By Keely Levins
During the U.S. Women’s Open, Kang’s brother posted on Instagram some troubling news: His sister was playing the major championship with a tumour in her spine. Kang had withdrawn from the Palos Verdes Championship at the end of April, citing back pain. It wasn’t until the U.S. Women’s Open that news of the tumour was public.

RELATED: Danielle Kang’s brother reveals Danielle has a spinal tumour

As Kang continues to work with her doctors on a plan, she announced on Instagram that she’ll take some time off from competitive golf. In addition to three regular LPGA Tour events, she’ll miss the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the major she won in 2017. That event is scheduled for June 23-26.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Danielle Kang (@daniellekang)

Said Kang in her post: “As a past champion this was not an easy decision, however, if I’ve learned anything from throwing a fit to play in the U.S. Open, I want to compete, not just participate.”

Despite the back pain, Kang made the cut last week at Pine Needles and ultimately tied for 63rd.

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The post Danielle Kang announces she’ll miss events, including KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, due to spinal tumour appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The U.S. Women’s Open is adding a presenting partner that will allow the USGA to nearly double the championship’s prize money payout to $10 million in 2022, the association announced on Friday.

ProMedica has been brought on as the first-ever presenting sponsor of a USGA championship. This will allow the governing body to boost the overall prize money payout in the championship by $4.5 million, bringing it a couple million shy of the $12.5 million the association hands out at the men’s U.S. Open. However, Mike Whan, the USGA CEO, said the purse will be bumped to $11 million and then $12 million over the next five years.

“Let’s love our history,” Whan said at the press conference in New York City, where the news was announced. “But let’s not be afraid to make a little history, too.”

History has indeed been made. The purse is the biggest in women’s golf, and the winner of the U.S. Women’s Open this June at Pine Needles will earn $1.8 million, making it richest single payday in women’s golf.

“Three athletes earned more than $1.8 million in 2021 [on the LPGA Tour],” Whan said. “Next year, if you’re lucky enough to lift that [trophy] up on Sunday at Pine Needles, you’ll make $1.8 million that week. That’s the kind of change that I think will not only be lasting for the person who makes it, but lasting for the 6-year-old, 9-year-old, 13-year-old, dreaming of raising that thing and realizing that her dream is different today than it was yesterday.”

Before taking the job as CEO of the USGA, Whan spent 11 years as the commissioner of the LPGA. Mollie Marcoux Samaan took over for Whan in 2021 and did not hesitate to highlight his role in this important moment in women’s golf.

“The stakes are so much higher, the impact is so much bigger. I don’t think it can be underscored how important something like this is,” Marcoux Samaan said. “I want to thank Mike. I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been a bigger advocate. He’ll go down in history as one of the greatest advocates for women’s golf and really for women’s sports.”

Marcoux Samaan’s words are a reminder of how important a jump in prize money this is: It’s not just a moment for women’s golf, it’s a statement about women’s sports and how female athletes can be compensated. Juli Inkster, who won $315,000 in 1999 for her first U.S. Women’s Open victory, joked that the prize money is so good now, she’s going to keep trying to win a U.S. Women’s Open for another few decades.

“This is a huge step for women’s sports all over the world,” Inkster said. “They rent their own cars, the do their travel, they work really hard. And sometimes you feel like you’re not getting rewarded for how hard you work. ProMedica is giving these ladies the opportunity to play for a lot of money as well as the USGA championship. This will make or break their year, their life.”

The announcement wasn’t just about the prize money, though. In addition, the USGA announced future host sites. John Bodenhamer, Chief Championships Officer for the USGA, said a conversation with Nick Price, a member of the USGA Executive Committee, worked as a catalyst for choosing these sites. “Nick looked over at me and said something that’s become a guiding star for us. He said, ‘John, it’s important where players win their U.S. Open. Men and women.'”

With that in mind, the U.S. Women’s Open venues for the next two and a half decades are notable courses with rich men’s major championship histories. The USGA will be bringing the U.S. Women’s Open to Riviera Country Club in 2026, Inverness Club in 2027, Pinehurst No. 2 in 2029, Interlachen Country Club in 2030 and Oakland Hills Country Club in 2031 and 2042. At Pinehurst in 2029, the USGA will play the men’s and women’s championships in back-to-back weeks as it did in 2014, where Martin Kaymer won the men’s U.S. Open followed immediately by Michelle Wie West winning the U.S. Women’s Open the next week.

Here is the list of all announced U.S. Women’s Open sites:

2022: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club
2023: Pebble Beach Golf Links
2024: Lancaster Country Club
2025: Erin Hills
2026: The Riviera Country Club
2027: Inverness Club
2028: Oakmont Country Club
2029: Pinehurst Resort & Country Club
2030: Interlachen Country Club
2031: Oakland Hills Country Club
2034: Merion Golf Club
2038: Oakmont Country Club
2042: Oakland Hills Country Club
2046: Merion Golf Club

Though it was a proud day for women’s golf, it didn’t come without the question that will continue to be asked in women’s sports: When will the women earn as much as the men? The men played for a $12.5 million purse in 2021, and that number is going to increase.

