2021 U.S. Women's Open Explained

2021 U.S. Women's Open
Dates:June 3–6, 2021
Location:San Francisco, California
Course:The Olympic Club
Lake Course
Org:USGA
Tour:LPGA Tour
Par:71
Field:156 players, 66 after cut
Cut:148 (+6)
Purse:$5.5 million
Winners Share:$1.0 million
Champion: Yuka Saso
Score:280 (−4)
Previous:2020
Next:2022
Map:USA#USA California
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:The Olympic Club
Coordinates:37.7099°N -122.5°W

The 2021 U.S. Women's Open was the 76th U.S. Women's Open, played June 3–6, 2021 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.[1] [2]

The U.S. Women's Open is the oldest of the five current major championships and was the second of the 2021 season. It has the largest purse in women's golf at $5.5 million.[3]

The winner was the Philippines' Yuka Saso, who defeated Japan's Nasa Hataoka on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff after both players had tied at 280 (4 under par).[4] In third place was American Lexi Thompson, who had held a five stroke lead just before the midway point of the final round but dropped five strokes on the back-nine, including bogeys on each of the last two holes, to miss the playoff by one stroke.[5]

Venue

See main article: The Olympic Club. The 2021 U.S. Women's Open was played on The Olympic Club's Lake course, which had previously hosted the men's U.S. Open five times.[1] It was the first time the tournament had been in California since 2016, when it took place at CordeValle Golf Club.[6]

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards5283822093964324202631543803,1933924113981714101375634853263,2936,486
Par543444434354443435543671

Yardage by round

RoundHole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Par543444434354443435543671
1stYards5353811963954313882601483863,1203933873721763981365574983253,2426,362
2ndYards5283891884034223792691623813,1213944173841344061445654843343,2626,383
3rdYards5273861963884383852291563743,079400375402184415995664903283,2596,338
FinalYards5343751914024264192711473843,1493844153761444121325584413143,1766,325

Field

The field for the U.S. Women's Open is made up of players who gain entry through qualifying events and those who are exempt from qualifying. The exemption criteria include provision for recent major champions, winners of major amateur events, and leading players in the Women's World Golf Rankings. 156 players will make up the field.

Exemptions

This list details the exemption criteria for the 2021 U.S. Women's Open and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players are exempt is indicated in parentheses.[7]

1. Recent winners of the U.S. Women's Open (2011–2020)

2. The leading ten players, and those tying for tenth place, in the 2020 U.S. Women's Open

3. The winner of the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur

4. The runner-up in the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur

5. Recent winners of the ANA Inspiration (2017–2021)

6. Recent winners of the Women's PGA Championship (2017–2020)

7. Recent winners of Evian Championship (2016–2019)

8. Recent winners of Women’s British Open (2016–2020)

9. The leading 30 players from the 2020 LPGA Race to the CME Globe final points standings

10. Winners of official LPGA Tour events from the originally scheduled date of the 2020 U.S. Women's Open to the start of the 2021 tournament

11. The winner of the 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur

12. The winner of the 2020 Womens Amateur Championship

13. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2020

14. The leading 10 players on the 2021 Race to CME Globe points standings as of April 14, 2021

15. The leading 75 players on the Women's World Golf Rankings as of April 14, 2021

16. The leading 75 players on the Women's World Golf Rankings not otherwise exempt as of May 17, 2021

17. The leading player from the 2020 China LPGA Tour order of merit not otherwise exempt as of April 14, 2021

18. The top four finishers in the 2020 South African Women's Open

19. The leading two players from the 2020 LPGA of Korea Tour order of merit not otherwise exempt as of April 14, 2021

20. Special exemptions

Qualifying

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 qualify by competing in tournaments of over 36 holes held between April 21 and May 13, 2021, at 22 designated sites. The following table details the players who qualified.[8]

