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The U.S. Women's Open is the top major in women's golf. It began in 1946, before the LPGA Tour had even fully taken root. As the oldest LPGA Tour event with 80 years of tradition, organized by the U.S. Golf Association (USGA), it reigns as the most prestigious tournament recognized by all, combining stories accumulated over its long history with its course setups, the resulting high difficulty, depth of field, and the symbolism of a national title.
The 81st U.S. Women's Open begins on June 4 (local time) at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, and runs for four days. The Korean contingent aims to extend its major-winning lineage for the first time in two years since Amy Yang's victory at the 2024 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
Seven wins in 10 years…the U.S. Korea Women's Open?
During a congressional address in November 2017, his first term, U.S. President Donald Trump brought up golf. "This year's U.S. Women's Open golf tournament was held at the Trump course in New Jersey, and Korean player Park Sung-hyun won it." Trump also noted during the speech that Korean players took all four top spots at the U.S. Women's Open. Then-amateur Choi Hye-jin finished runner-up, while Ryu So-yeon and Hur Mi-jung tied for third.
The U.S. Women's Open was thus like a home stage for Korea. Trump visited the venue that year from the second round and gave a standing ovation and thumbs-up from a special viewing box to Park Sung-hyun, who surged into the solo lead on the final day. Regarding Choi Hye-jin, who was in contention, he posted on X (formerly Twitter): "An amateur is in a share of the lead, which they say hasn't happened in decades. Very interesting."
There was a time when The New York Times called the U.S. Women's Open the "U.S. Korea Women's Open." After Pak Se-ri opened the floodgates with her 1998 win, Koreans took the trophy seven times in the 10 years from Park In-bee in 2008 to Park Sung-hyun in 2017, so the nickname was warranted.
Korean contingent hits bottom, regains its pride
The U.S. Korea Women's Open lineage has stalled since Kim A-lim's win in 2020. From 2021 through last year, the trophy went to Yuka Saso (Philippine nationality at the time of her win), Minjee Lee (Australia), Allisen Corpuz (U.S.), Yuka Saso (Japanese nationality), and Maja Stark (Sweden). Saso changed her nationality after competing in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The 2024 U.S. Women's Open was a shock to Korea. No Korean player's name appeared in the top 10. The absence of any Korean player among the top 10 was the first such occurrence in 27 years, since 1997, the year before Pak Se-ri's landmark victory.
Around that time, the overall slump of the Korean contingent on the LPGA Tour was thrown into sharper relief by the "top-10 disappearance" at the U.S. Women's Open. With five Japanese players in the top 10—Saso winning and Hinako Shibuno finishing runner-up—talk of a Korean player crisis grew louder.
Eventually, early last season, there was even a period when no Korean player was in the world's top 10. Since the women's golf world ranking was introduced in February 2006, the last time Koreans were entirely absent from the top 10 was for two weeks in June 2006. Amid the rise of Japan and Thailand, Korea appeared to be relegated to a power of the past.
This year, Korea is no longer a power of the past. Lee Mi-hyang restarted the winning clock for the first time in nine years at the Blue Bay event in Hainan, China, in early March, followed by Kim Hyo-joo winning the Fortinet Founders Cup and the Ford Championship in consecutive weeks. That means Koreans won all three events held during the month of March.
In the Player of the Year points standings as well, Korea shows a fairly even distribution, with Kim Hyo-joo in second, Yu Hae-ran in seventh, Lee Mi-hyang in ninth, and Yoon Yi-na in 13th (the U.S.'s Nelly Korda is first).
"During the period when Korean players had stopped winning, I emphasized that 'more young players need to come to the U.S. stage.' So I'm relieved that veterans like Lee Mi-hyang and I got to show our juniors what winning looks like. I'm working harder to recreate the conditions to make Korea known through golf, like the seniors of the past," Kim Hyo-joo said.
KLPGA Tour standard-bearers Kim Min-sol, Yu Hyun-jo, Hong Jung-min also enter
This year's tournament features Kim Hyo-joo and Lee Mi-hyang, as well as Choi Hye-jin, Yu Hae-ran, Yoon Yi-na, and Hwang Yu-min, who leads the Rookie of the Year points. Hwang said, "I think the U.S. Women's Open is a tournament that most requires patience rather than greed, and a mindset to accept any situation, and I'm preparing accordingly." Last year, Hwang was tied for 12th through the second round but slipped on the weekend to finish tied for 56th.
