The Monday Mulligan: the week that was in golf …
- themondaymulligan
- Aug 4, 2025
- 7 min read
That’s it, the final major of the season is done with the completion of the 2025 AIG Women’s Open over the weekend. It was another great week of golf around the world, with plenty of highlights across the Women’s Open and tours who were competing. Read on for a quick recap of what you should know to keep the golf small talk going this week.
At Royal Porthcawl in Wales it was Japan’s Miyu Yamashita who emerged victorious, capturing her first major championship at just 24 years old. She finished at 11‑under‑par, delivering a composed final‑round 70, and held off late surges from Charley Hull and Minami Katsu, who tied for second at 9-under. Yamashita’s victory came a day after her birthday and made her the third Japanese player to win the Women’s Open and the second since its major status upgrade. Hull mounted a stirring challenge in the final round—birdies on holes 12 and 14 brought her within one shot, but bogeys on 16 and 17 derailed her bid, resulting in a runner‑up finish. This marked her fourth career major runner‑up, again without a title. Her resilience was notable, especially following recent illness and a slow start earlier in the week. The tournament featured standout performances and memorable moments: Mimi Rhodes recorded a rare hole‑in‑one on the par‑3 fifth during the final round, assisted by Steph Kyriacou’s ball, and 20‑year‑old amateur Paula Martín Sampedro earned the Smyth Salver for low amateur with a strong closing nine including six birdies. The 2025 Women’s Open also set financial milestones, with a tournament purse of $9.75 million—a $250,000 increase over 2024 and ranking among the largest in women’s golf.
Best of the Aussies was Steph Kyriacou who finished in T8 and featured in a number of highlights, including a hole-in-one of her own before providing ‘the assist’ for Mimi Rhodes’ ball to ricochet off hers and do likewise in the final round. Also of note for Aussie golf was Min Jee Lee, who secured the 2025 Rolex ANNIKA Major Award for the best performance over the combined 2025 majors. If there is one thing which is obvious to the world of golf at the moment, it's that Women’s golf 'down under' is trending well with strong performances to show for it.
Miyu Yamashita wins the 2025 AIG Women’s Open
(photo courtesy of: www.lpga.com)
Cameron Young captured his first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship, finishing at 22‑under‑par (258), tying the tournament scoring record and winning by six strokes—becoming the 1,000th different winner in PGA Tour history. After seven runner-up finishes in his career, Young finally broke through with a commanding performance: rounds of 62, 63, and 65 built a five-stroke lead entering Sunday, and despite a bogey on the first hole, he rebounded with five consecutive birdies, then settled into pars and bogeys to finish with a final-round-68. Mac Meissner claimed solo second at 16-under, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third at 15-under. Rookie Karl Vilips made headlines with a hole-in-one on Sunday and finished at 10‑under, though just missing the playoff cut. The tournament marked the final event of the PGA Tour regular season. Several notable players—including Adam Scott, Max Homa, and Tom Kim—failed to secure a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs, underlining the high stakes and competitiveness of this week’s event.
Best of the Aussies was Karl Vilips, who finished in T19 along with a hole-in-one to put an exclamation mark on his final round. Unfortunately it was not enough to get him over the line and continue his season into the playoffs. However, he can hold his head high after winning in his rookie year on tour and showing plenty of potential to look forward to. The Aussies who will feature in the playoffs starting at the St Jude Championship this week are Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Cam Davis, the latter finishing just inside the bubble thanks to 3 birdies in his closing 11 holes.
Cameron Young becomes the 1000th winner on the PGA Tour
(photo courtesy of: https://bvmsports.com/)
Canadian golfer Leah John delivered a dominant wire-to-wire victory, claiming her first professional title with a final score of 9-under to win by one stroke over Melanie Green and Jennifer Chang. John posted a bogey‑free 63 on Friday, jumping into the lead and never relinquishing it. Despite a shaky start on Sunday—with a bogey and a double bogey early—she steadied herself with four birdies to hold on for the win. Green, fresh off a prior win at the Island Resort Championship, eagled and birdied early on Sunday to finish 8-under, while Chang matched her score in a tie for runner‑up. John’s victory vaulted her 77 spots in the Race for the Card, putting her at 22nd overall, within striking distance of LPGA Tour qualification with five events remaining. The tournament featured a field of 144 international rising stars competing over 54 holes, with a weekend cut to the top 60 players and ties. The Four Winds Invitational, in its 5th year, continues to support Beacon Children’s Hospital, aligning competition with community impact.
