New Mom Alison Lee, Yin Top Crowded 36-Hole Leaderboard At Riviera

Appropriately in a city known for its freeway traffic, the leaderboard through 36 holes of the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally is jammed.

Rush hour on the 405 Freeway has nothing on the crowded board at The Riviera Country Club.

Eight players are withing one stroke of the lead held by new mother Alison Lee and major champion Ruoning Yin – both are at 4-under 138 – at the midway point of the championship, the most since 1995 at The Broadmoor when 12 players were in that position.

In fact, 16 golfers are within three strokes, including World No. 1 Nelly Korda, and another five, sit at even par, just four back, among them world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul.

Lee, whose son Levi was born 13 months ago and is playing this week on the USGA’s deferred maternity leave exemption, followed up an opening-round 70 with a 3-under 68 on Friday. Yin, the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA winner, posted a second consecutive 69.

But lurking just a shot back are six others, including four with major championships on their résumés. In Gee Chun, who counts the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open as one of those three titles, fired a 68 on Friday, while first-round leader Jennifer Kupcho, the 2022 Chevron Championship titlist, followed her championship-low 66 with a 73. Sei Young Kim, the 2020 KPMG PGA champion, bogeyed her last hole for a 1-over 72, and 2019 AIG Women’s Open winner Hinako Shibuno carded an even-par 71.

Then there’s Korda. After struggling out of the gate with a 2-over 73, the Floridian posted Friday’s lowest round, a 4-under 67, to get within two strokes of the lead. Playing in front of what was the day’s largest gallery, Korda, with three victories already to her name in 2026, including a major (Chevron Championship), put herself in solid position for a weekend run to the title, one she almost claimed a year ago at Erin Hills when she shared second with Rio Takeda, two strokes back of Maja Stark.

Lauren Coughlin (68), Sora Kamiya (68) and Casandra Alexander (70) also sit at 2-under 140.

The cut came at 4-over 145, with 63 professionals and five amateurs earning weekend tee times.

Lee, however, could be one of the more poignant stories in recent championship history. She has a chance to join Susie Maxwell Berning (1972-73) and Juli Inkster (1999, 2002) as the only moms to hoist the Harton S. Semple Trophy. She and boyfriend Trey Kidd brought son, Levi, into the world last April 25, which prevented her from playing a year ago at Erin Hills.

Add to the fact that she grew up in Valencia, about 45 minutes north of Riviera, and was an All-American and ANNIKA Award winner at nearby UCLA just adds to the narrative. She’s been competing at USGA championships since she was in middle school. At 14, she made the cut in the 2009 U.S. Women’s Open at Saucon Valley Country Club, reached the finals of the 2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior at Lake Merced Golf Club, in Daly City, Calif., in her sixth and final appearance, and was a semifinalist a year later in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Country Club of Charleston, losing to eventual winner Emma Talley. The following year, she was on the victorious USA Curtis Cup Team with Talley and fellow Bruin Erynne Lee (now Woo).

But as a professional, she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. To do it in front of friends and family in her backyard would be remarkable for the 31-year-old. Her lone blemish on Friday was a bogey-5 at the ninth as she birdied Nos. 1, 7, 8 and 12, the latter having ranked as the second toughest in Round 2.

“For me, I would say it's so exciting,” said Lee, one of 17 players in the field this week with ties to Southern California. “I would say my first couple years on Tour, probably a lot of pressure. I mean, my rookie year was 2015. Now just to be able to play in front of friends and family is just really special.

“I got a little bit of a taste at JM Eagle [in April at nearby El Caballero C.C.], which was nice. It's nice to have fans out there, have friendly faces out there that you can see. I think it took over 5½ hours today, so even in between shots just seeing a friendly face in the crowd just kind of calms me a little bit. Maybe chitchat here and there when I'm waiting to hit my approach [shots]. It's just nice to have that support.”

Speaking of support, Korda had plenty the first two days, and she’ll likely draw bigger crowds on the weekend. While she has played well at other majors, the U.S. Women’s Open has been a different story. The three-time major winner made a 10 two years ago on her third hole of the first round at Lancaster (Pa.) C.C. and missed the cut. A year ago, Stark edged her by two.