“The only way to get to those kind of levels is to have monster increases, not regular increases,” Whan said. “We’re really proud to be part of a monster increase. Once you make a monster increase, it’s like pulling off a really good flop shot: Once you do it once, you can do it again. Once you take a monster step and teach yourself what a monster step is, you can look forward to making another one.”

The post U.S. Women’s Open adds presenting sponsor, nearly doubles purse to $10 million for 2022 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But golf is golf, and nothing is guaranteed. Thompson stumbled coming home, making three bogeys and a double to post a back-nine 41 and add to her list of major heartbreak.

Meanwhile, Saso hung tough, posting a two-over 73 that was good enough to get into a playoff with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka at four-under 280 total. Then after making pars on the first two playoff holes, Saso rolled in an eight-footer for birdie on the third to walk away the surprise champion.

Surprise at least to golf fans outside the Philippines.

“There’s always that one player who stands out, and the rest will follow. That’s what she’s doing,” said LPGA Tour pro player Bianca Pagdanganan, a fellow Filipino. “We’ve had a couple players before [on the LPGA Tour], we had Dorothy Delasin, we got Jennifer Rosales. It’s been awhile. Yuka is a very young player. I think it was definitely, it means a lot especially with how old she is. It’s very, very special and she’s definitely someone to look up to.”

In case you’re just watching Saso for the first time this week, here are nine things you need to know about the new U.S. Women’s Open champion.

1: She’s the first major champion from the Philippines

It was 8 a.m. local time on Monday in the Philippines when Saso won the playoff to claim the title, her first LPGA Tour victory. You can rightfully say that Saso raised a new dawn for the game of golf in her home country. “I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me,” Saso said. “I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”

Interestingly, too, San Francisco has one of the largest Filipina populations of any city in the U.S., with Saso attracting an impressive following during her week at Olympic Club.

Pagdanganan wasn’t in the field at Olympic Club but is playing in next week’s LPGA stop in San Francisco and arrived at Olympic Club on Sunday to watch Saso starting on the fifth hole.

“I think it’s not only good for her, but I think it’s good for the Philippines,” Pagdanganan said. “She put us on the radar. What she did was absolutely a great thing, not only for golf but for our country.”

• • •

2: She tied Inbee Park for the youngest U.S. Women’s Open winner (yes, actually tied)

Fate is a strange thing. Saso turned 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old on Sunday. That is the exact same age that Park broke through and won the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen Country Club.

Yuka Saso reacts after being doused with water following her win of the 76th U.S. Women’s Open. Ezra Shaw

• • •

3: She’s the first player to be eligible for full LPGA Tour membership under the newly created “Popov Rule”

Prior to this year, winning a major gave the champion a five-year exemption on the LPGA Tour … provided the winner already was an LPGA member. If she isn’t, as was the case with Sophia Popov when she won the AIG Women’s Open last August, that exemption shrank to only two years. It was a rule that didn’t seem all that fair to some, and came into play again when A Lim Kim won the U.S. Women’s Open last December as a non-member. During the off-season, the LPGA reviewed the rule and changed it to allow members or non-members alike to get the full five years.

Interestingly, Saso was initially non-committal about whether she’d play full time on the LPGA Tour. “I’m going to talk to my dad, my family about it, and we are going to decide after,” Saso said in the immediate aftermath of the playoff win.

Hannah Green, who’s known Saso since their amateur days six or seven years ago, wants her friend to join the LPGA. “She’s fit for major championships,” Green said. “This is probably the toughest golf course we’re ever going to play. Obviously, it’s huge for her confidence. I hope she joins the tour.”

Shortly thereafter, Saso deliberated with her family, as she accepted membership just after 6 P.M. Sunday.

• • •

4: She is just the second Filipino to win an LPGA Tour event

The first was Jennifer Rosales, who won the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship in 2004 and then the SBS Open at Turtle Bay in 2005.

MORE: Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at Olympic Club

• • •

5: She’s only two years removed from winning the Junior PGA Championship.

She is, after all, still a teenager.

Just two years ago I presented @SasoYuka_315 the @JuniorPGAChamp trophy! Today she lifted the @uswomensopen trophy. WOW!! Congratulations Yuka!!! pic.twitter.com/ajjlDqJtDj

— Suzy Whaley (@suzywhaley) June 7, 2021

• • •

6: She won a gold medal as an individual and as part of the Women’s Team at the 2018 Asian Games with Bianca Pagdanganan and Lois Kaye Go

Pagdanganan’s familiarity with Saso’s game made her know the teenager could launch a comeback after falling behind early at Olympic Club. When Pagdanganan found Saso on Sunday, Saso mouthed “Oh my god!” to Pagdananan, gave her a fist bump, and said hi. Saso’s teammate had complete confidence in her to make a move Sunday.

“That’s just who Yuka is,” Pagdanganan said. “Yuka is very resilient. I knew she was going to make a late charge, that’s just who she is as a player. She’s very, very talented. I didn’t expect anything less from her.”

• • •

7: This was only Saso’s seventh start on the LPGA Tour

Of Saso’s seven, three have come in the U.S. Women’s Open. She missed the cut in 2019 and finished T-13 in 2020.

• • •

8: This is Saso’s third professional win anywhere

Saso won twice in back-to-back events on the Japan LPGA Tour in 2020, winning the NEC Karuizawa 72 Golf Tournament and Nitori Ladies Golf Tournament in August last year.

