The oldest major title and the largest wallet for women’s professional golf will be available on Thursday when it stands out on Erin Hills Club in Erin, Wisconsin.
This is the first time Erin Hills hosted the U.S. Women’s Open, a course known for its rolling fairways and greenery, a figure created by a glacier centuries ago that offers one of the most difficult tests of the season for the world’s best golfers.
“It tests every part of your game,” two-time major champion Nelly Korda said Tuesday. “It’s harsh. It’s firm. It’s fast, too. Even if you think you’re playing well, you can exhale when you see it stop. I’d say that even the weather is here, the shots play a big role.
Here are some of the big storylines of the second biggest champion of the season:
Can Nelly go?
World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler took several months to get started, and then he won twice on the PGA Tour this season, including his third place in the PGA Championship.
On the LPGA Tour, the same season was the world’s No. 1 golfer Nelly Korda. A year ago, Korda had already won six championships before his second Grand Slam of the season.
This year, she hasn’t lifted the trophy in seven games.
“Yes, it’s been a very interesting year for me,” Corda said Tuesday. “There are definitely some good things and a little bad. In every event I’ve attended, a little bit of a mix. What I want to say is that patience is something I learned and then come home and really lock in and practice hard.”
It seems Corda has performed poorly this season. Apart from one of her starts, she finished top 25 in all competitions, including runner-up in the Hilton Grand Prix Championship in the season opener. She tied for fifth place at the final start of the Mizuho Open.
Korda ranked second in the LPGA Tour in stroke: Total (2.40) and tee (1.03), and ninth in T-shirt to Green (1.59). She is also in the top 25 in the approach (0.65) and putter (0.86).
She will look for better results at the U.S. Open. She has missed 3 times in the last five games, tie eighth and tied 64th. Last year, at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Corda hit 10 on the 12th hole of the par 3, her third hole in the first round. She scored 10 points and 80 points.
Korda rebounded in the second round and ranked 70 in the second round but still missed the promotion.
“Oh yeah, a lot of ups and downs,” Corda said. “I mean, this is the biggest test in a golf game. I’ve definitely tested a lot. I love it.”
Corda will play the first two rounds against Charley Hull and Lexi Thompson of England. They will be ranked 1st at 2:25 pm ET on Thursday and 8:40 AM on Friday.
“At the end of the day, that’s why all we have to do is play these golf courses under these conditions to test our game in every way,” Corda said. “It’s not just our game, our spirit [strength],Too. I love it and am glad to see what will bring this week. ”
KO focuses on professional grand slams
If Lydia Ko could be the eighth golfer in LPGA history, she could finish a professional grand slam if she won the U.S. Women’s Open on her 14th attempt. She had two top ten in the game and missed her first layoff last year.
There are only 27 KOs, and have won three major titles at the 2015 Evian Championship, the 2016 Chevron Championship and the 2024 Women’s British Open.
KO played with defending U.S. Women’s Open champion Yuka Saso and amateur Rianne Malixi in the first two rounds. They will start Thursday at 8:40 a.m. on Thursday at 8:40 a.m. and Friday at 2:25 p.m.
“I think as long as I play a goal is always good, so when I’m doing things, I always move forward instead of thinking, ‘Oh, I’m like that, who cares?’” Ko said. “So, keep yourself more motivated. Hopefully don’t, but even if I’ve never won the public of American women, I won’t wake up from my sleep, ‘I’ve never won.'”
Louise Suggs, Mickey Wright, Pat Bradley, Juli Inkster, Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam and inbee Park have won four different majors in their careers. Weber is the only one who has won a different profession in completing a Super Professional Grand Slam.
Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist won the 2009 Women’s PGA Championship, the 2017 Evian Championship and the 2021 Women’s British Open, and can also complete the professional grand slam this week.
Saso’s three attempts
SASO will try to be the seventh time golfer wins the national championship three times.
Betsy Rawls (1951, 1953, 1957, 1960) and Wright (1958, 1959, 1959, 1961, 1964) opened four times in American women, while Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1948, 1954, 1954), Susie Maxwell Berning, Susie Maxwell Berning (1968, 1972, 1973), Hollis Stacy (1995) 2006) won three times.
“I could call myself two big champions, better than these two U.S. Women’s Open,” Sasso said of the win last year. “I think it’s a great game besides my name, and I don’t know, maybe it’s because I dreamed of winning that and winning twice is better.”
SASO is already the only golfer to occupy the Harton S. Semple trophy, representing two different countries at the same time. When Saso beat NASA Hataoka in the 2021 playoffs at the San Francisco Olympic Club, she represented the Philippines where she was born.
Last year, Saso played for her father’s home country, Japan, when she beat Japan’s hinako shibuno with three shots, totaling 72 holes with 276 shots.
SASO has dual citizenship in both countries and then must waive her Filipino citizenship in 2022 under the Japanese Nationality Act, which she must do before she is 22 years old.
Erin Hills is a big route
The Erin Hills golf course is about 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee, and is a 72-pointer that will hit 6,829 yards. This is the second longest course on the LPGA Tour so far this season.
Erin Hills hosted the 2017 U.S. Open, and Brooks Koepka won 72 holes with 272 strokes below 16.
It’s not easy to play this week, especially in the wind. There will be thunderstorms at 10 to 20 mph on Friday. For weekends, forecasts require sunny skies and winds of 5 to 10 mph.
“It’s definitely a very big class,” said 2023 U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz. “I hit a lot more bastards and woods than I want to go into.” [during Monday’s practice round]. I think it’s always very important for just any large, batting person. I think there is a green complex here [and] A lot of runoff, just some tense fairways, will definitely be crucial here. ”
There isn’t a water hazard at Erin Hills, but there are 132 bunkers and 3½-inch fescue roughness, which makes things tricky.
“It’s very demanding compared to all bunkers,” Korda said. “Bounds aren’t easy. Sometimes you don’t even have a stance because they’re small. Then shoot the greens and the greens. Just a good test of the overall game.”
If the wind is not blowing or wet, the American Golf Association will have other T-shirts available.
“We also pay close attention to firm, speed, wet conditions, and great temperament,” said Shannon Rouillard, senior director of the USGA Championship. “It is important that the tests remain relative and fit the conditions we will face, whether they are wet or we will experience greater wind conditions.”
