Welcome to this week’s Golf Insider, everyone.
In two years on the LPGA Tour, Miyu Yamashita is a four-time winner (and not to mention it, major champion). On Sunday, Aug. 23, Yamashita picked up that fourth win at the 2026 CPKC Women’s Open in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. And she did it with a bit of flair. Oh, who am I kidding? She did it with a lot of flair.
The 25-year-old from Osaka, Japan went wire-to-wire, posting four rounds in the mid to low-60s to win by nine strokes over her compatriot Yuri Yoshida. Seriously, she didn’t have a round over 66. In doing so, Yamashita matched the all-time LPGA 72-hole scoring record with a 257 (-23). And right from the start, she was on fire. Yamashita opened with a bogey-free first-round 62 (-8), her career low round on the LPGA Tour. She posted eight birdies and 10 pars for about the cleanest card you could make.
And Yamashita kept things going in the second round, carding another stellar score of 64 (-6) to set herself five strokes ahead of the rest of the field going into the weekend. At this rate, it wasn’t up to Yamashita to go above and beyond to keep her lead. We’ve seen players drop a few strokes once they get to the weekend, but Yamashita isn’t one of those players. When she gets going, she stays on the heater.
That’s exactly what she did on Saturday and Sunday. Yamashita carded a 5-under-par 65 and 4-under-par 66 in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, to build on an already insurmountable lead and take the trophy with certainty.
Her consistency is what’s particularly impressive to me. Yamashita is one of the shortest hitters on Tour. On average, she drives the ball a little over 250 yards, ranking 147th in average driving distance. This means that other parts of her game are even sharper. Yamashita is ranked first around the green in scrambling percentage (68.86). So her length doesn’t hinder her from playing good golf, just as her performance at Royal Mayfair undoubtedly proved.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Performances on Tour this season have not been limited to individual success, either. Results have been impacting players’ national legacies as well. We saw Jeeno Thitikul inch closer to Ariya Jutanugarn’s LPGA win record for Thai players two weeks ago in Portland. This week, Yamashita became the fastest Japanese player to reach four LPGA Tour wins; she did so in 42 starts.
The Canadian stars also shined in their home country, especially the teens. Anna Huang finished tied for fourth place at 12-under-par, just two shots behind runner-up Yoshida. Huang made a name for herself at the PIF London Championship when she overtook Lydia Ko’s record as the youngest player to win four times on the Ladies European Tour.
16-year-old amateur Aphrodite Deng finished inside the top 10 as well, posting a tournament total of 11-under-par to finish tied for seventh. The two-time Mizuho Americas Open AJGA champion and 2025 U.S. Girls Junior winner has committed to play her collegiate golf at, you guessed it, Stanford. Anne Walker isn’t done recruiting the best amateur players in the game, and Deng is a great addition to that mission.
But let’s not forget Brooke Henderson. Though she didn’t successfully defend her title from last year’s CPKC Women’s Open, she brought the Canadian crowds out and still played very well. Henderson finished tied for 13th place at a total of 7-under-par after a final-round 70 that included an eagle on the par-5 5th hole. For her, she relishes the chance to play in front of a home crowd.
“This week is always so special and so amazing to be a part of. I just feel like it’s such a cool opportunity to be able to play at home in front of all these people that are cheering for you so hard,” Henderson said in a post-tournament press conference on Aug. 23.
We’ll be seeing more of the Canadians next week in Massachusetts because both Huang and Deng earned their spots in the 2026 FM Championship with their performances in Edmonton. Henderson will also be one of those in the field teeing it up at TPC Boston from Aug. 27-30. It’s a great venue, and late summer golf in New England is just unbeatable. It’ll be a fun one.
See you next week, golf fans.
This week in women’s golf
Solheim Cup News
Qualifiers for the 2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team finalized
Captain’s picks named for the 2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team
Lexi Thompson not selected as captain’s pick, to miss first Solheim Cup since 2013
PING launches official 2026 European Solheim Cup team apparel
LPGA News
Team Europe captain Anna Nordqvist announces retirement for after FM Championship
Featured groups: 2026 FM Championship
How to watch the 2026 FM Championship
Field breakdown: 2026 FM Championship
Field finalized for 2026 FM Championship
Yamashita matches LPGA Tour’s 72-hole scoring record in 9-stroke victory in Edmonton
Yuri Yoshida secures career-best runner-up finish at CPKC Women’s Open
U.S. Senior Women’s Open News
Maria McBride holds off Annika Sorenstam to win 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Open
Hall of Famer Hollis Stacy, 72, finishes top-25 at U.S. Senior Women’s Open
Sorenstam, Webb chase Redman in U.S. Senior Women’s Open
LET News
LET heads to famed K Club for 2026 KPMG Women’s Irish Open
Watch live: 2026 Women’s Irish Open
Foster aiming to thrive off home energy in Ireland following best finish on tour
Full circle moment for Maguire at “iconic” K Club
Givens still in winning bubble heading into Women’s Irish Open
Record home contingent target history at 2026 Women’s Irish Open
LET winner Wolf retires at 2026 VP Bank Swiss Open
Watch: LET Unfiltered with Kajsa Arwefjäll
Alexander still leads 2026 LET Order of Merit
Epson Tour News
Field breakdown: 2026 Dream First Bank Charity Classic
Megha Ganne wins the 2026 Wildhorse Ladies Golf Classic in a playoff over Cholcheva Wongras
Opening doors: Three young women earn their way to Wildhorse
Rep The IX Sports at your next game!