• • •

9: She modelled her swing after Rory McIlroy

During Friday’s broadcast on the Golf Channel, they showed a side-by-side comparison of McIlroy and Saso’s swing, the two looking frighteningly similar. That’s because Saso has spent hours watching McIlroy’s swing on YouTube and mirror her’s after his.

??? pic.twitter.com/P7yWiR3URQ

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) June 5, 2021

After this revelation made it on air, a flattered McIlroy responded that he hoped Saso would play well and win the championship. Saso acknowledges her idol during her post-victory speech.

RELATED: Yuka Saso hat-tipping Rory McIlroy in her post-victory interview is extremely wholesome content

The post Who is Yuka Saso? 9 things you need to know about the new U.S. Women’s Open champion appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Then, in the privacy of the scoring tent, reality arrived. The talented American had just squandered a five-shot lead in the final round by shooting a numbing 41 on the back nine, and with a bogey at 17 followed by another on the devious little monster that is the Lake Course’s 18th hole, Thompson capped a four-over-par 75 that left her one shot out of a playoff won in three holes by Yuka Saso over Japan’s Nasa Hataoka.

Saso’s first major triumph is an enormous achievement, with the 19-year-old of Filipino and Japanese heritage tying Inbee Park to the day as the youngest winner in the U.S. Women’s Open history. Saso, who has two wins on the LPGA of Japan and immediately accepted membership to the LPGA Tour after Sunday’s triumph, was gritty in fighting back from back-to-back double bogeys on the second and third holes. She steadied herself and made birdies on the back nine’s two par 5s, 16 and 17, to shoot 71 and tie Hataoka (68) at four-under 280 overall.

Only three years ago, Saso played in the ANA Inspiration junior tournament and waited in line to get Thompson’s autograph. Now, she’s part of yet another crushing setback for the 26-year-old whose only major win in 52 tries came seven years ago.

RELATED: Who is Yuka Saso? 9 things you need to know about the new U.S. Women’s Open champion

As the playoff started, Thompson signed her scorecard and tried to gather herself. She emerged once, thinking she was ready to speak, but went back inside again. She skipped talking to the USGA’s broadcast partner, NBC, and instead went straight to the interview area. There, her eyes red and glassy, an impressively composed Thompson answered one question from a USGA media official and two others from reporters. Then, at the behest of her agent, she was whisked away.

Last seen, Thompson was being taken to a destination unknown, the cart driven by USGA player liaison Jason Gore.

“Yeah, of course it’s hard to smile, but, I mean, it was an amazing week,” Thompson said. “Yeah, I played not so good today with a few of the bogeys coming in on the back nine, but the fans were unbelievable, hearing the chants and just gives me a reason to play.”

This was to be a huge moment for Thompson—and for American golf. She has long been one of the domestic game’s most recognizable and popular stars, and her 11 LPGA Tour wins made her worthy of admiration. For Thompson to capture the U.S. Women’s Open, on a layout deeply wound in the USGA’s DNA, and to overcome her own travails, well, it could have been one of those U.S. sporting stories that are remembered for lifetimes.

But the majors have been Thompson’s nearly impenetrable castle. She now has eight top-three finishes, and it will be debated which is more painful—the 2017 loss in the ANA Inspiration when she was defeated in a playoff after being smacked with a four-stroke penalty for marking her ball incorrectly, or this collapse at Olympic Club with seemingly one hand on the trophy.

Lexi Thompson walks off the 18th hole with her caddie following the final round of the 76th U.S. Women’s Open. Ezra Shaw

Certainly, this was a more visceral undoing. Thompson looked sharp and composed in shooting one under on the front nine to forge a five-shot lead when everyone else seemed to be folding around her. As it happened, the birdie she made at the par-4 fifth would be her last.

The trouble started on the par-4 11th, when Thompson missed the fairway and slashed out to well short of the green with her second shot. There, maybe the nerves began to show, when she chunked her wedge and didn’t make the green. She came up well short of the hole with her fourth shot and missed the five-foot putt for bogey, settling instead for a double. Still, she had a three-shot lead.

But Thompson appeared to lose almost all feel from there. She missed all but two of the remaining fairways on the back nine, left her tee shot on the par-3 15th at least a club short, and at 17 and 18, with makeable putts to save par, Thompson’s weak rolls couldn’t get to the hole.

The effort at 18 came after Thompson striped an iron off the tee into the middle of the fairway. But her approach to the front pin came up short in the front bunker so deep only the top of her head could be seen from the back of the green.

Reporters didn’t get to ask Thompson about the 18th hole, but she said, “Just got the wind wrong on a few shots coming in.

“Overall,” she said, “I’d be the first one to tell you that I hit some bad golf shots and I deserved it, but it’s golf.”

As Thompson was faltering, Saso and Hataoka were charging. Saso only made three birdies in the round, but two came critically at 16 and 17. She had begun the round horribly, pitching out sideways after a wayward drive at No. 2 in making a double bogey, followed by a three-putt double at the par-3 third after her tee shot found the left bunker.