Best of the Aussies was Jess Whitting, however unfortunately she was a little off the pace and did not make the cut in this one.
Leah John claims first professional win at the Four Winds Invitational
(photo courtesy of: www.epsontour.com)
LET Access provided some highlights and a great finish in Denmark this week. Mexican Fernanda Lira and Danish LET player Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen shared the 36‑hole lead at 6-under, setting the stage for an intense final round on a demanding course layout that tested tee‑to‑green precision and putting under pressure. Amateur Marie Eline Madsen grabbed attention with a bogey‑free second round featuring six birdies to climb into a tie for fourth at 4-under, two shots off the pace. Her performance demonstrated remarkable composure and quality approach play. On the final day, Fernanda Lira prevailed to capture the title. The win marked second LETAS victory in a row and strengthened her position on the Order of Merit—essential in the season‑long race that grants top‑seven players full Ladies European Tour cards for 2026. Kibsgaard Nielsen’s strong showing at her home event reinforced her standing among Denmark’s rising stars, supported by large Danish participation and positive local energy. This edition was added late to the schedule, bringing the LETAS 2025 total to 19 events—a key opportunity for emerging professionals to advance to the LET.
Best of the Aussies were Justice Bosio and Abbie Teasdale this week who both held a share of 26th place.
Mexico’s Fernanda Lira secures her second win in a row in Denmark
(photo courtesy of: https://letaccess.com)
Up Ahead
The LIV Golf League is back in action this week in Chicago where plenty in the field will be looking to have a strong finish to the season, especially those in the drop zone. With LIV Golf looking to have their events earn points towards the players world ranking, the pressure will be applied to those in the drop zone who will likely lose their tour card as a result. It remains to be seen what this means for off-season recruiting by the teams, time will tell. This week is the first of three back-to-back events which will decide the title winners for the season. With most of the field out of contention in the individual title, there will still be plenty to play for in the team events. Last time we came to Chicago, Jon Rahm beat out Joaco Niemann on the 18th hole and will be looking to spoil the Niemann Party once again.
The PGA Tour heads into the business end of the season – The FedEx Cup playoffs. This week is the first of three events, the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Those who snuck into the playoffs will be hoping to go deep and take home a large portion of the generous purses on offer. With a few modifications to how the playoffs are conducted in the past few years, all eyes will be on how these events play out and whether it is deemed a fair way to decide a season victor. There are also a few stories to follow with some in the field looking to impress their respective Ryder Cup Captains as we approach that contest later in the year. The St Jude Championship, played at TPC Southwind, was won by Hideki Matsuyama last year. The event offers 2,000 FedEx Cup points and carries a purse of $USD 20 million.
The DP World Tour is back this week where they will compete in the Nexo Championship being contested at the Trump International Golf Links in Scotland. This event was added to the schedule for 2025 and carries a purse of $USD 2.75 million along with 3,500 points in the Race to Dubai as well as 1,000 points towards the Ryder Cup standings.
The Ladies European Tour is straight back into it this week, heading to the Centurion Club in England to compete at the PIF London Championship. Leona Maguire is our defending champion and the event offers $USD 2 million in prize money.
LET Access is back to Sweden this week for the Ahlsell Trophy by Destination Jonkoping. Patricia Isabel Schmidt was our previous winner and the event carries a purse of €45,000.
A few tours remain on a break, with the LPGA Tour taking a week off following the completion of their final major for the year. The Asian Tour also isn’t back in action until late August when they will compete at the Mandiri Indonesian Open. The EPSON Tour also takes a much-deserved week off after a recent flurry of events.
That’s it for this week, I hope it covered what you were after and if not, feel free to get in touch and offer some suggestions so we can improve the blog here at The Monday Mulligan. We are stoked to be back and capturing the highs and lows across the world of golf.
That’s it for now, stay safe and play well!
Play well,
TMM
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