By David Shefter, USGA
A U.S. Women’s Open unlike any other commenced on a sun-splashed Thursday at Champions Golf Club. From a two-course setup – a first in the history of any USGA Open championship – to zero fans and the unusual December date, this 75th iteration of the oldest major in women’s golf has taken on a decidedly different motif.
Aside from these obvious differences, which includes championship personnel wearing masks due to COVID-19, many things about the championship are similar. Everyone in this 156-player field wants to hoist the beautiful silver trophy and receive the inaugural Mickey Wright Medal late Sunday afternoon, along with that hefty $1 million first-place check.
Because of the pandemic, qualifying was canceled, so an all-exempt field was assembled to have the look and feel of a typical U.S. Women’s Open.
The first-round leader board exemplified that diversity. Amy Olson, seeking her first win since turning professional in 2013, topped the field on Day 1 with a 4-under 67 on the 6,617-yard Cypress Creek Course.
One stroke back are three golfers, two of whom are making their U.S. Women’s Open debuts. Rookies Hinako Shibuno, of Japan, the 2019 Women’s British Open champion, and A Lim Kim, of the Republic of Korea, were joined by Moriya Jutanugarn, the older sister of 2018 champion Ariya Jutanugarn. Shibuno played Cypress Creek, while the latter two were on the 6,533-yard, par-71 Jackrabbit Course. Jutanugarn had the only bogey-free round.
Seven golfers are two strokes back, including Sophia Popov, of Germany, who produced the story of the year in golf when she won the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon in August as the No. 304-ranked player in the world. Also in that group is Arizona State sophomore Linn Grant, of Sweden, who was just four strokes off the lead through 36 holes two years ago at Shoal Creek before struggling on the weekend. Grant and Popov both played Cypress Creek. The remaining players at 2 under are Gerina Piller, Charley Hull, Linnea Strom, Patty Tavatanakit and Yuka Saso, a U.S. Women’s Open rookie who was a semifinalist in the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 2019 U.S. Girls’ Junior. All but Saso played Jackrabbit on Thursday.
The two layouts being used this week couldn’t be more different, despite their proximity. Cypress features wide fairways and large green complexes. Jackrabbit is tighter with smaller greens.
Olson hopes to continue the same mojo from Thursday’s opening round Friday on Jackrabbit. That momentum started with a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 139-yard, 16th hole, her seventh of the round, which moved her to 1 under. From there she added birdies on Nos. 17, 1 and 8.
“Obviously the hole-in-one was the highlight of the round,” said Olson, who now has two in competition. “I hit the ball really well off the tee. I ended up giving myself some good chances for birdie, but I really made some putts that I definitely wasn’t necessarily thinking birdie on, and that helped.”
The Fargo, N.D., native, had a highly decorated junior and amateur career that included winning the 2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior, amassing a record 20 collegiate titles at North Dakota State and representing the USA in the 2012 Curtis Cup Match. Since joining the play-for-pay ranks, she surprisingly hasn’t cracked the winner’s circle. There have been plenty of chances, however.
She was in the final group on Sunday at the ANA Inspiration in 2018 before finishing tied for ninth. Later that summer, she was in position to win The Evian Championship, but a double bogey on the 72nd hole allowed Angela Stanford to sneak past her and win her first major. Earlier this year, she was the runner-up in the ISPS Handa Australian Open. As an amateur in the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open, Olson briefly held the first-round lead with a 69 only to fade on the weekend and finish 63rd.
“Coming out here I expected to win really early,” said Olson. “It always kind of came easy to me in college. I won the U.S. [Girls’] Junior just my second time playing the event. It’s not easy to win out here. The biggest thing I’ve learned is just perspective and what do I consider success, and at the end of my life it’s not going to be a number of tournaments that I’ve won, it’s how I live my life, so trying to maintain that perspective, I think, is really important for me.”
For a good portion of Round 1, Megan Khang, a 23-year-old Massachusetts native seeking her first professional win, topped the leader board. She birdied four of her first five holes on Jackrabbit and was 5 under after 10 before giving most of it back, closing with a double bogey on 18 for a 1-under 70.
Saso, who turned down a scholarship to the University of Georgia after qualifying for the LPGA Tour of Japan last fall, also briefly stood atop the leader board after playing a bogey-free outward nine on Cypress with four birdies. She bogeyed 11 and 18 coming home.
“It’s really different,” said Saso of playing a major in the U.S. “The golf courses are tough. It’s long. Greens are firm. I have to use driver off the tee, but JLPGA sometimes I have to use shorter clubs. So yeah, I think that’s the big difference.”
