2020 U.S. Women's Open Explained

2020 U.S. Women's Open
Dates:December 10–14, 2020
Location:Houston, Texas
Course:Champions Golf Club
Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit Courses
Org:USGA
Tour:LPGA Tour
Par:71
Yardage: (Cypress Creek) (Jackrabbit)
Field:156 players, 66 after cut
Cut:145 (+3)
Purse:$5.5 million
Winners Share:$1,000,000
Champion: Kim A-lim
Score:281 (−3)
Previous:2019
Next:2021
Map:USA#USA Texas
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:Champions Golf Club
Coordinates:29.983°N -95.531°W

The 2020 U.S. Women's Open was the 75th U.S. Women's Open, played December 10–14 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, having been postponed from its original date of June 4–7, 2020, on April 3, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was played on both the Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit courses.[1]

The U.S. Women's Open is the oldest of the five major championships and is the fourth of the 2020 season. It has the largest purse in women's golf at $5.5 million.

Kim A-lim won the tournament by birdieing the last three holes.[2]

Qualifying and field

The championship is open to any female professional or amateur golfer with a USGA or World Handicap System index not exceeding 2.4. Players may usually qualify by competing in one of 24 36-hole qualifying tournaments held across the United States and at international sites in China, England, Japan, and South Korea. Many players are exempt from qualifying because of past performances in professional or amateur tournaments around the world.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the usual qualifying tournaments were canceled and the championship became "all-exempt" with amended criteria.[3] [4]

Exemption categories

Many players are exempt in multiple categories. Players are listed only once, in the first category in which they became exempt, with additional categories in parentheses next to their names.[5] Golfers qualifying in Category 16 who qualified in other categories are denoted by the tour they qualified.

1. Winners of the U.S. Women's Open for the last ten years (2010–2019)Lee Jeong-eun (2,9,15), Ariya Jutanugarn (8,9,15), Park Sung-hyun (6,9,10,15), Brittany Lang, Chun In-gee (7,15), Michelle Wie, Inbee Park (8,9,10,15), Choi Na-yeon, Ryu So-yeon (2,5,15), Paula Creamer
2. Ten lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place from the 2019 U.S. Women's OpenAngel Yin (15), Lexi Thompson (9,10,15), Gerina Piller, Mamiko Higa (15), Jaye Marie Green, Céline Boutier (9,15), Yu Liu (9,15), Ally McDonald (15), Jessica Korda (9,15)
3. Winner of the 2019 U.S. Women's AmateurGabriela Ruffels
4. Winner of the 2019 U.S. Girls' Junior and U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, and finalist from the 2019 U.S. Women's AmateurLei Ye, Ina Kim-Schaad, Albane Valenzuela
5. Winners of the ANA Inspiration for the last five years (2016–2020)Ko Jin-young (7,9,10,15), Pernilla Lindberg, Lydia Ko (7,15)
6. Winners of the Women's PGA Championship for the last five years (2015–2019)Hannah Green (9,10,15), Danielle Kang (9,10,15), Brooke Henderson (9,10,15)
  • 7. Winners of the Evian Championship for the last five years (2015–2019)Angela Stanford, Anna Nordqvist
    • 8. Winners of the Women's British Open for the last five years (2015–2019)Hinako Shibuno (10,16), Georgia Hall (15), In-Kyung Kim (15)
    9. Top 30 points leaders from the 2019 LPGA Race to the CME Globe final points standingsMinjee Lee (15), Nelly Korda (10,15), Kim Sei-young (10,15), Kim Hyo-joo (15), M. J. Hur (10,15), Amy Yang (15), Nasa Hataoka (15), Carlota Ciganda (15), Brittany Altomare (15), Shanshan Feng (10,15), Ji Eun-hee (15), Azahara Muñoz (15), Moriya Jutanugarn (15), Bronte Law (15), Lizette Salas (15), Caroline Masson (15), Su-Hyun Oh (15), Gaby López (10,15)
    10. Winners of LPGA co-sponsored events, whose victories are considered official, from the conclusion of the 2019 U.S. Women's Open to June 1, the originally scheduled start of the 2020 U.S. Women's OpenCheyenne Knight, Jang Ha-na (16), Ai Suzuki (15,16), Madelene Sagström (15), Park Hee-young
    11. Winner of the 2019 British Ladies AmateurEmily Toy
    12. Winner of the 2019 Mark H. McCormack Medal (Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking)Andrea Lee
    13. Top 10 money leaders from the 2020 official LPGA money list, not otherwise exempt, through the close of entries on November 11, 2020Cydney Clanton, Perrine Delacour, Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Mina Harigae, Andrea Lee, Stacy Lewis, Lin Xiyu, Thidapa Suwannapura, Kelly Tan, Lindsey Weaver
    14. Top 5 money leaders from the 2020 official Symetra Tour money list through the close of entries on November 11, 2020Ana Belac, Fátima Fernández Cano, Janie Jackson, Kim Kaufman, Frida Kinhult
    15. Top 75 points leaders and ties from the Rolex Rankings on March 16, 2020Lim Hee-jeong (16), Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin (16), Choi Hye-jin (16), Marina Alex, Lee Da-yeon (16), Cho A-yean (16), Bae Seon-woo (16), Megan Khang, Kristen Gillman, Lee Min-young (16), Lee Mi-hyang, Jennifer Kupcho, Amy Olson, Park Min-ji, Lee So-mi, Morgan Pressel, Ahn Sun-ju, Mone Inami, Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Yui Kawamoto, Momoko Ueda, Cho Jeong-min, Lee So-young, Annie Park, Minami Katsu, Nicole Broch Larsen, Austin Ernst, Kim A-lim, Kim Ji-yeong, Park Chae-yoon, Chella Choi, Jing Yan
    16. Top 5 money leaders from the 2019 Japan LPGA Tour, Korea LPGA Tour and Ladies European TourEsther Henseleit (LET), Marianne Skarpnord (LET), Christine Wolf (LET), Nuria Iturrioz (LET), Meghan MacLaren (LET)
    17. Top 3 money leaders from the 2019 China LPGA Tour
    18. The top 2 players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the 2020 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Cambia Portland Classic, ShopRite LPGA Classic, and the top 3 players, not otherwise exempt, in the top 10 and ties of the KPMG Women's PGA ChampionshipAshleigh Buhai, Katherine Kirk, Yealimi Noh, Bianca Pagdanganan, Mel Reid, Jenny Shin, Jennifer Song, Lauren Stephenson
    19. Top 20 points leaders, not otherwise exempt, within the top 100 from the Women's World Amateur Golf Ranking on November 4, 2020Rose Zhang, Ingrid Lindblad, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Linn Grant, Emilia Migliaccio, Alessia Nobilio, An Ho-yu, Benedetta Moresco, Agathe Laisné, Maja Stark, Lucie Malchirand, Beatrice Wallin, Olivia Mehaffey, Lily May Humphreys, Kaitlyn Papp, Emma Spitz, Caterina Don, Amelia Garvey, Auston Kim, Allisen Corpuz
    20. Remaining spots filled in order using the Rolex Rankings as of November 9, 2020An Na-rin, Lala Anai, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Saki Asai, Maria Fassi, Ayaka Furue, Erika Hara, Caroline Hedwall, Jeon Mi-jeong, Asuka Kashiwabara, Cristie Kerr, Christina Kim, Sakura Koiwai, Lee Jeong-eun, Lee Seung-yeon, Teresa Lu, Kana Mikashima, Yuna Nishimura, Eri Okayama, Ryann O'Toole, Emily Kristine Pedersen, Pornanong Phatlum, Sophia Popov, Ryu Hae-ran, Yuka Saso, Sarah Schmelzel, Alena Sharp, Linnea Ström, Sung Yu-jin, Sayaka Takahashi, Patty Tavatanakit, Maria Fernanda Torres, Anne van Dam
    21. Special exemptions selected by the USGABrittany Lincicome, Sarah Jane Smith
    Notes

