3 Things to Know: 81st U.S. Women's Open Presented by Ally

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Perhaps it is apropos that the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally is being contested in the shadows of Hollywood. After all, The Riviera Country Club is the star this week for the 156 competitors.

The rich history of George C. Thomas Jr.’s masterpiece – Ben Hogan (1948 U.S. Open), five-time USGA champion Hale Irwin (1998 U.S. Senior Open), Hal Sutton (1983 PGA) won majors here and the list of Los Angeles Open (now Genesis Invitational) winners is a Who’s Who of PGA Tour stars – make Riviera  a venue deserving of a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

But this is the first time the women get to experience the layout, one that features a bunker in the middle of the green (No. 6), a split fairway (No. 8) and a drivable par 4 (No. 10), along with one of the cooler opening shots in golf. The tee on the par-5 first hole sits 75 feet above the fairway.

In the days leading up to Thursday’s first round, players have raved about the course and the challenge every hole presents. More than anything, they are excited about playing a venue where so much history has been made by their male counterparts.

“It's an amazing place,” said world No. 1 Nelly Korda. “Obviously the men rave about it every year, and for us to get to play this golf course in a major championship in major championship conditions…I mean, the vibe of the place, knowing that so much history has been played out here. It's a great place for us to play.”

Maja Stark, of Sweden, will look to become the first back-to-back champion since Karrie Webb in 2000-01. But she is just one of the many narratives as the championship kicks off on Thursday morning with former UCLA golfer and 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion Brianna Do, of nearby Lakewood, hitting the opening tee shot. The purse also was raised $500,000 to $12.5 million.

Here are 3 things to know:

1 vs. 2 Showdown?

There is no doubt who the two top players are on the LPGA Tour. Hyo Joo Kim, twice a winner in 2026, could make a case for being the third wheel. But most fans of women’s golf will likely be focused on the top two players in the Rolex Rankings: Nelly Korda and Jeeno Thitikul.

The former has been the most dominant player on tour in 2026. After going winless a year ago, Korda owns three wins, including a major (The Chevron Championship), three seconds and a tie for eighth in seven starts. But Korda has had a self-described “complicated” relationship with the U.S. Women’s Open, including a disastrous 10 during the first round of the 2024 championship at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club. Her best finish in the championship in 11 starts came a year ago when she tied for second behind Stark at Erin Hills.

“I think I'm just a lot more comfortable in my skin,” said Korda when asked about her approach to majors now. “I know what I want to do when I come out. There's a process. There's structure. There's not like looking around thinking, oh, should I do this? Should I do a little bit more? I just come out here with a plan and I execute it.”

Meanwhile, Thitikul, of Thailand, has claimed nine LPGA Tour titles, but has yet to break through in a major championship. Last year at the Amundi Evian Championship, the 23-year-old watched Australian Grace Kim miraculously hole a pitch for a birdie-4 on the second playoff hole after finding the penalty area with her second at the par-5 18th to beat a stunned Thitikul. A major title is the last missing piece for this former world No. 1 who claimed a Ladies European Tour title at age 14.  

“I don't think I [change my] approach,” said Thitikul. “I just talk to my coach (Kris Assawapimonporn) what we have to do different, but in a major he's just like, we don't have to do anything different because when you change your routine, that's when you change your mindset.

“Like other people can tell your routine is different, and that's when you get tight. That's when you [start] controlling shots, controlling strokes.”

Mothers’ Day

Even though the holiday in America was celebrated last month, it doesn’t mean a handful of competitors can’t enjoy playing Riviera this week with their young children in tow. Five players – 2014 champion Michelle Wie West, 2016 winner Brittany Lang, Xiyu Janet Lin, Alison Lee and Ally Ewing – are competing after giving birth over the last few years. Lang, who gave birth to son Krew last June (she also has a 6-year-old daughter Shay) and Wie West, who had son Jagger in October 2024 (daughter Makenna is 5), are juggling two young kids. Wie West and Lang have each retired from the LPGA Tour and each is competing on exemptions this week.