Hataoka, 22, who was trying to win her first major and continue an impressive run of play for Japanese golfers after Tsubasa Kajitani’s win at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and Hideki Matsuyama’s Masters victory, recorded five birdies, including those on a par-3 (No. 13), par-4 (14) and par-5 (16).

Sean M. Haffey

The USGA has a two-hole playoff system, and after the players traded pars while playing the ninth and 18th holes, Saso seized the win by making an eight-foot birdie in the return to No. 9.

Lost somewhat in the American disappointment for Thompson were the cheers from Filipinos, who waved flags for Saso throughout the round. It’s the first victory by a Filipino, male or female, in any golf major.

“I don’t know what’s happening in the Philippines right now, but I’m just thankful that there’s so many people in the Philippines cheering for me,” Saso said. “I don’t know how to thank them. They gave me so much energy. I want to say thank you to everyone.”

With her tumble at Olympic Club, Thompson put herself into the company of one of the gods of the game. In 1966 on the Lake Course, Arnold Palmer squandered a seven-shot lead on the back nine, and Billy Casper made three birdies late to catch him and steal one.

Palmer was devasted, to be sure, but the wounds were salved by the seven majors he’d already won. Thompson figures to have at least a decade more of trying, but with each passing tough loss, it’s hard to keep smiling.

The post A surreal back nine at the U.S. Women’s Open leaves Yuka Saso a major champ and Lexi Thompson heartbroken again appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
Yuka Saso and Rory McIlroy were playing golf on opposite sides of the country on Sunday. But thanks to the power of social media, these two are now intertwined forever.

On Friday night, while Saso was shooting a four-under 67 to grab the solo 36-hole lead at the U.S. Women’s Open, the broadcast played a side-by-side video of the 19-year-old’s swing and the swing of McIlroy. The moves were eerily similar, which made sense given Saso modelled her swing after the four-time major champion’s:

??? pic.twitter.com/P7yWiR3URQ

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) June 5, 2021

“Everything, I like everything about it,” said Saso of Rory’s swing, which she has studied on YouTube. Considering his career record, there are definitely worse swings to model yours after.

The results are in—it’s working. Saso won the Women’s Open on Sunday at Olympic Club, defeating Nasa Hataoka on the third playoff hole, the first of sudden death.

McIlroy, who tied for 18th at the Memorial, caught wind of the side-by-side video on Saturday night and posted this to his Instagram story:

Pretty cool stuff for Saso, who was even watching McIlroy’s swing on Thursday night after opening with a two-under 69. “The last time I watched it was the Masters,” she said. “I was just watching his golf and swing for like one hour, maybe more.” McIlroy, never afraid to poke fun at himself, said he was “hardly [at the Masters] for an hour” when he was told of Saso’s routine on Saturday at Muirfield Village.

In her post-victory interview, Saso made sure to give McIlroy a nice hat tip, which will warm your heart:

"Rory mentioned me on Instagram and said, 'Get that trophy.'

And I did!

So thank you, Rory." pic.twitter.com/G3pqLCSxle

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 6, 2021

McIlroy quickly responded on Twitter, saying “Everyone is going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now. Congratulations!” Amen to that. Good, wholesome content right here, folks. Want it, need more of it.

The post Yuka Saso hat-tipping Rory McIlroy in her post-victory interview is extremely wholesome content appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Mid-way through the final round of the U.S. Women’s Open, eventual winner Yuka Saso probably couldn’t have imagined she would be the one holding the trophy. She’d made two double bogeys on the front nine at The Olympic Club and was playing in the final threesome with Lexi Thompson, who held a five-stroke lead with eight holes to play.

But golf is golf, and nothing is guaranteed. Thompson stumbled coming home, making three bogeys and a double to post a closing 75 and finish third, adding to her list of major disappointments. Meanwhile, Saso hung tough, posting a two-over 73 that was good enough to get in a playoff with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka at four-under 280 total. Then after making two pars in the two-hole aggregate playoff, the 19-year-old from the Philippines rolled in an eight-footer for birdie to tie Inbee Park as the youngest winner in the history of the championship.

With the victory, Saso became an instant millionaire. The USGA awarded an overall prize money payout of $5.5 million this week at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, with the Saso earning a seven-digit payday.

Only one women’s tournament offers a larger first-place prize, the CME Group Tour Championship. In 2019, winner Sei Young Kim received $1.5 million from an overall purse of $5 million. The event changed its structure slightly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Jin Young Ko earning $1.1 million from an overall purse of $3 million.

Here’s a look at the overall purses for the other four women’s major:
AIG Women’s British Open: $4,500,000 (winner: $675,000)
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: $4,500,000 in 2021 (winner: $675,000)
Evian Championship: $4,500,000 (winner: $675,000)
ANA Inspiration: $3,100,000 (winner: $465,000)

And here are the prize money payouts for each professional golfer who made the cut this week in San Francisco. Any money an amateur would make is re-distributed to the other professionals in the field.

