Five golfers reside under par, after 54 holes at the 2024 US Women’s Open. The champion will be one of those five golfers. Their names, in order, are Minjee Lee, Andrew Lee, Wichanee Meechai, Hinako Shibuno, and Yuka Saso. In a departure from #5Things tradition, we’ll address each of the five, on what she did on Saturday and what we expect that she will do on Sunday. It’s a fun exercise, and it may gain some traction, but that’s for down the road. For now, let’s take a look at five golfers we think will figure in Sunday’s outcome.

1. Minjee Lee

The most debillitating facet of being in a three-way tie for the lead, and being the highest-ranked golf among the trio, is what I just typed. They and we and you and I expect that Minjee should continue to play well and earn a second US Open chalice. The problem is this: Minjee has improved each day: from 70 to 69 to 66. I’ll say this~if she posts 65 or better on Sunday, she wins by a half-dozen shots. No one will come close to 10-under par.

What Lee has done best, is shrink her bogey tally with each played round. From five on Thursday, to three on Friday, to one on Saturday. Again, if she continues to improve in that category, and plays a bogey-free round on Sunday, she again wins by six or more. It’s more likely that she will find herself in a dogfight with a game adversary. Does she have the grit to see her way out of that maelstorm? We’ll find out on Sunday.

The 2022 champ fired a Saturday 66. ? pic.twitter.com/hNrM66GyNd

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) June 1, 2024

2. Andrea Lee

The kid from California played in the final pairing on Saturday, and survived. Andrea had a turbulent front side, with three birdies and two pars. She settled the oars on the inward half, never sniffing a bogey. Her 67 moved her from solo 2nd to a tie for first. She’ll again tee off in group the last, albeit with a different playing partner.

Andrea Lee will have to outplay Minjee Lee, her fellow competitor in the final twosome, as well as the other three golfers with a chance at the title. A few years have passed since she won her only LPGA title, and the physical memory of how to win, is always at risk of fading over time. Andrea Lee has the opportunity to become the golfer that she worked to be, to replace the “prodigy” label with one that reads “champion.” The recipe for just how to effect that switch is a closely-guarded one. Will she sniff it out on Sunday?

Three-way tie at the top! ???????????????@andrea_lee54 matches Minjee Lee and Wichanee Meechai at -5.#USWomensOpen | @Ally pic.twitter.com/R3T86Iab9I

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) June 1, 2024

3. Wichanee Meechai

Not 100% certain how this kid is still around. In the back of my mind, Moving Day would most likely have been Moving-Out Day, but Meechai is still around. Day three was a boring round of golf, with three birdies and two bogeys, alongside 13 scores of par. News flash: boring golf wins US Open cups.

Wichanee will play in the penultimate pairing on Sunday, and she will do so alongside Hinako Shibuno. She won’t have the pressure of teeing off in the last game, even though she sits tied with those who shall. We’ve been bemused and amazed all week with the tenacity of the Thai golfers, so why shouldn’t she find one more round in the 60s on Sunday, and bring home the biggest prize of her life? On the PGA Tour, it’s the PGA Championship that identifies the unexpected; on the LPGA, it’s often the US Open. Sunday might be another one of those resolutions.

Back to the front!

Wichanee Meechai ?? regains the solo lead with a birdie on 15.#USWomensOpen | @Ally pic.twitter.com/wiAHRoL4K6

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) June 1, 2024

4. Hinako Shibuno

Shibuno is in the least-desirable position of the top five. She posted the low round of the tournament on Saturday. Her torrid 66 consisted of seven birdies and three bogeys. If this were any other year and course, we would have higher hopes for her chances on Sunday. This is 2024 and Lancaster, and no one escapes without two or three bogeys on the card. That’s the problem for Shibuno. She is two shots behind the leading triumvirate, and odds are that one of them will post one or two-under par on Sunday. That would compel the Japanese champion to record, at most, another 66 to have a shot at a major title. Will Lancaster give up a 66 on Sunday? I do not think so.

Wait for it… wait for it… IT DROPS!

Hinako Shibuno with a classic delayed birdie on 14 ?#USWomensOpen | @Ally pic.twitter.com/ZKhoZ4tlYx

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) June 1, 2024

5. Yuka Saso

They say that, statistically, Yuka Saso is holing more putts than anyone else in the field this week. Well, putting, err, puting the ball in the hole with efficiency is the essence of victory in golf, so … it makes sense that Saso still has a shot. She has posted 68-71-69, so she is due for “that” round, it seems. If she’s going to find one at Lancaster, it will be on Sunday. I’ll be brazen with my prediction on this one: first or outside the top ten. She’ll either putt the eyes out of the hole on day four, or her run with the flattest stick will come to an end.

2021 champion Yuka Saso has statistically been the best on the greens this week with +4.46 SG.

Putts like these don’t hurt!#USWomensOpen | @Ally pic.twitter.com/b1YM6l8gdn

— U.S. Women’s Open (@uswomensopen) June 1, 2024

My guesses: fow low amateur, it’s Adela Cernousek. She proves that Friday was an aberration, shoots 69, and defeats Catherine Park by one for the silver medal. For Open champion, it’s Hinako Shibuno. The run of three missed cuts in this event has already come to an end. Shibuno seals it in the most dramatic fashion, with a victory.