Lin, Lee and Ewing all gave birth in the last 13 months and took advantage of the USGA’s deferred maternity leave exemption.

“I’m just trying to figure it out day by day,” said Lee, a native of nearby Valencia whose son, Levi, was born 13 months ago. “It’s been really tough trying to juggle everything. I feel like sometimes I’m drowning under water, but thankfully I have some great people and great help around me where I can get through it.”

Added Wie West: “Last time I retired at Pebble Beach [in 2023] Makenna was 2 and doesn't really have any memories.  Hopefully being 6 now, she'll have a lot more memories of being here this week.

“It's amazing having a whole family [here].  I mean, it was a big ticket request going to the USGA, a lot of friends and family, being in L.A.  It's going to be a lot of fun seeing a lot of familiar faces in the crowd.”

And Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom certainly will have quite a story to tell her future son. She is competing this week seven months pregnant. Three years ago, Amy Olson qualified for Pebble Beach while pregnant with her first child, and 25 years ago at Pine Needles, Brenda Corrie Kuehn, now a member of the USGA Executive Committee, was only a month away from giving birth to daughter Rachel, who currently plays on the Epson Tour and was a first alternate from her Phoenix qualifying site. Rachel starred on three USA Curtis Cup Teams.

As many know, the U.S. Open each year concludes on Father’s Day. The U.S. Women’s Open doesn’t have such a space in the calendar, but if one of those aforementioned players claims the Harton S. Semple Trophy on Sunday afternoon, it still will be quite a mother’s day to remember.

Hello World

It might not have the same fanfare of 1996 when Tiger Woods delivered his famous two-word announcement prior to his pro debut at the Milwaukee Open a week after winning his unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Amateur.

But there are four players who have decided to join the play-for-pay ranks this week, including a pair of high-profile competitors who enjoyed decorated amateur careers. Megha Ganne, the 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, and Catherine Park, the 2023 NCAA runner-up, both were four-year stars at Stanford and the University of Southern California, respectively.

Each played a key role in helping the USA claim the Espirito Santo Trophy last October in Singapore, with Park’s 8-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for a 71 (tied Spain’s Carolina Lopez-Chacarra) and Ganne’s third-round 72 being the deciding factors for the Americans, who tied Spain and the Republic of Korea after 72 holes of the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship (18-under 558). The USA won its 15th title because Ganne’s non-scoring total in Round 3 was one better than Stanford teammate Andrea Revuelta’s score for Spain.

Each also played on a Curtis Cup Team; Ganne on the victorious 2022 side at Merion and Park at Sunningdale Golf Club in England two years ago, a tough one-point defeat.

Both have also been low amateurs in the U.S. Women’s Open. Ganne played in the final pairing as a 17-year-old in 2021 at The Olympic Club, settling for a share of 12th. Park shared the honor with Asterisk Talley and Megan Schofill in 2024 at Lancaster C.C.

Collegiately, Ganne helped the Cardinal win a pair of NCAA team championships (2024 and 2026). Park helped USC reach the title match this year, only to fall short against Stanford’s all-star cast that had all five starters among the top 20 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking®/WAGR®.

Ganne, in fact, still has to go through graduation ceremonies on The Farm as Stanford is on the quarter system.

But the timing was right to begin playing for pay, especially with the new LPGA Tour Elite Amateur Pathway program. Ganne and Park were among 10 players to earn Epson Tour status for the remainder of the 2026 season, which offers a pathway to the LPGA Tour.

“That idea of going into something novel is not particularly new, but I know that the Epson Tour and hopefully LPGA [Tour] will come with stuff that I don't foresee,” said Ganne, who finished second to Farah O’Keefe individually at last week’s NCAA Championship. “I've been saying this over and over again, but I think just being comfortable being uncomfortable is going to be my goal for the next 12 to 18 months.”

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.