MORE: Who is Yuka Saso? 9 things you need to know about the new U.S. Women’s Open champion

Win: Yuka Saso, -4, $1,000,000

P-2: Nasa Hataoka, -4, $594,000

3: Lexi Thompson, -3, $380,572

T4: Megan Khang, -2, $245,394

T4: Shanshan Feng, -2, $245,394

6: Angel Yin, E, $197,751

T7: Xiyu Lin, +1, $147,265

T7: Jin Young Ko, +1, $147,265

T7: Ariya Jutanugarn, +1, $147,265

T7: Brooke Henderson, +1, $147,265

T7: Inbee Park, +1, $147,265

T12: Amy Olson, +2, $108,180

T12: Jeongeun Lee6, +2, $108,180

T14: Celine Herbin, +3, $96,319

T14: Megha Ganne, +3, amateur

T16: Alison Lee, +4,$84,066

T16,Sei Young Kim, +4,$84,066

T16,Lucy Li, +4,$84,066

T16,Maja Stark., +4, amateur

T20: Madelene Sagstrom, +5, $72,197

T20: Hyojoo Kim, +5, $72,197

22: So Yeon Ryu, +6, $65,304

T23: Lizette Salas, +7, $57,416

T23: Emily Kristine Pedersen, +7, $57,416

T23: Jenny Shin, +7, $57,416

T26: Patty Tavatanakit, +8, $45,819

T26: Jennifer Kupcho, +8, $45,819

T26: In-Kyung Kim, +8, $45,819

T26: Marina Alex, +8, $45,819

T30: Jessica Korda, +9, $36,988

T30: Mina Harigae, +9, $36,988

T30: Matilda Castren, +9, $36,988

T30: Wichanee Meechai, +9, $36,988

T30: Lauren Stephenson, +9, $36,988

T35: Danielle Kang, +10, $29,074

T35: Jasmine Suwannapura, +10, $29,074

T35: Maria Parra, +10, $29,074

T35: Lydia Ko, +10, $29,074

T35: Rachel Heck, +10, Amateur

T35: Celine Boutier, +10, $29,074

T41: In Gee Chun, +11, $23,089

T41: Ally Ewing, +11, $23,089

T41: Ayako Uehara, +11, $23,089

T41: Stacy Lewis, +11, $23,089

T41: Gaby Lopez, +11, $23,089

T46: Mel Reid, +12, $18,494

T46: Brittany Altomare, +12, $18,494

T46: Yu Liu, +12, $18,494

T49: Leonie Harm, +13, $14,554

T49: Jenny Coleman, +13, $14,554

T49: Pernilla Lindberg, +13, $14,554

T49: Anna Nordqvist, +13, $14,554

T49: Carlota Ciganda, +13, $14,554

T54: Amy Yang, +14, $12,540

T54: Na Yeon Choi, +14, $12,540

T54: Minjee Lee, +14, $12,540

T57: Sarah Burnham, +15, $12,004

T57: Muni He, +15, $12,004

T57: Luna Sobron Galmes, +15, $12,004

T57: Austin Ernst, +15, $12,004

61: Giulia Molinaro,+16, $11,716

T62: Pajaree Anannarukarn, +17, $11,545

T62: Hannah Green, +17, $11,545

T64: Yealimi Noh, +18, $11,307

T64: Lee-Anne Pace,+18, $11,307

66: Gurleen Kaur, +21, Amateur

All 63 professionals who missed the cut receive $4,000 in unofficial prize money.

The post Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer at Olympic Club appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Tod Leonard
Look closely at the USGA logos surrounding The Olympic Club this week. The most prominent one is the trophy placed among the words, “76th U.S. Open,” with “The Olympic Club” in smaller type. Notice what’s missing? The word “women.”

Through their careers, those from the USGA will remind us, players such as Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb have not referred to their victories in the national championship as the “U.S. Women’s Open.” To them, they triumphed in the “U.S. Open,” plain and simple. They can take as much pride in that achievement as any male champion.

MORE: Think an amateur can’t win the Women’s Open? Rachel Heck might change your mind

And it is to that end that the USGA won’t apologize for or minimize how difficult the challenge will be this week on the Lake Course. There are murmurs on the grounds among players and caddies that because of the rough, dampness, wind gusts that could reach 20 mph and general ferociousness of the layout, any red number in a single round will be hard to come by. Some think the winning score could bring back comparisons to Jack Fleck’s 1955 U.S. Open upset of Ben Hogan at Olympic, when they both finished 72 holes at seven over par.

John Bodenhamer, the USGA’s senior director of championships, said on Wednesday morning that he heard such talk from a couple of caddies with whom he chatted during a USGA function on Tuesday night.

“These players are good!” Bodenhamer said. “They’re going to find a way to hit those fairways, they’re going to make putts, and you’re going to see players under par. You’re just gonna! I’ll say that now. I don’t know what it will be. But they’re damn good, and we want to showcase that. And it is hard, and when they do excel and they shoot under par on a hard place, I think it just showcases that side of what they do.”

Bodenhamer chuckled when adding, “We’re going to hear some grousing—I had to pitch out three times today; boy, that green was pretty darn fast; what was that hole location about?”

His response: This is the U.S. Open.

“We don’t want to dumb it down,” he said.

Of primary concern for the players is the primary rough, and the fact that the fairways run straight into it without an intermediate trim to soften the blow of missing the short grass by a couple of feet, or even inches. LPGA Tour veteran and major winner Angela Stanford called the rough “shocking” and said, “I told the USGA guys that somebody lost the key to the lawnmower. Holy cow.”

