Jenny Shin, Ariya Jutanugarn, Minjee Lee
Thursday - 8:28 a.m. – 1st Tee
Friday – 2:03 p.m. – 10th Tee
A first-time winner earlier this season at the 2016 Volunteers of America Texas Shootout, this week Jenny Shin makes her sixth start in the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA. She finished 10th in 2014 and 19th last year. Shin will play alongside Ariya Jutanugarn and Minjee Lee in rounds one and two. Although Jutanugarn has played some great golf in 2016, winning three times in the month of May, the U.S. Women’s Open has been a bit of a challenge. In her three starts, Jutanugarn has yet to play the weekend or post a sub-70 round in this event. Lee picked up her second career win on Tour earlier this season at the LOTTE Championship but has had mixed success at the U.S. Women’s Open where she finished 22nd in 2014 and missed the cut in 2015.
In Gee Chun, Hannah O’Sullivan, Stacy Lewis
Thursday – 8:39 a.m. – 1st Tee
Friday – 2:14p.m. – 10th Tee
Defending champion In Gee Chun won in her first appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in 2015, becoming just the fourth player to do so. She’s followed up her maiden victory on Tour with some great play in her rookie season, posting six top-3 finishes so far in 2016. Chun will play alongside amateur Hannah O’Sullivan and two-time major champion Stacy Lewis in rounds one and two. The 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Champion played in the U.S. Women’s Open in 2012 and 2015, finishing T-53 last year. Lewis is making her 10th start in this event, where she has posted three top-3 finishes including a runner-up finish in 2014 to Michelle Wie at Pinehurst No.2 where she carded a final round 66 to finish two-back of Wie.
Christina Kim, Karrie Webb, Ilhee Lee
Thursday – 8:00 a.m. – 10th Tee
Friday – 1:25 p.m. – 1st Tee
This year, Christina Kim will tee it up for the 14th time in the one event she says she’d love to win: the U.S. Women’s Open. But it will be the first time the Championship will be held in her hometown. Kim grew up in the San Jose area and will likely have an advantage over her playing partners in being more familiar with the course than her counterparts who will be making the trip to CordeValle for the first time. Her best finish came in a share of eighth in 2010 at Oakmont Country Club where she finished eight-strokes behind champion Paula Creamer, the only player under par for the week. Kim will play alongside two-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Karrie Webb who went back-to-back in 2000 and 2001, winning in dominating fashion with five and eight stroke margin of victories. There’s a lot on the line this week for the Australian who is trying to play her way back onto her country’s Olympic team in order to compete in Rio. She’s currently third in the standings for Australia with just the top-two eligible to compete. Ilhee Lee is the third member of this group, making her fifth start at the U.S. Women’s Open. Her best finish came in a share of fourth in 2012 when she finished nine-strokes behind champion Na Yeon Choi at Blackwolf Run.
So Yeon Ryu, Na Yeon Choi, Se Ri Pak
Thursday – 8:11 a.m. – 10th Tee
Friday – 1:36 p.m. – 1st Tee
As 1998 champion Se Ri Pak makes what will likely be her final appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open, she will do so alongside two of her fellow countrywomen, So Yeon Ryu and Na Yeon Choi, who were inspired to pursue a career in golf after watching Pak’s historic victory at Blackwolf Run. Ryu and Choi are just two of the many Korean players who have followed in the Hall of Famer’s footsteps and are part of a group that has affectionately become known at home as “Se Ri Kids.” Pak received a special exemption from the USGA to compete in what will be her 19th playing of the U.S. Women’s Open, where she has four top-5 finishes in addition to her win. Choi captured her 2012 U.S. Women’s Open title also at Blackwolf Run, where she won by four-strokes ahead of fellow Korean Amy Yang. Ryu is also a U.S. Women’s Open champion, having won in her second start in 2011, defeating Hee Kyung Seo in a three-hole playoff. Ryu has since not finished outside the top-5 in this event.
Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson, Lydia Ko
Thursday – 2:03 p.m. – 10th Tee
Friday – 8:28 a.m. – 1st Tee
A trio of the Tour’s hottest young stars will play together in the opening rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open, including Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and Lydia Ko. Each member of this group is a major champion, but none have captured the U.S. Women’s Open. Thompson has two top-10 finishes in this event, having already made nine starts in her young career. Henderson is the Tour’s most recent major champion, having defeated Ko in a playoff at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for the win and picked up her second win of the season last week in Portland. Henderson has teed it up in the U.S. Women’s Open three times, her best finish coming in a share of fifth in 2015, eight strokes back of champion In Gee Chun. Ko will make her fifth start at this year’s U.S. Women’s Open where she has continued to progress since making her first appearance in 2012. She finished T-39 that first year, followed by a T-36 showing in 2013, a 15th place finish in 2014 and a share of 12th in 2015. A win this week would be the third major title for the world No.1 and fourth victory of 2016.
*All tee times are PT.
)
){kind=spacer}
)
)