Shop the logo collection or special “Women’s Sports are Front Page News” collection now on Shopify.
Five at The IX: Maria McBride takes 2026 U.S. Senior Women’s Open title in Ann Arbor, Mich.
On Sunday, Aug. 23, two Swedish golf legends battled it out at the eighth edition of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open at Barton Hills Country Club. In the end, it was Maria McBride that overcame a push from eventual runner-up Annika Sorenstam to win her first USGA championship. McBride entered the week fresh off a victory at the 2026 LPGA Legends Championship. Her third-round 66 (-6) was enough to propel her into the lead, so a final-round 73 (+1) did the job to keep her ahead by two strokes. Sorenstam’s final-round 71 (-1) brought her to 4-under-par for the tournament, but it wasn’t enough to overtake her compatriot. McBride, though, is now a two-time major champion. Here are some quotes from her winning press conference on Aug. 23.
MODERATOR: Please welcome into the interview area Maria McBride, eighth U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion. You played in 16 USGA championships and four of these championships. How does it feel to be a USGA champion?
McBRIDE: It’s amazing obviously. It was a huge goal for me to try to get the trophy. Maybe not this year, but maybe in the next few years. So it’s been an amazing two weeks.
MODERATOR: Speaking of that, back-to-back major wins. You were the LPGA Legends champion last week. How big was that for the confidence going into this week in this USGA Championship?
McBRIDE: Yeah, it was big obviously, and knowing that coming down the stretch me and Angela was really tight playing the last hole. We were tied playing the last hole. I made a birdie on the last, and that really boosted my game.
Then having a big lead coming into today is sometimes a little hard because, you know, you feel like I shouldn’t really lose that many shots. But with the wind today as well, it was a little bit trickier than it’s been the previous days, and I started off a little rough, but you know, the chip-in on 9 kind of turned everything around for me.
MODERATOR: The first eight holes you said you were 4-over. How big was that chip at the turn going into the back nine with Annika on the charge right behind you?
McBRIDE: Yes, it was huge obviously, and I tried to tell myself, you know — I was only after obviously eight holes I was one behind all of a sudden, and then I thought, it’s only one behind. What if you were here without having lost those holes? One behind with nine, ten holes to go, there’s a big chance still that you can win it.
It really boosted obviously myself to chip in there and then make a few birdies coming in.
Q. Looking at your body language, I watched the tournament on TV. It was a little easier for me to write and do all that. It was so positive out there. Did you really feel like you were in control of the tournament there kind of after you had that eagle? I mean, you just looked good out there. You were really confident.
McBRIDE: It was good that it looked that way. At least I can kind of pretend.
It was a little rough after the 8th hole, but you, you know, my caddie was on me as well; come on, we can do this. Hit a great drive down 9, and we know we can reach it in two. I did hit a really good drive on 9. That kind of boosted myself and felt like I think I got the feeling back again, and my body was working better.
Q. Maria, were there some nerves out of the gate today?
McBRIDE: No, I don’t think it was really nerves. Like, on the third hole where I obviously made a double there, I probably should have hit a 5-iron rather than the 6-iron into the green. I think to me I just tried to hit that 6-iron a little bit too hard and left it out right. Then had a bad 3-putt.
Then, you know, on 7 I thought I was really unlucky. I hit a really good second shot in, and for some reason it kind of released back up against the collar. The collars are pretty high here. So that just made it tricky.
I didn’t really feel too nervous because I came out and played a few holes pretty good starting off the round, but obviously you’re a little bit tighter because you know you have a big lead. Sometimes that’s harder than kind of chasing, but it settled down. Like I said, the 9th hole it really helped me out.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
Soccer: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tennis: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Basketball: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Softball: Maren Angus-Coombs, @Maren-Angus, The IX Sports
Golf: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Hockey: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Gymnastics: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