Rachel Heck, the NCAA women’s national champion from Stanford, said she got her first taste of The Olympic Club rough on Sunday—on her very first hole, the 528-yard par-5 No. 1. She recounted driving into the rough, trying a 5-iron that only advanced 40 yards into more rough, hitting her third shot across the fairway into—yes, more rough, and then she finally found the green.

“So that was good off the bat to see that,” she said.

Damp conditions and no first cut of rough will make the Olympic Club play more difficult for the U.S. Women’s Open. Robert Beck

The rough has since been evenly trimmed to 2¾ inches, which is what it will play for the championship, Bodenhamer said.

“The rough is penal,” he said. “But it’s U.S. Open rough. That’s what we want it to be.” He insisted that players could come close to reaching greens with mid-irons out of the rough. “Anybody can pitch out,” Bodenhamer said. “You’re going to see some birdies, but you’re going to see some double bogeys. The individuals who can minimize the double bogeys or three-putts are going to find success here.”

Bodenhamer said that the rough has been mitigated to some degree by fairways that are 10 to 20 percent wider than the men faced in the last U.S. Open contested at Olympic in 2012. Similar to the Women’s Open setups at Oakmont in 2010 and Pinehurst in 2014, the course will play significantly shorter. The listed yardage for the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic was 7,170 yards. This week, the Lake’s tipped-out yardage is 6,457—or 713 yards shorter. (Seven of the 11 par 4s will play at less than 400 yards, with No. 7 playing at 263 and the 18th at 326.)

The USGA says this is the kind of storied venue and test the women have been clamouring for, and whatever the conditions, they have seen an excitement among the players this week that rivals any buildup they’ve experienced in 76 years.

“To see the players arrive on-site and immediately start to, through their [social media] channels, to be so genuinely thrilled to be at the Olympic Club with all of its history … that’s very tangible to us,” said Beth Major, the USGA’s senior director of communications who has worked at major championships for more than two decades. “That’s what we’re trying to accomplish, to give these players the greatest stage to showcase their talents.”

Paula Creamer, who won her only major in the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Oakmont, summed it all up in three words on Wednesday.

“Venue,” she said, “is everything.”

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By Kent Paisley
So Yeon Ryu’s U.S. Women’s Open victory 10 years ago at The Broadmoor continues to have a movie-like feel to her. The then 21-year-old directed the triumph through extended weather delays in Colorado, staging a climactic finish when she made a birdie on the 72nd hole on the fifth day of play to force a three-hole playoff with Hee Kyung Seo.

Like any director, Ryu managed the final scenes to the smallest detail. She wore an orange shirt and hat that Monday, symbolic of her flickering passion for professional golf.

With a decade’s worth of hindsight, it becomes clear just how important a victory it was for Ryu. Winning the Women’s Open is a turning point in any player’s career, but perhaps more so for the South Korean talent.

“If I was not able to win the tournament, it might be that I’m not playing right now,” Ryu told Golf Digest. “If I was not able to come to the LPGA, I think I would’ve quit.”

Ryu’s professional golf career got off to an exhilarating start. Maybe too exhilarating. In 2008, she won in her pro debut on the Korean LPGA at the Sports Seoul Open.

With the victory, Ryu, just 17, became an instant celebrity in her home country, the curiosity of a teenage champion inviting incessant scrutiny about her and her game.

“When I was in Korea, people were always talking about me in the media, even though I didn’t want to hear it. Somehow, I always found it out,” Ryu said.

She would continue to play well, winning six more times on the KLPGA before her U.S. Women’s Open triumph in 2011, but the attention felt suffocating. After every round, cameras were there wanting to talk. She’d see her face in newspapers, stories detailing her latest performances. Ryu’s family and sponsors quizzed her about what was going on. Whenever she would play in pro-ams, the participants peppered her about how well she was playing. It was exhausting to be defined only by how she played golf, making Ryu care more about what others thought of her than what she wanted for herself.

That stress drove Ryu to explore other career options less than two years after turning pro. When she was 19 and studying at Yonsei University in Seoul while also playing on the KLPGA, she began looking into graduate sports-marketing programs. It was on her mind after she won at The Broadmoor in 2011.

“My plan is if I retire as a golfer, I really want to try sports marketing or sports or golf clothes designer,” Ryu said in her post-round press conference.

Mike Ehrmann
Even after winning the U.S. Women’s Open title, Ryu hinted that her golf career might end early given the pressures she felt to perform back home in South Korea.

Ryu still loved golf and wanted to remain around the sport. And she appreciated what her team did to help her early in her career. So she figured why not help others in the game without the constant pressure of performing herself.

By winning the Women’s Open, however, Ryu earned the reward that motivated her even when she was ready to give up the game. “I just wanted to play the LPGA once before I retired,” Ryu said. “When I won U.S. Women’s Open, I thought OK, now I can join LPGA Tour and have a chance to play LPGA Tour, then maybe couple more years I can retire. That was my feeling.”

As it turned out, playing on the LPGA Tour proved a liberating experience. Being far from Korea allowed her the space she didn’t previously have. The attention on her at home remained, but she was far enough removed it no longer became a daily intrusion. She had the freedom to adjust to the culture of the United States and focus on learning English and building new friendships. Without feeling constantly in the spotlight, she adapted to playing on the LPGA Tour, where the vast difference in courses they played proved refreshing compared to the homogeneity of the tracks in Korea.

