The 79th edition of the US Women’s Open, the longest-running major championship in women’s golf, begins Thursday at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Penn. The Major Championship has a $12 million purse, with Ally coming on board as a sponsor of the major championship earlier this year. Here’s a closer look at five things you need to know about the second major championship of the season.
That stadium
The US Women’s Open features a field of 156 players that includes a who’s who of players who have already lifted the major trophy. Nellie Korta, two-time major champion and current No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, heads into the field in pursuit of her seventh win of the 2024 season. She joins major champions Celine Boutier, Ashley Buhai, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Goh and Hannah Green at Lancaster. Green is the only multiple winner on the LPGA Tour this season with two wins at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by BlastPro. Eight former champions will join the US Women’s Open, including Brittany Long, Aria Jutanugarn, Jeongyun Lee6, Lim Kim, Yuka Saso, Minjee Lee, Alisen Corpus and In Kee Chun, who won the championship last time. Held at Lancaster Country Club in 2015. Chun’s first win on the LPGA Tour has been followed by a relationship with the Lancaster community by establishing an educational foundation with the club to help provide scholarships to local people. families.
Eligibility
This year’s US Women’s Open drew 1,897 entries, more than a hundred shy of the record of more than 2,000 submitted last year, when the championship was staged at Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first time. In the end, more than 60 players from 26 qualifying sites advanced, surpassing the 36-hole bracket and joining the exempt before earning a coveted spot in the field at Lancaster Country Club. Notable qualifiers for this year’s US Women’s Open include Gabi Raffles, who medaled in qualifying to earn a spot in the field for her fifth US Women’s Open. The rookie has been in good form lately and comes to Pennsylvania after back-to-back top-three finishes on the LPGA Tour. Moriah Jutanugarn, Sydney Michaels, Caroline Masson and Lucy Li first competed in the US Women’s Open at the age of 11.
Course
Lancaster Country Club is a hidden gem among major championship courses, and starting Thursday, it will host the U.S. Women’s Open for the second time. The course, which was the venue for the Championship in 2015, will challenge players with a complete test of golf. The William Flynn design features a variety of bar 4s, unique bar 3s and two bar 5s. This second-shot golf course will play 6,583 yards for the championship, exactly 100 yards longer than it did in 2015, and the biggest change from 70 can be seen on the par-5 13th hole. 30 yards and added four new bunkers.
Corpus protects
Allisen Corpuz is not only a Rolex first-time winner, but also a major champion with her breakout win at the 2023 US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Corpus shot a 3-under 69 to win by three strokes. First Women’s Major to be staged at Pebble Beach. Corpus, who became the first American to win a national championship since Brittany Long in 2016, won the Mickey Wright Medal and Harden S. Semple took home $2 million for his win along with the trophy. But since her first win at the US Women’s Open, Corpus has struggled to recapture the magic that propelled her to great fame. Following her win, she finished runner-up in her next start and finished sixth at the AIG Women’s Open, the final major of the 2023 season. This year, Corpus has recorded just one top-10 finish, an eighth-place finish at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Gorda chasing major no. 3
Nellie Korda arrived at her second major championship of the season to claim not only her seventh win of the year, but her third career major. Gorda picked up his fifth straight victory at The Chevron Championship, the first major of the year, and will be riding the pace of a sixth victory in his last start at the Mizuho Americas Open. At a major venue like Lancaster Country Club, which puts a premium on hitting fairways and greens, the Korda Tour will be hard to beat in regulation, putting greens, and average scores. Gorda is competing in her 10th US Women’s Open and has two top 10 finishes at the event. He did not compete in Lancaster in 2015.