    Round summaries

    First round

    Thursday, December 10, 2020

    PlacePlayerCourseScoreTo par
    1 CC 67 −4
    T2 JR 68 −3
    JR
    CC
    T5 Linn Grant (a) CC 69 −2
    JR
    JR
    CC
    CC
    JR
    JR

    JR denotes player played her round on the Jackrabbit course.
    CC denotes player played her round on the Cypress Creek course.

    Second round

    Friday, December 11, 2020

    PlacePlayerCourseScoreTo par
    1 JR 68-67=135 −7
    2 Linn Grant (a) JR 69-69=138 −4
    T3 Kaitlyn Papp (a) CC 71-68=139−3
    CC 70-69=139
    JR 67-72=139
    T6 JR 71-69=140 −2
    CC 70-70=140
    CC 68-72=140
    CC 71-69=140
    JR 72-68=140
    JR 69-71=140
    JR 71-69=140
    CC 70-70=140

    JR denotes player played her round on the Jackrabbit course.
    CC denotes player played her round on the Cypress Creek course.

    Third round

    Saturday, December 12, 2020

    Note: The third and fourth rounds were played on the Cypress Creek course.

    PlacePlayerScoreTo par
    1 68-67-74=209 −4
    2 67-72-71=210 −3
    T3 68-72-72=212 −1
    68-72-72=212
    T5 70-69-74=213 E
    71-71-72=213
    72-69-72=213
    Kaitlyn Papp (a) 71-68-74=213
    T9 70-70-74=214 +1
    71-69-74=214
    72-69-73=214
    68-74-72=214
    72-72-70=214
    73-70-71=214

    Final round

    Sunday, December 13 and Monday, December 14, 2020

    PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
    1 Kim A-lim 68-74-72-67=281 −3 1,000,000
    T2 72-72-70-68=282 −2 487,286
    67-72-71-72=282
    4 68-67-74-74=283 −1 266,779
    5 70-69-74-72=285 +1 222,201
    T6 68-72-72-74=286 +2 177,909
    73-69-73-71=286
    71-72-75-68=286
    T9 70-70-74-73=287 +3 143,976
    Kaitlyn Papp (a) 71-68-74-74=287 0

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Pine . Julia . 2020 U.S. Women's Open Postponed to December . United States Golf Association . April 3, 2020 . 2020-04-03 . USGAWO.
    2. News: A Lim Kim mounts major comeback, wins U.S. Women's Open in debut . ESPN . Associated Press . December 14, 2020.
    3. Web site: USGA reveals U.S. Women's Open exemption categories; 100 currently in . Golf Channel . Randall . Mell . July 1, 2020 . July 1, 2020.
    4. Web site: 2020 U.S. Women's Open at Champions Golf Club: Who's Exempt . USGA . July 1, 2020 . July 1, 2020.
    5. Web site: 2020 U.S. Women's Open Field List . USGA . November 29, 2020 . December 14, 2020.

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