The new environment allowed Ryu to flourish on the course—she’s won five more LPGA titles, including the 2017 ANA Inspiration—as well as off the course. “I guess my personality is more suit for LPGA Tour and traveling all around the world,” said Ryu, who is currently 15th in the Rolex Rankings. “That joy definitely made me feel love to play golf more than ever.”

Ryu says she’s enjoyed the opportunity for constant learning. Already a book worm, she picked up ballet in 2016 to try something new. Lately she’s focused on nutrition; she makes a point of eating dinner by 5 p.m. to give herself enough time to digest.

Ryu claims she expresses her creativity on the course by shaping the ball instead of, in her own words, boring, straight shots. Her success in 10 years on the LPGA is a testament to her skills. It’s also evidenced in her consistency at the U.S. Women’s Open. The former World No. 1 has finished in the top 25 in all 11 of her career appearances in the major with six top-five finishes including her win. Ryu particularly relishes the challenges of the complex setups the USGA presents.

“Just thinking about U.S. Women’s Open makes me really exciting,” Ryu said. “You have to have all sorts of game to play well. To prepare for U.S. Women’s Open requires a lot of practice. That makes me more excited to play.”

That work lets her continue her movie-like run at U.S. Women’s Opens as she directs her effort at a third major victory at Olympic Club next week.

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By Tod Leonard
It’s one of those occasions when you wonder, “Why didn’t anybody think of this before?” Remarkably, the Korda sisters of the LPGA Tour, Jessica and Nelly, had never been grouped together in the first round of a women’s major championship. That will change come Thursday, when they will play alongside each other and former U.S. Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club.

The USGA announced tee times for the first and second rounds on Monday. The Korda group will go off on the Lake Course at 11:28 a.m. ET in the first round. Neither Korda has won a major, with Nelly, 22, who has four LPGA wins, having come closest with a tie for second in the 2020 ANA Inspiration. In her only U.S. Women’s Open start, Nelly tied for 10th in 2018. A six-time winner on the LPGA, Jessica, 28, has top-10 finishes in all five of the LPGA majors, and her best U.S. Women’s Open result is a T-7 in 2013.

In what could be considered a veteran super group, Paula Creamer, the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open titlist, and Cristie Kerr—who are playing on special exemptions offered by the USGA—are grouped with the championship’s 2014 winner, Michelle Wie West.

In another grouping of major champions, Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and this year’s ANA winner, Patty Tavatanakit, will play together.

World No. 1 Jin Young Ko will play with Danielle Kang and Hannah Greene, while the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champ, A Lim Kim, is grouped with 2020 Women’s British Open winner Sophia Popov and No. 1-ranked amateur Rose Zhang.

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But let us not forget the girl and her ice cream.

On June 19, 2014—the first day of the U.S. Women’s Open—Northern California native Lucy Li was 11 years, 8 months and 19 days old. By emerging the previous month from a qualifier at Half Moon Bay with scores of 74-68, she was the youngest player to ever qualify for the national championship, a distinction she still holds. She’d already made USGA history the previous August when she reached the 2013 U.S. Women’s Amateur at 10 years old. That’s also still the record.

Li was a prodigy, to be sure, but she hardly seemed burdened by the experience of competing against the best players in the world. She showed up for the first round at Pinehurst with her hair in pigtails and wore a red, white and blue blouse adorned with stars and stripes and matching skirt.

Then, after she’d shot a 78 (she’d miss the cut on Friday following another 78), Li locked up the championship’s popularity contest with one of the most endearing scenes in the history of majors. Li bounced up to the podium in front of a horde of cameras and reporters with a pink Starburst ice cream bar in her left hand. Asked what she planned to do the rest of the day, she quipped with a grin, “Eat some more ice cream.”

That did it. Even among those who possibly looked askance at such a young child being even allowed to play in such a prestigious event, hearts melted, just as the sticky stuff dripped down the girl’s fingers as she spoke.

Lucy Li brought an ice cream to her press conference after the first round of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open.

People were going to remember Lucy Li.

The name will be recognizable again in the coming week when fans watch coverage of the 76th U.S. Women’s Open, which visits The Olympic Club’s Lake Course for the first time after the course has hosted five U.S. Opens. Once again emerging from a sectional qualifier at Half Moon Bay, Li will play in her third Women’s Open at the venue only 20 miles north of her home in Redwood Shores. She is 18 now, and after deciding not to pursue college golf and turning pro in November 2019, she competes on the LPGA’s second-level Symetra Tour.

“From the time it was announced [in 2016] that they were going to Olympic Club, this has been on my radar as something I wanted to play in,” Li said on the phone this week.

Life is very different for Li, of course. Her amateur career ended a bit awkwardly when the USGA gave her a one-time warning in early 2019 for breaking amateur rules by participating in an Apple Watch ad (she received no payment). She’s playing for checks now and grinding away at giving her game the nuances she couldn’t possess as a grade-schooler. But anytime she sees a USGA flag flying, the memories are freshened.

