation
Noh's only LPGA Tour victory came at the 2025 Founders Cup, where she beat Jin Young Ko by four strokes at Bradenton Country Club. The LPGA described it as her first professional win after 118 starts.
She has missed the cut at nearly half of the majors she has played, making this week's run an especially sharp turn from recent major frustration. But Noh already owns the first 54-hole lead of her major career, and by this afternoon in England, Concord could be celebrating the biggest golf win its hometown star has ever claimed.
