Kupcho Fires 66 for First-Round Lead at Riviera

Jennifer Kupcho missed the cut last week at the ShopRite LPGA outside of Atlantic City, N.J., in her title defense. Maybe her mind had already drifted to the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at The Riviera Country Club.

For someone who hasn’t enjoyed a great relationship with this championship in terms of results – five missed cuts in nine starts with no finish better than a tie for 21st as an amateur – the 29-year-old from Colorado sure took a starring role in Thursday’s opening round.

Buoyed by a near hole-out for eagle on the par-4 second – part of a birdie-birdie-birdie start – and a near-ace on the par-3 16th, Kupcho fired a 5-under-par 66 for a one-stroke advantage over another one-time major champion, Sei Young Kim.

“It kind of takes a little bit of a weight off my chest,” said Kupcho, who made a scouting trip to Riviera while playing the LPGA’s JM Eagle LA Open in mid-April. “I've missed the last three U.S. Open cuts. So, barring something crazy doesn't happen tomorrow, I'll be playing on the weekend.

“I think it kind of just lets me relax and not have to worry. I just need to make the cut. Just go out there and play my best, take every shot as it is, and see what happens at the end of the day.”

Five others posted 3-under 68s, headlined by 2019 AIG Women’s Open champion Hinako Shibuno, Gaby Lopez and three Koreans: Ina Yoon, Hyunjo Yoo and Minji Kang.

Minjee Lee, a three-time major winner, including the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open, was joined at 2-under 69 by 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA champion Ruoning Yin, 2021 Chevron winner and ex-UCLA standout Patty Tavatanakit and 2021 U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Nasa Hataoka.

As is typical weather for June for this part of Los Angeles, the morning marine layer was quickly replaced by bright sunshine and comfortable breezes. Playing in the afternoon wave when the course began to firm up, Kupcho, who counts the 2022 Chevron Championship among her four LPGA Tour victories, came out blazing, a start that included a 133-yard approach to 10 inches on the difficult 417-yard second hole, which ranked as the third most difficult in Round 1 (4.35 stroke average).

Kupcho, the eighth American to lead after Round 1 since 2000 (Stacy Lewis did it twice), gave one back at the par-3 sixth, the famous hole with a bunker in the middle of the green complex, but added birdies on seven, 11 and 12. She followed a bogey on the second-toughest hole, the 422-yard 15th, by knocking her tee shot at the 143-yard 16th to 2 inches. Her ball skipped through the kikuyu rough and almost found the hole.

“I think my parents have always pushed me like, ‘Hey, why don't you go try and see the golf course beforehand?’ I'm like, ‘No, I don't do that.’ I never do that for any other tournament. Why would I change that for the U.S. [Women’s] Open?

“I wouldn't say I necessarily went out of my way since we were here in L.A. at El Cab[allero Country Club in nearby Tarzana], but it definitely made it super easy to come out and see it. Then when I showed up this week, it was just like I knew where everything was. I knew what I was doing. So, I think it actually helped. Parents are always right, right?

“I really like this golf course. It kind of fits my eye.”

Kim, now a wily veteran at 33, has enjoyed a little more success than her American counterpart with 18 professional wins, 13 of which have come since the native of the Republic of Korea joined the LPGA Tour in 2015. That includes her five-stroke victory at Aronimink Golf Club outside of Philadelphia in the 2020 KPMG PGA Championship, the same year she was named the LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year.

Last October, she ended a five-year victory drought at the BMW Ladies Championship in her native Korea.

Knowing the U.S. Women’s Open was coming to a venue few of her brethren had played, Kim took the last two weeks off and made a two-day trip to Riviera last week to get in early prep.

“I tried to get used to the [kikuyu] grass because it is not like any other tournament we play,” said Kim. “I tried to practice a lot. It’s helped a lot.”

Starting on No. 10, Kim went birdie-birdie, then registered three consecutive birdies from No. 6 after her lone bogey on the fourth hole. She closed off the day in style, holing a 30-foot par putt on the ninth hole.

Lopez’s lack of success in majors over her 12-year professional career led to a complete mindset change at the start of the 2026 season. The plan? Play less rank-and-file LPGA events to focus more on the five biggest weeks of the year.

For the U.S. Women’s Open, it meant taking two weeks off before coming to Los Angeles. Coming into this week, the former University of Arkansas All-American had only produced one round in the 60s in 12 previous starts, with a best finish of T-11 in 2016 at CordeValle.

Two other majors that annually rotate venues – the AIG Women’s Open and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – have produced similar results. In 10 KPMG starts (34 rounds), she’s recorded four sub-70 rounds; her best finish being a tie for ninth at Aronimink in 2020. She’s made nine starts at the AIG Women’s Open with only three sub-70 scores over 30 rounds with zero top-20 results.

On Thursday, Lopez was 6-under par following a birdie on the par-5 first hole (10th of the day), her best-ever start in the U.S. Women’s Open, before giving three strokes back coming home.

“I feel that getting more rest, getting more time to prep,” said Lopez, who tied for third her last start, the Mizuho Americas Open held at Mountain Ridge Golf Club, a Donald Ross design some on the LPGA Tour felt like a USGA championship venue. “[Riviera] feels like Mexico. This is exactly the kind of grass that I grew up on, kikuyu and poa [annua]. I feel like I put myself in position, that I'm hitting more fades off the tee, and that's helping a lot. But overall, I feel like it's just getting a little bit more familiar.”