“When I look back, it seems pretty crazy to me. It does seem a bit overwhelming,” Li said. “When I was eating that ice cream, I was carefree. I was genuinely having a good time. I don’t think I fully comprehended all of it.

“At the time we ended up turning down a ton of media,” she added, noting that when her parents asked her if she wanted to be flown to New York to appear on “Good Morning America,” she begged off, saying, “I’m too tired for all of this.

“My family just wanted to focus on me being a kid,” she recalled. “That experience was kind of on my own terms. I just remember it being really fun, and obviously it gave me a big confidence boost for my career.”

Morgan Pressel, the LPGA Tour player who is working the Women’s Open as a commentator for Golf Channel and NBC, recalled seeing Li during the week at Pinehurst and chuckling to herself.

“I just remember looking at her and thinking, Oh my gosh, was I that small when I was that young?” Pressel said this week on a call with reporters. “And it was cool to see her out there, and her spunk, and her passion, and all of the fun, youthful energy she brought to the Open then.”

Lucy Li hits a drive during the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open. Christian Petersen

More than most, Pressel could put herself in Li’s tiny golf shoes. In 2001, Pressel was then the youngest, at 12, to qualify for the Women’s Open.

Like Pressel, who skipped college, turned pro and has notched five LPGA wins (including a major at the ANA in 2007) over 16 years, Li has always been precocious. In addition to her USGA achievements, she won her age-group division in the inaugural National Drive, Chip & Putt at Augusta National in 2014, captured the 2016 PGA Junior Championship, earned low-amateur honors in the 2017 ANA Inspiration and, at 15, contributed heavily to the U.S. team’s rout in the 2018 Curtis Cup. Also in ’18, Li played in her second Women’s Open, finishing T-55 at Shoal Creek.

Most of the members of the Curtis Cup squad have moved on to professional golf, including Jennifer Kupcho, Andrea Lee and Lauren Stephenson. Fellow Californian Lilia Vu is a friend, and she and Li are on the Symetra together. They are certainly paying their dues. The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out much of the 2020 Symetra season and eliminated any opportunity to advance to the LPGA Tour though either the money list or LPGA Q-Series.

“It’s been disappointing for everyone,” Li said, “but I think I’m the type of person who just rolls with the punches. I just accepted it and moved on.”

Moved on—that phrase took on a new meaning in the last year, with Li and her family members—mom, dad and aunt—traveling around the country in a Mercedes SUV to Symetra events, for which her father, Warren, served as caddie. The car was packed to the headliner. “I’m a girl,” Lucy said. “I have a lot of stuff.”

At one point, Lucy recalled, they drove from Florida to pick up her brother in New York and then across the country to San Francisco with few stops other than to eat and go to the bathroom.

“It ended up being a fun experience,” Li said with a laugh, “but our car has too many miles on it.”

Li got off to a good start last fall, finishing T-11 in the Symetra Tour Championship and runner-up in the Symetra Classic. By the year’s end, she’d banked four top-10s and hadn’t missed a cut. But the new year has been more challenging. In five starts, her best finish is T-10 and she’s 33rd on the money list at $10,863. Only the top 10 money winners at season’s end earn an LPGA Tour card. Beyond that, there’s a return to the Q-Series.

When I look back, it seems pretty crazy to me. It does seem a bit overwhelming. When I was eating that ice cream, I was carefree. I was genuinely having a good time. I don’t think I fully comprehended all of it.
—Lucy Li recalling her start in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open at age 11

“There’s definitely been an adjustment,” Li said. “When I was playing amateur and junior golf, it was different, and I realized that there’s probably some sort of internal pressure [now], or a sense of urgency. I’m not someone who plays well running hot.

“There are a lot of great players out there. You have to wait for your week to come, to be patient. And I remember getting really frustrated toward the end of tournaments last year. It’s something I’ve definitely learned and grown from. I don’t get quite as frustrated when I’m not playing well or putting well. I’m happy about that.”

Women’s pro golf has seen younger and younger players, particularly from other countries, attempt to make the top tours. That will always stir debate by those who weigh the value of experience and personal growth gained at a university versus both the courage and strain of competing against the best right away.

“When you’re talking about such a gifted player, I don’t think there’s a playbook. I don’t think there’s a path or the right way to do it,” said former LPGA player Paige Mackenzie, who is part of the Golf Channel broadcast team.

Kay Cockerill, a Northern California native and former pro who has mentored players on how to approach The Olympic Club for the championship, hasn’t played golf with Li, but did help her find a caddie for the week. She is well aware of Li’s story, and while she’s a “big proponent” of athletes attending college, she lauds Li’s intelligence and drive. There’s a twinge of concern, too.

“It’s a tough grind to jump to professional golf at a young age,” Cockerill said. “And I think even those that have won everything around them and then transition into professional golf, there’s no guarantee that they’re going to succeed.

“Who knows? Maybe she’s peaked at 14, 15. Maybe her peak days are up ahead. But she’s a nice young kid and she has a passion for the game. She’s choosing to follow it. I wish her the best, but it’s not going to be an easy road.”

Yet it’s one Li hopes she can navigate successfully, starting with some solid play in a championship where she’ll long be remembered as the ice cream girl.

MORE: Think an amateur can’t win the U.S. Women’s Open? Rachel Heck might change your mind

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