Welsh Star Darcey Harry Intends to Build on Impressive First Women’s Open

Darcey Harry of Wales. Pic. Alamy

The AIG Women’s Open is over but it has given a huge boost to the profile of Welsh women’s golf with Darcey Harry helping lead the way.

Darcey Harry plans to let the feeling soak in after finishing tied for 40th place in her first Women’s Open on her home course at Royal Porthcawl.

The brightest young female talent in Welsh women’s golf made a closing round 77 to finish at five-over par at the AIG Women’s Open.

The 22-year-old from Dinas Powys is already one of the rising talents on the Ladies European Tour.

A former Welsh international at amateur level, she turned professional in late 2024 after earning her LET card with a runner-up finish at Q-School.

Last month, Harry claimed her first professional win at the Hulencourt Women’s Open in Belgium, securing her spot for Porthcawl and she delivered a highly promising homecoming with rounds of 70, 72, 74 and 77.

“This week, just to make the cut in my only my second Major, I would have been very happy with that if you had told me that at the beginning of the week,” said Harry.

“I think I just need to go back and take some time to really let it sink in and appreciate it. I’ve played a lot of good golf this year.”

Japan’s Miyu Yamashita secured victory with an assured performance that mocked the golf world’s scant knowledge of her previous achievements and abundant potential.

Her triumph was built around a second-round seven-under-par 65 played in the calmest conditions of the week.

Half the field had the opportunity to make such a decisive move yet only Yamashita did so.

Heading into the weekend with a three-shot advantage over her compatriot Rio Takeda, she was seven strokes clear of everyone else in the field and the buffer proved vital.

Only England’s Charley Hull, who was a distant 11 shots back at halfway, mounted a concerted bid for the title, twice getting within a shot of the champion.

Ultimately, however, she recorded a fourth second-place finish in the major championships – her first victory remains elusive.

Yamashita completed an 11-under par total of 277 to land her first win on the LPGA and while some viewed the result as a shock she was ranked 15th in the world at the start of the week off the back of 13 wins in her homeland since turning professional in 2020.

Having trailed Yamashita by 11 shots at the halfway mark, Hull played her final two rounds in a combined nine under par - a score only bettered by fellow second-placed finisher Katsu.

"I really enjoyed it out there," said Hull, who was also runner-up behind Lilia Vu at Walton Heath in 2023.

"I felt so in control of my game and I know in my head it's not like I whiffed a drive or whiffed a shot. I hit a good shot on 16.

"I don't feel like I've actually mucked it up by mishitting any shots, which I think everybody can probably agree, you know what I mean? I played so solid."

She added: "Coming into this week, I didn't think I was going to make the cut. That's the truth of it.

"I wasn't hitting it very well. I couldn't prepare as well as I wanted to because I was poorly. I obviously collapsed three times in the round at the Evian and then I still wasn't feeling well until Sunday last week.

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