Among past champions, Kim A-lim, Lee Jeong-eun6, Park Sung-hyun, and Jeon In-ji enter, vying for the honor of becoming a two-time U.S. Women's Open champion.
KLPGA Tour players Kim Min-sol, Yu Hyun-jo, Hong Jung-min, Ko Ji-won, and Lee Da-yeon also enter. They qualified by ranking within the world's top 75. Kim Min-sol, a "veteran rookie" on the domestic tour, is off to such a strong start to the season that she is already expected to sweep major titles, including Rookie of the Year, the money title, and MVP.
Yu Hyun-jo, who won the MVP and lowest-scoring-average awards last year, has already added a win this year, while Hong Jung-min is a strong contender who tied for the most wins with three last season and also took the money title.
In addition, national team member Oh Su-min, who boasts a third-place finish at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, and legend Shin Ji-yai, with 67 career professional wins and Japan as her main stage, will also play. Shin boasts two wins at the British Women's Open major (now the AIG Women's Open), but her best finish at the U.S. Women's Open is a tie for second in 2023.
Overcome Nelly, Thitikul, and the 'erratic greens'
For the Korean contingent aiming to reclaim the U.S. Women's Open title for the first time in six years, the biggest threats are, as expected, Korda and Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand). They are the world's No. 1 and No. 2, with three and two wins this season, respectively.
Kim Hyo-joo is world No. 3. Along with two LPGA Tour wins this year, she also cruised to victory in a KLPGA Tour event she entered after a long absence (the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship in May). Despite a troubled back, she showed her "class" by fending off the best of the younger generation. Kim Hyo-joo has rested well for about three weeks since her domestic appearance and is set to attack the difficult course.
Korda evokes her 2024 season, in which she swept seven wins. Her results in seven events this year are first-second-second-tied for second-first-first-tied for eighth. The trophy at the season's first major, the Chevron Championship, also went to Korda. Her average driver shot of 279.19 yards ranks her among the longest hitters (seventh), while she is second in greens in regulation (76.75%) and tied for eighth in putts per green in regulation (1.74). She also ranks second in strokes gained around the green. In short, there is nothing she cannot do.
Thitikul, who also strikes her irons well (fourth in greens in regulation), stands out for the steadiness of making few bogeys. Without a major win yet, this is her fifth U.S. Women's Open appearance, with a best finish of a tie for sixth in 2024. Korda, a three-time major winner, is making her 12th U.S. Women's Open appearance. Her best finish is last year's tie for second.
Past results in this event may be no more than a reference. That is because this is the first time it is being held at Riviera Country Club. The venue will host the 2028 LA Olympics and the 2031 men's U.S. Open. It has staged the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Senior Open, and is also the stage for the PGA Tour's Genesis Invitational.
Riviera CC's greens are covered with notorious Poa annua grass. The ball rolls erratically, so even shots struck as intended often miss the hole. Even "golf emperor" Tiger Woods (U.S.) has never won an event held at Riviera CC.
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From Pak Se-ri to Kim A-lim…Korea's great lineage of champions
From Pak Se-ri's barefoot shot, which gave the nation a ray of hope during the IMF foreign-exchange crisis, to "warrior" Kim A-lim's thrilling birdie-birdie-birdie finish. We look back on the footsteps of the Korean contingent's 11 U.S. Women's Open wins. (Photo source: USGA)
1998 Pak Se-ri_ A legendary barefoot fighting spirit
A 92-hole battle with Thai amateur Jenny Chuasiriporn, going to a playoff round plus two sudden-death holes battle. On the final hole of the 18-hole playoff, when her second shot strayed beside a creek, Pak Se-ri took off her socks, stepped in, and played that famous barefoot recovery shot.
Like the lyrics of Yang Hee-eun's song, Pak Se-ri "broke through and pressed on, however far and rough the road, and won in the end." After Chuasiriphon missed a 6-meter birdie putt, Pak sank a slightly shorter birdie and thrust her fist toward the sky.
2005, Kim Joo-yeon — Magical bunker-shot birdie on the 18th
A three-way playoff seemed certain, but Kim Joo-yeon ended it — with a magical bunker-shot birdie. When her second shot on the par-4 18th landed in the greenside bunker, the situation looked bleak. It was such a difficult spot that she could barely see the pin even by jumping up in the bunker.
But the ball that left Kim's wedge dropped on the right side of the green, rode the slope curling left, and rolled exquisitely into the hole. Kim won by two strokes.
