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Amateur Ingrid Lindblad showing no signs of panic at US Women’s Open

Lindblad hits her shot off the tee on the 12th hole at Pine Needles Golf Club on Friday. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. — Ingrid Lindblad made history Thursday, shooting the lowest round by an amateur in U.S. Women’s Open history with a six-under par 65 at Pine Needles Golf Club. But could she back it up on Friday, when the expectations were higher and more people were watching?

The spotlight shone even brighter with 72-time LPGA Tour winner Annika Sorenstam making her first major start in 14 years and playing in Lindblad’s group. There were also World No. 1 Jin Young Ko and American stalwart Lexi Thompson playing in the group in front of her.

None of it phased the Swede as she followed through Friday with a steady-handed even-par round to sit three shots off the lead, held by Minjee Lee and Mina Harigae at nine-under par. Her 136 strokes through two rounds set the 36-hole amateur scoring record.

“Yesterday I don’t think I ever realized what happened,” Lindblad said. “It was just when I got back to the hotel, I’m like, well, this is pretty good. I don’t think I realize how big it is. It’s like whenever you come to a big amateur tournament, like when I played Augusta for the first time last year, I was like, I didn’t realize how big this is until you get there and all the attention you get.”

When Lindblad returned to the hotel from her opening round Thursday, her phone lit up with messages. The LSU junior appreciated the recognition, but she didn’t want to let it distract her so she turned off her notifications. One text, however, stood out from the rest. Her assistant coach, Alexis Rather, a motherlike figure for the No. 2 amateur in the world, reminded her of her ability.

“You’ve put a lot of work into this,” Lindblad explained while tearing up, “a lot of hours. She’s, like, ‘I’m not surprised you’re there.’”

Feeling confident off the tee Friday, Lindblad birdied the par 5 at Pine Needles just as she did on Thursday. From there, the 22-year-old made par after par, not matching the seven-birdie effort she put together in the first round but remaining in the hunt. She posted 31 putts in her second round, five more than Thursday.

“She didn’t have, obviously, the game that she had yesterday,” said Lindblad’s caddie, five-time LPGA winner Sophie Gustafson. “I mean, it was a little wayward and we had to get it up and down quite a few times. She never said, ‘Oh s–t, I missed it.’ She just said, ‘Oh well,’ and moved on.”

With electronic leaderboards on display around Pine Needles, Lindlblad tried not to check them during her round. And with stars playing in and around her group Friday, she didn’t get many cheers. The first one for her came after she walked out of the restroom on the 12th hole.

“I feel like I played good, but no one said that to me,” Lindblad said. “You just have to focus on yourself and your own game and not get too distracted by other things.”

She also had to balance other responsibilities off the course following her second round. Lindblad had to take a quiz and submit questions for her summer sports law class on Title IX and ADA. She requested an extension from her professor, but if she can’t update it, she’ll end up with a 37 out of 38. The grade is similar to Sorenstam’s evaluation of the amateur’s performance so far this week.

“It was a terrific round yesterday and today,” Sorenstam said. “What she did today I thought was maybe not equally as impressive, but it’s impressive to be able to hold it the way she did. She has a great attitude, and I told her, ‘I hope you are just enjoying this.’ I’m sure she will be in this spot a few times.

“Enjoy it. Trust yourself for the weekend. You have it.”

On Saturday, Lindlblad will play alongside Ko, the world No. 1, two tee times ahead of the final pairing. The four-time amateur tournament winner in 2022 enters the third round with an opportunity to make history. If Lindblad hoists the Harton S. Semple trophy on Sunday, she will become the first amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open since Catherine Lacoste at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., in 1967.

But even if Lindblad comes up short in the end, her historic opening 36-hole performance showed what her future holds on the LPGA Tour.

“For Ingrid to have that experience and perform well in that opportunity,” said Golf Channel commentator Kay Cockerill, who followed Lindblad on Friday, “is a memory for her to call upon for years and years.”

Kent Paisley is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering golf and the LPGA. He also contributes to Golf Digest. Follow him on Twitter @KentPaisley.

Aryna Sabalenka Wins US Open Final, Becomes 1st Repeat Champion in 11 Years

World No. 1 tennis player Aryna Sabalenka poses with her 2025 US Open trophy.
World No. 1 tennis star Aryna Sabalenka won her first 2025 Grand Slam with her US Open championship win on Saturday. (Elsa/Getty Images)

Aryna Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam of the 2025 WTA season on Saturday, with the world No. 1 defeating then-No. 9 Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6(3) to claim the US Open trophy — the final Slam of the year.

"To bring the fight and be able to handle my emotions the way I did in this final, it means a lot," Sabalenka said following the match. "I'm super proud right now of myself."

After successfully defending her 2024 US Open title — and claiming tennis's top 2025 paycheck in the process — Sabalenka is now the tournament's first repeat champion since 2014, when Serena Williams claimed a third straight trophy at the New York Slam.

The 27-year-old narrowly avoided a Slam-less year, going without a trophy despite reaching both the Australian Open and French Open finals as well as the Wimbledon semifinals.

