Photo credit: John Mummert/USGA
77th U.S. Women’s Open Championship Presented by ProMedica June 2-5, 2022, Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, Southern Pines, N.C.
PAR AND YARDAGE: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club will be set up at 6,638 yards and will play to a par of 35-36–71. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course setup and conditions.
ABOUT PINE NEEDLES LODGE & GOLF CLUB: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club has earned its place among the country’s best golf resorts. In 1954, women’s golf legend and World Golf Hall of Famer Peggy Kirk Bell and her husband, Warren “Bullet” Bell, bought and restored Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club. Today, Pine Needles ownership remains in the Bell family and honors Mrs. Bell’s generous spirit and passion for the game. Designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1928, Pine Needles was renovated in 2004 by John Fought, who oversaw the restoration of greens and bunkers to their original forms with the aid of vintage aerial photos. In 2017, Kyle Franz was involved with a green rebuilding and bunker restoration project that aimed to maximize hole locations. Pine Needles will become the first course to host four U.S. Women’s Open Championships. Its first U.S. Women’s Open was held in 1996, when Annika Sorenstam took home the trophy. Karrie Webb won the 2001 championship at Pine Needles, and Cristie Kerr claimed the 2007 title.
PINE NEEDLES NOTES: Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club is hosting its record fourth U.S. Women’s Open Championship The course has hosted six previous USGA championships, the second-highest total in North Carolina Pine Needles was the host site of the 2nd U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championship in 2019, won by Helen Alfredsson.
ENTRIES: The championship is open to any female professional, and any female amateur golfer with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 2.4, who filed an entry by 5 p.m. EDT on April 6, 2022. A record total of 1,874 entries were accepted by the USGA for the 77th U.S. Women’s Open Championship. The previous record was established in 2015 when 1,873 filed entries for the championship at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club. More than 1,500 U.S. Women’s Open entries were accepted for the eighth consecutive time. The USGA accepted entries for the 2022 championship from golfers in 46 U.S. states and 57 foreign countries. QUALIFYING Played over 36 holes, qualifying was held across 26 U.S. and international sites in April and May. International sites included the Republic of Korea, Japan and England.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY: Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled each day from June 2 (Thursday) through June 5 (Sunday). In the event of a tie after 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate playoff will take place following the completion of the fourth round. If the playoff results in a tie, play will immediately continue hole by hole until a champion is determined.
TELEVISION COVERAGE: A full programming schedule for the 77th U.S. Women’s Open can be found here.
Date/Day Time (EDT) Channel Coverage
June 2/Thursday 1-3 p.m. Peacock First Round; 3-8 p.m. USA First Round.
June 3/Friday 1-3 p.m. Peacock Second Round; 3-8 p.m. USA Second Round.
June 4/Saturday Noon-1 p.m. Peacock Third Round; 1-3 p.m. USA Third Round; 3-6 p.m. NBC Third Round
June 5/Sunday 1-3 p.m. USA Final Round; 3-7 p.m. NBC Final Round.
2021 CHAMPION: Yuka Saso, of the Philippines, converted a 12-foot birdie putt on the first sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Nasa Hataoka, of Japan, and win the 76th U.S. Women’s Open on The Olympic Club’s Lake Course, in San Francisco. Saso joined two-time champion Inbee Park as the youngest winner (age 19 years, 11 months, 17 days) in the event’s history and became the first Filipino to capture the Harton S. Semple Trophy. It took three extra holes to decide the outcome after Saso and Hataoka each made back-to-back pars in the two-hole aggregate playoff. Lexi Thompson, the 54-hole leader, was five strokes ahead of the field with 10 holes remaining in regulation but played that stretch in 5 over par. Her final-round 75 was one stroke shy of Saso and Hataoka, who completed 72 holes at 4-under 280. Saso posted consecutive birdies on 16 and 17 to move into a tie for the lead.
TITLE DEFENSE: Since 1991, two players have successfully defended their championship (Annika Sorenstam, 1995 and 1996; Karrie Webb, 2000 and 2001), both at Pine Needles. Only four other players have finished in the top 10 in the championship following their victory (2019 winner Jeongeun Lee6, sixth in 2020; 2002 winner Juli Inkster, eighth in 2003; 1992 winner Patty Sheehan, sixth in 1993; 1991 winner Meg Mallon, fourth in 1992).
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES: The champion will receive the Mickey Wright Medal, custody of the Harton S. Semple Trophy for the ensuing year and an exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women’s Open Championships. They will also receive a replica Harton S. Semple Trophy and an exemption from qualifying for the next five Chevron Championships (formerly ANA Inspiration), AIG Women’s Opens, KPMG Women’s PGA Championships and Amundi Evian Championships.
PURSE: The 2022 purse is $10 million, the highest purse in women’s golf and among the leaders in all of women’s sports. In January 2022, the USGA and ProMedica announced the elevated purse through their long-term partnership that includes presenting partner rights for the U.S. Women’s Open. The USGA has committed to raise the purse to $11 million and then $12 million by 2026.
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: This is the 77th U.S. Women’s Open Championship. The first U.S. Women’s Open, played at Spokane (Wash.) Country Club in 1946, was the only one conducted at match play. The Women’s Professional Golfers Association (WPGA) conducted the inaugural championship, won by Patty Berg. The WPGA conducted the Women’s Open until 1949, when the newly formed Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) took over operation of the championship. The LPGA ran the Women’s Open for four years but in 1953 asked the United States Golf Association to conduct the championship, which it has done ever since. The youngest winners of the U.S. Women’s Open are Inbee Park (2008) and Yuka Saso (2021). Each player captured the championship at the age of 19 years, 11 months, 17 days. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who won the 1954 Women’s Open at age 43 years, 6 months, is the oldest winner. In 1967, Catherine Lacoste, daughter of French tennis player Rene Lacoste and 1927 British Ladies Amateur champion Simone Thion de la Chaume, became the only amateur to win the U.S. Women’s Open. Seven other amateurs – most recently Hye-Jin Choi in 2017 – have finished as runner(s)-up. In 2020, the championship was moved from its original June dates to mid-December due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in U.S. Women’s Open history, the championship was played on two courses (Cypress Creek Course and Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club) to account for reduced daylight in December. The previous latest championship dates occurred when Babe Didrikson Zaharias was crowned the 1950 champion on Sept. 30.
FUTURE U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN SITES THIS DECADE:
July 6-9, 2023, Pebble Beach Golf Links.
May 30-June 2, 2024: Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club
May 29-June 1, 2025: Erin Hills, Erin, Wis.
TBD, 2026: The Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
TBD, 2027: Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio
TBD, 2028: Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club
TBD, 2029: Pinehurst Resort & Country Club, Village of Pinehurst, N.C.