Notable

• The first-round scoring average was 73.55.
  
  
• Former UCLA golfer and 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion Brianna Do, of Lakewood, Calif., had the honor of hitting the opening tee shot. Newly minted professional Catherine Park, of Irvine, Calif., who just completed her four-year All-American career at the University of Southern California, was first to play off the 10th tee.
  
  
• The top three players in the Rolex Rankings – Nelly Korda (73), Jeeno Thitikul (73) and Hyo Joo Kim (74) – combined to shoot 7 over par.
  
  
• Speaking of Korda, she had a slight wardrobe change six holes into the round. The world No. 1 began the day with Nike shoes gifted from LeBron James. When they became a bit uncomfortable, trainer Kim Baughman went back and grabbed another pair from Korda’s locker and rushed them to the par-3 16th tee. Korda was 1-over par at the time. The change, however, had little impact on Korda’s on-course performance as she posted a 2-over 73.
  
  
• Defending champion Maja Stark rallied from a rough opening nine that included two double bogeys and a bogey to shoot even-par 71.
  
  
• Allisen Corpuz, the 2023 champion, made the day’s only eagle when she holed out from 86 yards on the par-5 17th hole. Corpuz played her college golf across town at USC.
  
  
• This was the first time since 2019 that multiple amateurs bettered par in Round 1. Reigning U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Aphrodite Deng, of Canada, University of Arkansas rising senior and three-time first-team All-American Maria Jose Marin, of Colombia, and University of Florida rising senior Paula Francisco Liaño, of Spain, each carded 1-under 70s. Deng took up golf just six years ago during COVID-19 after being a competitive figure skater. Marin won the 2025 NCAA individual title and this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Francisco Liaño won the 2026 Southeastern Conference title. In 2019 at the Country Club of Charleston, Gina Kim (66) and Andrea Lee (69) achieved the feat.
  
  
• Last year’s U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megha Ganne and Catherine Park, an Irvine, Calif., native who starred the last four years at USC, each shot 3-over 74s in their professional debuts. Ganne is coming off winning a second NCAA team title at Stanford. The Cardinal defeated Park’s Trojans in the championship match. Two others also debuted as professionals on Thursday: Siuue Wu (73), a Hong Kong, China native who left the University of Florida after two seasons, and recent Louisiana-Monroe graduate Johanna Sjursen (78), of Sweden.
  
  
• For the 30th time in her LPGA Tour career, 2022 U.S. Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee went a perfect 14-for-14 in fairways hit. It was the second time the three-time major champion has achieved that in a U.S. Women’s Open, having done so in the final round at Trump National Golf Club in 2017. The Australian carded the only bogey-free round on Thursday, a 2-under 69.
  
  
• One of the cool things at USGA championships is the caddie list. Of course, the LPGA Tour players have their regulars, but many of the qualifiers have everyone from coaches (college or instructors) to parents to close friends to club loopers. It’s always an eclectic group of individuals. This week at Riviera, former USC golfer Muni He has 2017 USA Walker Cupper and current Korn Ferry Tour competitor Norman Xiong on the bag. USC coach Justin Silverstein (Catherine Park), Oregon coach Derek Radley (world No. 1 amateur Kiara Romero), Wake Forest assistant Ryan Potter (Chloe Kovelesky), Mississippi State coach Charlie Ewing (husband of Ally Ewing), brother of PGA Tour winner/2021 USA Walker Cupper Ricky Castillo Derek Castillo ( Yani Tseng), Stanford assistant coach Demi Runas (Meja Ortengren), NBC on-course analyst/veteran PGA Tour caddie John Wood (amateur Aphrodite Deng) and two-time PGA Tour winner Russell Knox (amateur Sofia Rivera) are also caddying.

Quotable

“This course is really famous in the world, so I'm very happy to play here this week. The course is not easy. Like every hole is putting me to the test.” – Sei Young Kim

“Yeah, playing in the U.S. [Women’s] Open is obviously every girl's dream. To be out here competing, be at the top [of the leaderboard] is pretty cool. Obviously, something I've never been able to say even after one round. So pretty cool to be able to say that.” – Jennifer Kupcho

“Just be more flexible, a little bit more acceptance on missing. Yeah, we're going to miss. We're going to make bogeys. I just have to stay away from double bogeys this week. It's okay to make three bogeys on the back nine [like today]. Golf is not perfect. The more I accept that and the more I'm okay with that, I'm going to be more at peace out there.” – Gaby Lopez on changing her on-course attitude

“It was awesome. I actually didn't realize it when I got my tee time. A few people said how cool it is to be the first off of Riv in my home state and hometown. It's funny, because I hit a great tee shot and I felt my heart racing afterwards. I like checked my heart rate beat on my watch and it was like 145. I was like, obviously I was a little nervous, but I kept it together out there. Didn't play as well as I was hoping (3-over 74), but we kept it together.” – Southern Californian and UCLA grad Brianna Do on hitting the first tee shot of the 2026 championship.

“I just kind of came over from Australia with the mindset of you know what, even if I don't get in I'll stay with the other Aussie girls and watch a bit of golf at Riv and hopefully get a practice round at the place. Obviously, I was really happy when I got the call.” – Karis Davidson (2-under 69), the last player into the field.

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