"I think because of the finals earlier this season, this one felt different," Sabalenka said. "All of those lessons are making me tougher, tougher, and tougher."

As for Anisimova, the US rising star added a new career-high WTA ranking alongside her second straight Grand Slam final appearance on her 2025 resume, rising to world No. 4 in Monday's update.

Also earning a noticeable bump on Monday was Japanese star Naomi Osaka, who clocked in at No. 14 after a stellar Grand Slam comeback run to the 2025 US Open semifinals.

2025 Expansion Team Golden State Valkyries Break WNBA Attendance Record

Golden State Valkyries mascot Violet the Raven sits in the splits on the court while firing a T-shirt gun into a sellout Chase Center crowd during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Golden State Valkyries have sold out every home game in the WNBA team's inaugural 2025 season. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Golden State Valkyries have made WNBA history yet again, setting a new league attendance record by selling out all 22 of the 2025 expansion team's home games this year — and doing so in their debut season.

Even more, the WNBA surpassed the 3 million-fan mark over the weekend, an historic first for the 29-year-old league.

A hit from the very first tip-off, the Valkyries have seen unprecedented support while becoming the first-ever expansion team to make the WNBA playoffs in their inaugural year.

Making the announcement in their final 2025 regular-season home stand against the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, the Valkyries have officially seen fans fill every one of the Chase Center's maximum 18,064 seats all season — claiming a WNBA all-time record for any team's per-game average along the way.

With those season-long record crowds, Golden State also now owns the WNBA total attendance mark at 397,408 fans on the year.

Just behind Golden State are the Indiana Fever and New York Liberty — the only other WNBA teams that will close out the 2025 regular-season with average crowds over 16,000 and totals breaking the 300,000-fan mark.

With one home game still left to play for each team, Indiana has welcomed 349,313 total fans so far, while New York currently sits at a 341,575 total attendance for the 2025 WNBA season.

Attendance has skyrocketed across the WNBA year, thanks in part to the league adding both a 13th franchise as well as two more home games to each team's 2025 schedule.

As a result, the league demolished the previous season-high attendance of 2.36 million set in 2002 and, with 11 games still on the 2025 regular-season schedule, the WNBA is currently on track to push past the 3.1 million mark before the postseason tips off.

WNBA Titans Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore, and Sue Bird Inducted into Hall of Fame

Retired WNBA legends Sylvia Fowles, Sue Bird, and Maya Moore hold their induction trophies at the 2025 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony.
2025 inductees Sylvia Fowles, Sue Bird, and Maya Moore entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Three retired WNBA icons received their flowers over the weekend, as Minnesota Lynx legends Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore and Seattle Storm great Sue Bird took their places in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday — making the 2025 WNBA class arguably the most dominant in HOF history.

"Now that I'm in the Hall, I believe I have become Auntie Maya," Moore said in her enshrinement speech. "I want to challenge you up-and-comers to learn to love and seek out joy and connection as your biggest motivator."

With 11 Olympic gold medals — more than any other HOF group — and 10 league championships between them, plus countless individual honors, Fowles, Bird, and Moore comprise the strongest women's basketball Hall of Fame class in history.

Even more, this is the first year that the Naismith has added a full trio of WNBA players to its hallowed halls — a testament to the unmatched careers of Bird, Moore, and Fowles.

"Put us on a 3×3 team, you'd have some problems — we'd be pretty good," Bird joked. "It is pretty special to go in with people who aren't just amazing players, having impact on and off the court, but these are players that I got to experience life with."

"I think that would be fair to say that they would have the title of best class ever," Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said.

Orlando Pride Falls to Chicago Stars as NWSL Skid Continues

Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse watches from the ground as Chicago Stars forwards Ludmila and Ally Schlegel celebrate a goal during a 2025 NWSL match.
The No. 5 Orlando Pride fell 5-2 to the No. 13 Chicago Stars on Sunday. (Daniel Bartel/NWSL via Getty Images)

The 2025 NWSL season for the No. 5 Orlando Pride has taken a sharp downturn, as the reigning league champions are now winless in their last seven games following Sunday's 5-2 loss to the No. 13 Chicago Stars at Northwestern University's Martin Stadium.

While left back Carson Pickett and defensive midfielder Haley McCutcheon each managed to take a goal back for the Pride, a leaky Orlando back line saw five different Stars players hit the back of the net — including a 10th goal on the season for Chicago star striker Ludmila.

"I apologize to the fans that were watching at home, and I apologize to the fans that were here with their support. That was not us today and we have to get it right," Pride head coach Seb Hines said following the match.

Orlando have continued to slide down the NWSL standings since their last win on June 13th, most recently logging three straight losses as the team struggles to find their form following MVP candidate Barbra Banda's season-ending injury on August 16th.

One of the Pride's rare bright spots on Sunday was record-breaking signee Lizbeth Ovalle, with the Mexican international subbing in at the half to make her NWSL debut.

Chicago, on the other hand, hasn't dropped a match since returning from the midseason summer break, with the surging Stars putting on a Sunday show in their impending lakefront home.

"I feel like it's just a really cool atmosphere, a lot more people can come now, and it's really good vibes," midfielder Julia Grosso said after the match.

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