[Herald Economy = Reporter Jo Yongjik] The U.S. Women’s Open, the second major of the women’s golf season with a 12 million USD (approximately 16 billion KRW) purse, opens on June 4 (local time).
This year’s 81st U.S. Women’s Open runs four days through June 6 at Riviera Country Club (par 71) in Pacific Palisades, California.
A field of 156 players includes 23 Koreans. Hyo-Joo Kim, ranked third in the world and a two-time winner on the LPGA this season, enters the championship as a leading contender. Kim has posted four top-10s this year, including her two victories, and ranks second to Nelly Korda in both CME Globe points and Player of the Year standings.
Kim’s only major victory came before she joined the LPGA—she won the Evian Championship in September 2014 while still playing on the KLPGA. That win paved the way for her full-time LPGA career; she has nine career victories, including the Ford Championship this past March.
After the Chevron Championship in April, Kim skipped LPGA events but returned in early May to win the NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship on the KLPGA as she tuned her form for the U.S. Women’s Open.
Besides Kim, Korean players on this year’s LPGA entry list include Choi Hye-jin, Hwang Yu-min, In Gee Chun, Lim Jin-hee, A Lim Kim, Sung Hyun Park, Yang Hee-young, Yeena Yoon, Sei Young Kim, Jin Young Ko, Mi Hyang Lee, So Mi Lee, Jeongeun Lee and Kang Min-ji.
Among them, In Gee Chun, Sung Hyun Park, Jeongeun Lee and A Lim Kim are former U.S. Women’s Open champions.
The U.S. Women’s Open—remembered for Se Ri Pak’s barefoot victory in 1998—has produced a string of Korean winners: Joo-Young Kim (2005), Inbee Park (2008, 2013), Eun-Hee Ji (2009), So Yeon Ryu (2011), Na Yeon Choi (2012), In Gee Chun (2015), Sung Hyun Park (2017), Jeongeun Lee (2019) and A Lim Kim (2020).
No Korean has won the title since A Lim Kim; last year Choi Hye-jin posted the best Korean finish with a tie for fourth.
Also entered in the tournament are Shin Ji-ae, a 66-time winner on the JLPGA, and KLPGA players Yoo Hyun-jo, Hong Jeong-min, Kim Min-sol, Ko Ji-won and Lee Da-yeon, along with amateurs Oh Su-min and Lee Seung-hyun.
Nelly Korda, who reclaimed the world No. 1 ranking with three LPGA wins this season, is aiming for back-to-back major titles following her Chevron Championship victory. Korda has finished first or second in six of seven LPGA starts this year and tied for eighth in the other; a run of consecutive major wins would further cement her position atop the game.
Last year’s champion, Maja Stark of Sweden, will return to defend her title.
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