*All tee times are local.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Jin Young Ko, Stacy lewis
Thursday – 7:35 a.m. – 10th Tee
Friday – 1:15 p.m. – 1st
Ariya Jutanugarn has the game to win major championships. She figured out the test that was Woburn Golf Club to win the 2016 Ricoh Women’s British Open. But the U.S. Women’s Open has continued to be a challenge for the eight-time LPGA Tour winner, who is making her sixth appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open. She’s made just one cut in her five prior appearances, with her best finish coming in a T17 in 2016. She will play the opening rounds at Shoal Creek alongside 2018 rookie Jin Young Ko and major champion Stacy Lewis. Ko is making just her second appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she finished T15 in her debut in 2017. Ko is already a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, but is perhaps best known for what she’s accomplished in majors during her young career. She finished runner-up to Inbee Park at the 2015 Ricoh Women’s British Open at Turnberry. Lewis is the veteran of the group, making her 12th U.S. Women’s Open appearance in 2018. While she has yet to win her country’s national championship she has contended on multiple occasions with four top 10s.
Michelle Wie, Lexi Thompson, Jessica Korda
Thursday – 7:46 a.m. – 10th Tee
Friday – 1:26 p.m. – 1st Tee
Three of the top four Americans in the Rolex Rankings, Michelle Wie, Lexi Thompson and Jessica Korda, are grouped together for the opening rounds at Shoal Creek. Michelle Wie, winner of the 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, is making her 15th appearance. It’s an event she has missed only once since her debut in 2003, which was the first of three consecutive years that Wie competed as an amateur. She arrives at Shoal Creek a winner already in 2018, after breaking through in February for her first win since that major victory in 2014. Thompson, like Wie, has a decade of experience playing in the U.S. Women’s Open as she makes her 12th appearance in 2018. For years she held the record as the youngest to qualify after doing so at the age of 12 in 2007. But the ANA Inspiration champion has struggled in this major championship, where she has never finished under par and recorded just three rounds in the 60s. Korda is making her 11th U.S. Women’s Open appearance, her best finish coming in a T7 at Sebonack in 2013. Her claim to fame at the U.S. Women’s Open is the final round 69 she carded at Interlachen in 2008, when she became the only player to record a sub-70 round during the final day.
Sung Hyun Park , In-Kyung Kim, Sophia Schubert (a)
Thursday – 1:15 p.m. – 1st Tee
Friday – 7:35 a.m. – 10th Tee
Defending champion Sung Hyun Park has an incredible record in her first two appearances at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she finished T3 in her debut in 2016 and won in 2017. In her victory, Park recorded back-to-back weekend rounds of 67 to come from seven strokes back on the weekend to win for the first time on the LPGA Tour. She backed that up with another victory in 2017 and picked up her third title on the LPGA Tour earlier this month in Texas. She’ll play the opening rounds alongside 2017 Ricoh Women’s British Open champion, In-Kyung Kim and reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, Sophia Schubert. It’s surprising Kim didn’t make the U.S. Women’s Open her first major victory as she's played consistently well in the major. In her 13 appearances she has four top 5s, including a runner-up finish to Inbee Park in 2013.
Cristie Kerr, Pernilla Lindberg, Sei Young Kim
Thursday – 1:26 p.m. – 1st Tee
Friday – 7:46 a.m. – 10th Tee
Veteran Cristie Kerr is making her 22nd U.S. Women’s Open appearance. The 2007 U.S. Women’s Open champion has missed only one playing of the championship since her debut in 1995. When she won in 2007 at Pine Needles, she recorded a third round 66, her lowest round in this major. She’s also recorded seven top 10s in her previous 21 starts. Kerr, who is in search of her first win of 2018, will play the opening rounds alongside Pernilla Lindberg, 2018 ANA Inspiration champion, and Sei Young Kim. Lindberg is making in her sixth start at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she recorded a career best T5 in 2015 at Lancaster. Kim arrives at Shoal Creek searching for her first win of 2018 and first major title. In four prior appearances at the U.S. Women’s Open, Kim’s best finish was a T8 in 2017.
Inbee Park, Moriya Jutanugarn, In Gee Chun
Thursday – 1:37 p.m. – 1st Tee
Friday – 7:57 a.m. – 10th Tee
Inbee Park, winner of the 2008 and 2013 U.S. Women’s Open, arrives at Shoal Creek at the top of the women's game. In April, Park returned to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings and has two worldwide wins to start the year, including a victory on the KLPGA two weeks ago. Park is making her 12th start at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she has five top 10s in addition to her two victories. In more than half of those appearances, Park ranked in the top 10 in putting average. It’s an area of her game that has set her apart from her competition and earned her seven major championship titles. She became the youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Open with her victory in 2008 at 19 years 11 months and 17 days of age. Park is joined Thursday and Friday by fellow U.S. Women’s Open champion, In Gee Chun, and Moriya Jutanugarn. Chun won in her first appearance in 2015 at Lancaster, where she came from four strokes back on Sunday with a final round 66 to win for the first time on Tour. Chun struggled in her title defense in 2016, when she missed the cut, but rebounded with a T15 finish in 2017. Jutanugarn has had mixed results in her seven appearances at the U.S. Women’s Open where she has twice missed the cut. In 2017, she finished T15 at 2-under par, which was the first time she finished under par at the U.S. Women’s Open. She arrives at Shoal Creek a new player in 2018, having picked up her first career win on the LPGA Tour in April.