Korda made five birdies against one bogey (No. 12) on Friday, a far cry from Thursday when she had shoe issues five holes into the round.

“It's always so much fun to play in front of a great crowd,” said Korda, who totaled just 25 putts in Round 2 and led the field in overall strokes gained (7.09). “Obviously just noticing how much our crowds have changed over the past couple years. It's a great improvement. Definitely puts a smile on my face. I think we all just want to play really well for them too.” 

Chun, 31, got a late start to her season – her first event was in March – because the four-time LPGA Tour winner spent most of the winter in Vietnam with her coach, former touring pro Song Hee Kim, working on same changes. Her results, however, have been mixed with three missed cuts to go along with one top 10 (solo fifth at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass in Arizona). She also hasn’t had a top 10 in the U.S. Women’s Open since taking the title in her first start 11 years ago.

Only Meg Mallon would have a longer gap between U.S. Women’s Open titles (13 years) if Chun can manage a second victory this week.

“I never expected to come to the USA [to play on the] LPGA [Tour], but after I won in 2015, my life was changed,” said Chun, whose other major titles came in 2016 (Evian Championship) and 2022 (KPMG Women’s PGA). “Now I'm here, and I have new friends out here.

“Sometimes it's hard to be here [in the U.S.] and be alone because my family and friends are still in Korea. But … after I work with my new swing and then I got the confidence, that's good motivation to keep playing out here. I never feel like I'm too old.

“I think I'm in a good mood, and I trust my team and they help me, and my fans still cheering me. Everything just makes me more willing to keep playing out here.” 

Notable

• Saturday’s third round will begin at 8:55 a.m. PDT with competitors going off in twosomes.
  
  
• The 310-yard 10th hole, considered one of the game’s best short par 4s, was ranked as the sixth toughest in Round 2 (4.29), yielding 14 doubles and three others. The 429-yard 15th was the toughest statistically at 4.42. It gave up 58 bogeys and six doubles.
  
  
• Alison Lee wasn’t the only mom to make the cut. Xiyu Janet Lin, also playing on the USGA’s deferred maternity exemption, finished at even-par 142 after a second-round 69.
  
  
• Five of the 23 amateurs in the field made the cut. That group includes world No. 1/2026 Curtis Cupper Kiara Romero, 2025 U.S. Girls’ Junior champion Aphrodite Deng, U.S. National Junior Team member and two-time Curtis Cupper Asterisk Talley, 2025 NCAA Division I champion/2026 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Maria Jose Marin, and 2026 NCAA champion/2026 USA Curtis Cupper Farah O’Keefe, who turns 21 on Saturday.
  
  
• It will be a fun weekend for the Romero sisters as both Kiara and newly minted professional Kaleiya both made the cut at 143 and 145, respectively. Kaleiya, who played collegiately at nearby Pepperdine University, in Malibu, is now 8-for-8 in made cuts in 2026 (seven have come on the Epson Tour). She spent this past season as a graduate assistant at the University of Oregon, where Kiara is a rising senior. Kaleiya has brother Kyreece on the bag, while Kiara has Oregon coach Derek Radley.
  
  
• It was mixed results for the other sister duo in the field. Aki Iwai made the cut, while twin Chizzy did not.
  
  
• Five past U.S. Women’s Open champions failed to qualify for the weekend: Michelle Wie West (2014), Brittany Lang (2016), Sung Hyun Park (2017), Yuka Saso (2021, 2024) and Jeongeun Lee6 (2019).
  
  
• Other notables who did not make the cut included former world No. 1s Lydia Ko, Jin Young Ko and Yani Tseng, world No. 3 and major champion Hyo Joo Kim, two-time major champion/UCLA grad Lilia Vu, 2026 U.S. National Junior Team member Zoe Cusack, 15-year-old Jie-En Lin (youngest competitor) and reigning U.S. Senior Women’s Open champion Becky Morgan (oldest competitor).
    
