PORTHCAWL, Wales — On a blustery day in southern Wales, it was Japanese rookie Miyu Yamashita who hoisted the AIG Women’s Open trophy, winning by two shots over Charley Hull and Minami Katsu at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in the year’s fifth and final major championship.

The Olympian finished with a four-day total of 11-under to pick up both her first career LPGA Tour victory and first major title after posting a 2-under 70 in the final round. She is the second athlete from Japan to win a major tournament this season, alongside Mao Saigo, who won The Chevron Championship in April.

Yamashita began day four with a one-stroke lead over Korean major champion A Lim Kim at 9-under total, having come back to the field a bit after carding a 2-over 74 on Saturday, which was also her 24th birthday. And with Hull making a charge in front of a raucous and emphatic local gallery just a couple of groups ahead of her, it was going to take nerves of steel from Yamashita to hang onto the lead and emerge victorious from a crowded leaderboard on Sunday.

She got off to quite a steady start with three pars on her first three holes, knocking down a midrange birdie putt on the par-4 4th hole to climb to 10-under and extend her advantage to two. Yamashita parred her next three holes and then threw a one-two punch of birdies at Porthcawl on the par-3 8th and par-5 9th holes to zip to 12-under, now leading by three shots over Englishwoman Hull with nine holes to play.

The rookie remained unflinching as she made her way around the back nine in Wales, even keeping a level head when Hull moved within one shot of the lead after making birdies on the 12th and 14th holes.

The closest Yamashita came to dropping a shot throughout the first seven holes of her closing stretch was on the par-5 13th hole when she drove it in the bunker, splashed out, sent her third sailing long of the green on the par 5 and left her fourth shot roughly 20 feet short. But with the frostiest of ice in her veins, the 24-year-old buried her par putt to remain at 12-under and one ahead of Hull with five holes to go.

Two-time LPGA Tour winner Hull then stumbled late, making back-to-back bogeys on 16 and 17 to slip to 9-under, three behind Yamashita coming to the last and ultimately tying for second when she couldn’t manage a closing birdie at Royal Porthcawl.

Coming down the stretch, Yamashita made three straight-forward pars on 14, 15 and 16 before dropping her first and only shot of the final round with a bogey on 17, now at 11-under and holding a two-shot lead heading to the last tee. And ultimately, all the rookie needed was a par on the last hole to polish off the victory and become the fourth athlete from Japan to win a major title over the last two seasons, joining Ayaka Furue, Mao Saigo and Yuka Saso.

“This was a goal of mine from a very young age to win a major championship, and to be able to do that is a very satisfying feeling, very special,” said Yamashita via translation in her winning press conference. “This has been a goal of mine, something I've worked towards my whole life, a dream you could say. It's been the result of hard work every single day, making changes, making improvements, and to be able to do it now and call myself a champion is a very special thing.”

According to KPMG Performance Insights data, Yamashita is the first athlete since Juli Inkster at the 2000 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship to win a major championship on their birthday weekend, and her August 3 victory at the AIG Women’s Open came on the same day that Annika Sorenstam completed her Career Grand Slam at this event in 2003.

Yamashita is the fifth rookie to win on the LPGA Tour this season, alongside Rio Takeda, Ingrid Lindblad, Chisato Iwai and Lottie Woad; is 2025’s fourth first-time major champion; and is the fourth Japanese athlete to pick up a victory so far this year. She is additionally the 21st different athlete to win on the LPGA Tour in 2025, a streak that has spanned since the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.

But maybe most significantly, Yamashita has earned a spot on the Japan Team at the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, a big goal that the young talent set for herself at the beginning of the season and one she will now get to check off her career bucket list in October as a spoil of her victory in Wales.

“The International Crown is something I was aiming towards,” Yamashita said. “I really, really wanted to be part of that team. So now that's a possibility I can really look forward to representing my country and doing the best I can.”

Hull and Katsu both carded 3-under 69s to finish in a tie for second. Hull was arguably the biggest potential story of the afternoon until she faded away following two late bogeys in her final three holes. But the Englishwoman had her head held high in defeat, more than content with how she showed up in another big moment to record her fifth top-five finish in a major tournament since 2016.

“Listen, coming into this week, I didn't think I was going to make the cut,” Hull said. “That's the truthful of it. I wasn't hitting it very well. I couldn't prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. I was obviously collapsed three times in the round in Evian, and then still wasn't feeling well until Sunday last week.

“So I think I done pretty well, and considering my mindset coming into it, I'm pretty proud of myself.”

Kim and Rio Takeda rounded out the top five in a tie for fourth at 7-under overall. Spain’s Paula Martin Sampedro was low amateur after tying for eighth alongside ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open winner Lottie Woad and Australian Steph Kyriacou, who recorded an ace on Friday on No. 8 at Royal Porthcawl.

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Minjee Lee won the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award after her T13 showing in Wales. Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda tied for 36th at 3-over, as did defending champion Lydia Ko.

Miyu Yamashita Wins AIG Women’s Open to Become Rolex First-Time Winner

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