Notable
· Due to pending weather, tee times for Friday’s Round 2 have been moved up with the first group now going off at 8 a.m. CST. The round was originally scheduled to start at 9:20 local time.
· Four Texans were bestowed the honor of hitting the opening shots in the two-course, four-tee start on Thursday. Angela Stanford (Saginaw), who won her seventh LPGA Tour event last week not far from her Dallas-area residence, hit the first shot off No. 1 on the Cypress Creek Course. Cheyenne Knight (Aledo), who spent part of her childhood in the Houston area, was first off on No. 10 of Cypress Creek. First off No. 1 on Jackrabbit was two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kristen Gillman (Austin), while 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball champion and current University of Texas All-American Kaitlyn Papp (Austin) was first off on Jackrabbit No. 10.
· For her opening drive, Stanford wore a visor signed by 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion Meg Mallon the only other time the U.S. Women’s Open was contested in Texas. Stanford was a young spectator that week at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth. She is competing in her 21st U.S. Women’s Open.
· Defending champion Jeongeun Lee6 carded a 73 on Cypress Creek on Thursday.
· Former world No. 1 Lydia Ko, the 2012 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, and 2019 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur champion Ina Kim-Schaad each holed out for an eagle-2 on the 407-yard, 14th hole of the Jackrabbit Course. Ko finished with an even-par 71, while Kim-Schaad carded a 73. Her score was the best by a reigning Women’s Mid-Amateur champion since the USGA announced the exemption in the fall of 2017.
· Jing Yan, a 24-year-old professional from the People’s Republic of China, was assessed a two-stroke penalty for showing up late to the first tee of her scheduled 9:42 a.m. CST tee time on Cypress Creek (Rule 5-3a). To Yan’s credit, she made a birdie on the hole, which became a bogey 5 with the penalty. She posted a 3-over 74. Had Yan showed up more than 5 minutes late, she would have been disqualified from the championship.
· Mi Jung Hur withdrew after her round on Thursday, citing a minor injury. She shot a 7-over 78 on Cypress Creek.
Quotable
“I think on these golf courses specifically, if you hit it high, you really have an advantage. She hits it great. And she’s been in contention before. She knows what it takes to be around the lead of a major and what it feels like. It’s not really surprising to see her there.” – major champion and Houston-area native Stacy Lewis on Amy Olson’s first-round performance
“Cypress [Creek] is definitely a little different than Jackrabbit. Cypress has way bigger greens so definitely more lag putting to do. I was telling my caddie, Kurt [Moskaly], looking through the yardage book today, I was looking at my notes, and I’m like, I don’t remember what line I picked. It’s definitely going to be good going back into Cypress that I get to play the same course for the next three days.” – Megan Khang (1-under 70 on Jackrabbit) on the nuances of playing two courses in a U.S. Women’s Open
“I felt like it was really good until the last hole, obviously. Literally the U.S. Open you can just lose your concentration for two seconds and then make a double within like two seconds. Super bummed to finish that way. I felt like I played smart all day, never took a risky chance, always hit it in the middle of the green when I needed to, and overall under par at the U.S. Open is really good, so can’t complain, but obviously that last hole is going to hurt.” – Brittany Lincicome after carding a 1-under 70 on Jackrabbit, despite a double-bogey 6 on No. 18
“If you would’ve told me on Monday that I would be playing today I would have said you were crazy. But I’ve been doing cryotherapy one to two times a day and getting therapy from the LPGA [Tour] therapists. I’ve been working my butt off. I’ve done everything I can do to play. This is my favorite tournament. It’s our national championship. I feel like we’re so lucky to play it with COVID that I just love it. I’m not going to miss this tournament.” – Cristie Kerr on playing in her 25th U.S. Women’s Open after a golf cart accident last Friday left her with multiple injuries. Kerr shot even-par 71 Thursday on Cypress Creek.
“[I] actually spent my whole night playing on this golf course, like dreaming about it. I don’t know. It was like a 36-hole day.” – Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, the No. 3-ranked amateur, after shooting a 1-under 70 on the Cypress Creek Course
“Oh, unreal. I just had so much fun out there. I thought after eight months [of no competitive rounds] … I would be a bit more rusty. [I’m] really happy with where the game was at.” – world No. 25 amateur Amelia Garvey after a 1-under 70
“Yeah, yeah, for sure. Definitely still that buzz in the atmosphere. You definitely miss the energy from the fans, but there is still that atmosphere of a major championship and the U.S. [Women’s] Open, which is pretty cool.” – Brooke Henderson (1-over 72 on Jackrabbit) on the uniqueness of playing two courses without spectators in a U.S. Women’s Open