2012 U.S. Women’s Open: Na Yeon Choi Wins Easily

On Saturday, Na Yeon Choi completed her domination of the 2012 U.S. Open. Choi had such a comfortable lead entering the day that she managed to shoot 1-over in the final round and still win the tournament by four strokes over runner-up and fellow Korean player Amy Yang.

Choi entered Saturday at 8-under, but finished the final round at 7-under. Yang shot 1-under for the day to finish her 72 holes at 3-under. Choi and Yang were the only two players to finish the tournament under par. Third place went to Sandra Gal of Germany, who finished at 1-over. Paula Creamer was the highest-placing U.S. player, finishing in a tie for seventh place at 3-over.

Thanks to a third round 65, Na Yeon Choi will take a commanding six-stroke lead into the final round of the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open.

Choi’s 65 was the lowest round of of the tournament and one of only five under-par rounds on Saturday. She finished Saturday with eight birdies and just one bogey. Her 7-under 65 on Saturday is tied for the fifth-lowest round in U.S. Women’s Open history.

The temperature may have cooled slightly, but Michelle Wie’s game heated up as the 22-year-old fan favorite blistered Blackwolf Run to the tune of a 6-under 66 and a share of second place in Friday’s second round of the U.S. Women’s Open.

“I played out of my butt to shoot 6-under,” Wie told reporters after finishing her day tied with Cristie Kerr at 4-under for the week and one shot back of Suzann Pettersen, the leader in the clubhouse with the afternoon wave still on the track.

With all eyes on current phenom Lexi Thompson’s quest to become the youngest golfer ever to win a major championship, yesterday’s child prodigy Michelle Wie was doing her best to leave a terrible season behind her. Four birdies in her first six holes of Friday’s second round of the U.S. Women’s Open was a good start for the recent Stanford grad, who made the turn at 4-under 32 and added another birdie on her 10th hole to get to 3-under for the championship.

Wie was not the only golfer going low in the heat at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wis. Suzann Pettersen got off to a sizzling start with a birdie on her first hole and added three more in her opening nine on her way to the top of the leaderboard at 5-under. An eagle-3 on No. 2 helped Vickie Hurst climb to a tie for the top spot after her own 4-under front nine.