2008, Park In-bee — Youngest champion
This was the tournament that put Park In-bee's name on the world golf map. In her second year on tour, she was just 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old. After three rounds she was tied for third, two strokes behind sole leader Stacy Lewis (U.S.), but when it was over she had won by four. She shot a 2-under 71 on the final day, including a birdie on the last hole.
Park, who set the record as the youngest U.S. Women's Open champion, later endured a three-year slump without a win, but she overcame it wisely and went on to write many chapters of history.
2009, Ji Eun-hee — 6-meter closing birdie
On the par-4 18th, Ji Eun-hee needed a birdie to win, or a par to force a playoff with Candie Kung (Taiwan), who had already finished.
Her second shot, struck with a long iron, stopped 6 meters from the pin. After playing partner Cristie Kerr (U.S.) — who needed a birdie of her own to force a playoff — missed her uphill birdie putt, it was Ji's turn.
The ball left her putter, rode a downhill slice line bending to the right, and dropped in with just the right pace.
2011, Yoo So-yeon — Playoff against Seo Hee-kyung
After a week of foul weather, the champion was decided on Monday. Yoo So-yeon made a dramatic birdie on the 72nd hole to tie Seo Hee-kyung and force a three-hole playoff.
It was a playoff between Koreans. Yoo carded par-birdie-birdie to beat Seo by three strokes. She turned an entry earned through her high ranking on the domestic tour money list into her first LPGA Tour win and her first major title.
For Seo, missing a 70-centimeter putt for bogey on the 17th hole in the fourth round, affected by strong winds, proved painful.
2012, Choi Na-yeon — Queen of Moving Day
Tied for ninth and four strokes behind the lead after the second round, Choi Na-yeon took an elevator up on Moving Day, the third round. She carded a 65 as if playing a different course altogether, vaulting into a sole lead six strokes clear of second place. While Suzann Pettersen (Norway), the second-round leader, shot 78, Choi shot 13 strokes fewer. Starting the final day with a six-stroke lead, Choi lifted the trophy four strokes ahead of runner-up Amy Yang.
2013, Park In-bee — Three straight major wins
Park In-bee, who claimed the title four strokes ahead of runner-up Kim In-kyung, won the U.S. Women's Open for a second time, after 2008. She also achieved the feat of three consecutive major victories — only the second time in LPGA Tour history, after Babe Zaharias in 1950.
For three straight years from 2011, Korean players shared the U.S. Women's Open titles and runner-up finishes among themselves.
2015, Jeon In-ji — Major hunter
Jeon In-ji, who led the money list with three wins on the KLPGA Tour that season, won the Salonpas Cup, a major on the Japan Tour where she played as an invitee, and then conquered the U.S. Women's Open, which she also entered as a non-member.
She started third, four strokes behind sole leader Amy Yang, but on the final day she fired seven birdies — including three straight on holes 15-17 — to card a day's-best 4-under 66, edging Yang by one stroke for a comeback win. Her winning score of 8-under 272 also tied the tournament's record for fewest strokes.
2017, Park Sung-hyun — Victory for a precise big hitter
She earned her first win in just her 14th LPGA Tour start, and on the biggest major stage. When co-leader Choi Hye-jin dropped her tee shot on the par-3 16th into the water and lost two strokes, Park Sung-hyun seized the momentum with a birdie on the 17th.
Facing a bogey threat on the 18th that could have dragged her into a playoff, Park played an ideal bump-and-run (a technique that rolls the ball with a low trajectory) close to the hole, allowing no opening.
2019, Lee Jeong-eun6 — Heroine of Korea's 10th win
Lee Jeong-eun, who immediately made up for a bogey on the first hole of the final round with a birdie on the second, faced trouble when her second shot on the par-4 10th rolled down into the rough behind the green. But she saved par with a precise short game that struck the flagstick, and birdied the trickiest 11th hole.
She won by two strokes over co-runner-up Yoo So-yeon. Lee earned her first win in just her ninth start, at the U.S. Women's Open, and with this victory Korean players reached a combined 10 U.S. Women's Open titles.
2020, Kim A-rim — One-stroke win on three closing birdies
Kim A-rim, a non-member ranked 94th in the world, earned a lucky spot when the USGA expanded entry eligibility after the COVID-19 pandemic prevented local qualifying.
She was tied for ninth, fully five strokes behind leader Hinako Shibuno (Japan) through three rounds, but birdied holes 16-18 in the final round to win by one stroke. The five-stroke comeback tied the record for the largest comeback win in U.S. Women's Open history. Ko Jin-young finished tied for second.
