LYTHAM ST ANNES, England — American Yealimi Noh has a three-shot lead heading into the final round of the AIG Women's Open. And the 25-year-old from Concord, California, is now visualizing what could be a first major win.
“I want to imagine it so I can manifest it,†said Noh, who is 7-under par after 54 holes. “Sometimes it's hard to be positive, especially with golf. It can be really tough. But manifestation is important.â€
Noh, who overcame three early bogeys at holes No. 4, 5 and 7, had not broken par in stroke-play competition since April until she shot 67 on day one at Royal Lytham & St Annes. A round of 70 on the par 71 course, which is hosting the 50th edition of the British Open, on Friday was followed by a score of 69 on Saturday for the player who is currently ranked 69th in the world.
“It only takes one round for your whole mindset and whole game to change,†said Noh, who has missed the cut at nearly half of the 30 major tournaments she has competed in, including the recent KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Amundi Evian Championship. “I had a really rough couple of months. Not even just missing cuts, but just not playing good golf or rounds. And Thursday, I was just really happy to shoot under par and just really set me up for the week.â€
Growing up in California to South Korean parents Kim and Brian, Noh first picked up golf clubs at the age of seven and started competing in youth tournaments at age nine. She turned professional in 2019, when she was 17, and began her LPGA career the following year. After some success as an amateur, her only professional win came in Florida at the Bradenton Country Club, where she won the Founders Cup by four strokes in February 2025.
Last year, while holidaying in Spain, she got engaged to Jackson Suh, a former college tennis player, who is now big into his golf. When schedules allow, the couple travel around playing different golf courses together, and Noh credits her fiancé for helping to remind her that “golf could be fun.†Last week, in preparation for the British Open, they played at Sahalee Country Club in Washington together. Noh said avoiding the trees there was the perfect preparation for getting ready to dodge the 166 bunkers that line the course here in west Lancashire, around 250 miles northwest of London.
Suh was actually getting in some practice rounds of his own at Sahalee for a club championship tournament in Snoqualmie Ridge in Seattle this weekend. That means he is not in attendance as his partner vies for her first major win and is instead watching on from the west coast. Or at least, Noh joked, she hopes he is.
Noh plays out of the rough by the side of the 15th fairway. (Glyn Kirk / AFP via Getty Images)
“He's been the best supporter, my biggest supporter besides my parents,†she said. “I really wouldn't be able to do anything without him, especially out on the golf course.â€
As she left the grounds on Saturday evening, Noh was on her way to dinner with her mother Kim, who is in town for what might be about to become the greatest weekend of her daughter's golfing career so far. With a love of travel and food, Noh had already scoped out restaurants in the area she wanted to visit. “It's always fun for me to do that,†she said.
Her love of dining might have something to do with the fact that her parents once owned a sushi restaurant in Concord, near where she grew up. Happy Roll, as it was called, even had a sushi roll named after Noh. At $13.95, the “Yealimi†was a combination of crab, avocado and mango.
To go into the lead, Noh profited off her own ball striking ability, which has been steady all weekend. She was also helped out by plenty of dropped shots from those around her, including Ryu Hae-ran, who was the overnight leader after day two and got into a four-shot lead early on in her round. Chasing a third consecutive major title, Ryu hit five bogeys to drop back to 4-under for the tournament.
Shiho Kuwaki (-4) of Japan also shot 2-over. German Esther Henseleit, world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and American Lucy Li are the other players who sit at 4-under-par heading into the final round, with home crowd favorite Lottie Woad from England on 3-under.
Noh is not only in a scrap for her first major, but she is also fighting it out to solidify her place in the rankings to make the United States team at the Solheim Cup, which takes place next month at the Bernardus Golf Club in the Netherlands.
But before Noh can think about appearing at a second Solheim Cup against Europe, she has to win in Europe. Her game plan coming into this weekend was to “try to focus on the present and not get too ahead of myself and just try to enjoy it as much as I canâ€. It seems to be working.
As for superstitions, as she looks to win a professional tournament for only the second time, Noh said she does not have any. But the red hair clip she wore on Saturday will be back out on the course with her on Sunday. And she will be hoping the leaderboard stays the same too.