• At the age of 33, American Lauren Coughlin made her first cut in three U.S. Women’s Open starts. The last Americans to make the cut at this championship for the first time at that age or older were Sue Ginter-Brooker (36) and Michele Vinieratos (33) in 2002.
  
  
• Ariya Jutanugarn, the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open champion along with the 2011 U.S. Girls’ Junior, 2022 low amateur Ingrid Lindblad and Shuri Sakuma recorded eagles in Round 2, the former two on No. 1 and the latter on the 310-yard 10th. Jutanugarn holed a 25-foot putt and Lindblad chipped in from just off the green (32 feet). Sakuma holed out from 76 yards with a wedge for the first 2 on 10 this week. Past champion Allisen Corpuz (2023) holed out from 86 yards for eagle on the par-5 17th hole in Thursday’s opening round.
  
  
• Minjee Lee saw her bogey-free streak end at 22 holes after making a 5 on the par-4 fifth hole on Friday. Lee is a two-time USGA champion (2012 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 2022 U.S. Women’s Open). It was the longest streak to start a U.S. Women’s Open since Morya Jutanugarn went 22 holes at Champions Golf Club, in Houston.
  
  
• James Fahselt, a Riviera caddie who normally carries for actor/writer/producer Larry David (Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm), jumped in to work for 2025 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Megha Ganne on Friday after her regular caddie, Logan Goettsch, became ill. This is Ganne’s first event as a professional. Stanford’s graduation ceremony is scheduled for Saturday. Goettsch was on Ganne’s bag last August at Bandon Dunes when she hoisted the Robert Cox Trophy. She missed the cut at Riviera by one stroke.

Quotable

I talked to [Juli Inkster] and Stacy [Lewis] quite a bit on what it was like to balance everything. I saw Juli, I think, in January, February; we played in an outing together. I talked with Pat Hurst as well, like how did you do it? I feel like I'm drowning every single day just trying to figure out timing, like when can I practice? When can I work out? I'm also tired…[Like] I need to hurry back home and see Levi and take care of him, make sure everything's all right. Juli is like, you got it. You're good at this. You can do it. It's just cool to see how nonchalant she is about it because that just shows you how good she is. Hopefully I can follow in their footsteps.” – Alison Lee on juggling motherhood with trying to play high-level professional golf

“I just tried to have a really easy-going attitude today. I was definitely going to leave it all out there and grind as much as I could, but I was not going to emphasize my mistakes too much and just kind of play relaxed golf. That's kind of when I play my best golf.” – Nelly Korda

“I had a lot of stress today (laughing). It's the U.S. [Women’s] Open, it's meant to be tough. You can't really have a stress-free moment on the course until it's all done…The stress and the pressure, it's also a privilege.” – Ruoning Yin

“I think yesterday was more windy out there. Then I wake up really early this morning, so it was really hard to make all the stretching before I start the game. But I think it was pretty quiet out there, so it was good to make a good focus out there. Then also, I got a lot of cheers from my fans here in L.A., so that helps me a lot to play well today.” – In Gee Chun

“I feel like a long day today. Like I couldn't control the tee shot a little bit. Then yesterday I miss a lot of short putts. Maybe I had a good chance on hole 14 to make the birdie, but I couldn't make it. And then a couple [more] missed putts. I accept that … because this course you really need patience.” – Sei Young Kim

“Honestly, Jay [Monahan] and I don't talk about golf. I think that's one thing that's been really good about our relationship. Yeah, we both enjoy golf and we do it on our off weeks and this and that, but in tournaments he knows I don't want to talk about it, but if I do want to talk about it, I'll talk to him, but he's not going to bring it up to me.” – Jennifer Kupcho on her relationship with husband Jay Monahan, who caddies for 2023 champion Allisen Corpuz

“It's been really fun in my post-retirement career to be the host of Mizuho Americas Open. We have 24 of the top junior girls playing that. I feel very old this week, but at the same time, there's a lot of familiar faces [particular] the junior, and it's great to see Aphrodite [Deng] play really well. She won our event twice in a row, defended her championship this year, and she's been playing really good golf. Really excited for Curtis Cup next week at Bel-Air. Really excited to be there for the girls and root the USA on.” – Michelle Wie West

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