3 Things to Know: Saturday at 80th U.S. Women's Open

Job 1 at the U.S. Women’s Open is to make it to the weekend, emerging from the field of 156 as one of the low 60 and ties who make the cut. The next task is to use Moving Day wisely, protecting your position if you are on top of the leader board or for the chasers, bettering your chances by moving past others.

The third round is all about setting yourself up for a shot at the trophy on Sunday.

The entertainment value of Saturday is immense. Who can handle the pressure and enhance their position?

What makes Moving Day at the U.S. Women’s Open even more of a test is the nature of the venue, in this case a demanding Erin Hills layout, and the complete examination of both shot-making and mental toughness provided by the USGA’s set-up.

Here are 3 things to look for on Saturday:

Protecting the Lead

Mao Saigo has the experience of winning a major title. She proved it earlier this year in the Chevron Championship, making birdie on the 72 nd hole and outlasting four others in a playoff.

That should help the 23-year-old from Japan handle the demands of the weekend. But this is different: The rough is thicker, the greens are faster and the prize money is the largest in women’s golf.

Saigo has played with great control so far. Be on the lookout to see if her game plan changes. Will she get more aggressive? Will she become conservative? Or will she stay with the same style that put her at 8 under par?

Sometimes being a couple of strokes clear of the field heightens the pressure because the expectation of success has increased. An early bogey or two will let the chasers back into contention. Be on the lookout to see how she reacts when she has that initial hiccup.

Moving Day

Who are the candidates to make a move on Mao and who could climb into contention from back in the pack if she should falter? A Lim Kim has won a U.S. Women’s Open. Nelly Korda has won two majors and Olympic gold. Being three strokes back puts her in a very good position. Among those who could get back in the mix with a low round on Saturday are past U.S. Women’s Open champions Allisen Corpuz, Minjee Lee and Ariya Jutanugarn.

While those sitting at even-par 144 are eight strokes behind Saigo, they need to forget that number and try to move up as far as they can. Crazy comebacks can occur in majors. The goal when someone separates themselves from the field: Get to second and hope the leader stumbles. With that in mind, Saturday should provide a lot of good watching.

Amateurs on Display

This U.S. Women’s Open began with 26 amateurs and several have acquitted themselves very well. Three are under par going into the weekend: Lottie Woad, the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®, and 16-year-old Rayee Feng are at 142 and Farah O’Keefe sits at 143. It will be fascinating to see how they handle the weekend pressure. Woad, an All-American at Florida State, missed the cut last year and O’Keefe, a standout at the University of Texas, competed at Pebble Beach in 2023, but also missed the cut.

“I learned a lot last year playing such a tough course,” said Woad, the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion. “Learned about that and how to stay patient, which was really key today. Pars were pretty good on my final nine so just trying to stay patient.”

Ron Sirak is an award-winning Massachusetts-based golf writer whose work has previously appeared on USGA websites and publications.