Date Location Venue Field Spots Qualifiers
Apr26 Yokohama, Japan Yokohama Country Club 107 5 Chihiro Kogure (a), Miname Katsu, Hikari Kawamitsu, Momoka Miyake, Natsumi Nakanish
Apr26 Oga Golf Course 53 2 Luna Sobrón, Monica Vaughn (a)
Apr26 Oceanside Country Club 56 2 Kim Métraux, Megan Osland
Apr26 Half Moon Bay Golf Links 71 3 Lucy Li, Kathleen Scavo, Kelly Tan
Apr26 Morongo Golf Resort 76 5 Pajaree Anannarukarn, Alison Lee, Wichanee Meechai, Sarah Jane Smith, Linnea Ström
Apr27 Belhaven Country Club 63 3 Sarah Kemp, Emily Mahar (a), Aneka Seumanutafa (a)
Apr28 Old Hickory Golf Club 41 2 Maja Stark (a), Emma Talley
Apr29 Kishwaukee Country Club 47 2 Abbey Daniel (a), Céline Herbin
May3 Bradenton Country Club 69 3 Alyssa Lamoureux (a), Elizabeth Szokol, Karoline Tuttle (a)
May3 Somerset Country Club 33 2 Sarah Burnham, Isabella McCauley (a)
May3 Golf Club of Houston 70 3 Gurleen Kaur (a), Park Boh-yun (a), Tseng Tsai-Ching
May3 Marin Country Club 50 2 Rachel Heck (a), Jaclyn LaHa (a)
May3 Brentwood Country Club 77 4 Amari Avery (a), Jenny Coleman, Amelia Garvey (a), Haley Moore
May3 Druid Hills Golf Club 54 3 Hung Jo-Hua (a), Alexandra Swayne (a), Ana Peláez Triviño (a)
May4 Shannopin Country Club 49 2 Jensen Castle (a), Allie White
May4 Mid Pines Inn & Golf Club 72 3 Haylee Harford, Gina Kim (a), Lauren Stephenson
May5 Dedham Country & Polo Club 38 2 Christina Kim, Noemie Paré (a)
May10 The Ranch Country Club 39 2 Matilda Castren, Louise Stahle
May10 Oahu Country Club 40 2 Tiffany Chan, Claire Choi (a)
May10 Spring Lake Country Club 48 2 Megha Ganne (a), Cheyenne Woods
May10 Oakmont Country Club 67 3 Ingrid Gutiérrez Núñez, Kim Kaufman, Rebecca Lee-Bentham
May11 Banyan Cay Resort & Country Club 61 3 Chloe Kovelesky (a), Azahara Muñoz, María Parra
May13 Superstition Mountain Golf Club 63 6 Mina Harigae, Amanda Linnér (a), Stephanie Meadow, Giulia Molinaro, Pornanong Phatlum, Sarah Schmelzel

Alternates who gained entry

The following players gained a place in the field having finished as the leading alternates in the specified final qualifying events:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Place Player Score To par
align=center rowspan=2T1 Megha Ganne (a) align=center rowspan=267 align=center rowspan=2−4
Mel Reid
align=center rowspan=3T3 align=center rowspan=368 align=center rowspan=3−3
Megan Khang
Angel Yin
align=center rowspan=3T6 align=center rowspan=369 align=center rowspan=3−2
Yuka Saso
Lexi Thompson
align=center rowspan=7T9 align=center rowspan=770 align=center rowspan=7−1
Austin Ernst
Ko Jin-young
Jennifer Kupcho
Lee Jeong-eun
Wichanee Meechai
Lauren Stephenson
Source:[9]

Second round

Friday, June 4, 2021

Place Player Score To par
1 69-67=136 −6
2 70-67=137 −5
align=center rowspan=2T3 68-70=138 align=center rowspan=2−4
Megha Ganne (a) 67-71=138
5 69-70=139 −3
align=center rowspan=3T6 71-69=140 align=center rowspan=3−2
69-71=140
67-73=140
align=center rowspan=3T9 72-69=141 align=center rowspan=3−1
71-70=141
Maja Stark (a) 71-70=141
Source:[10]

Third round

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Place Player Score To par
1 69-71-66=206 −7
2 69-67-71=207 −6
align=center rowspan=2T3 Megha Ganne (a) 67-71-72=210 align=center rowspan=2−3
70-67-73=210
5 69-70-72=211 −2
align=center rowspan=2T6 72-69-71=212 align=center rowspan=2−1
68-70-74=212
8 71-69-73=213 E
align=center rowspan=3T9 68-79-67=214 align=center rowspan=3+1
72-70-72=214
Maja Stark (a) 71-70-73=214
Source:[11]

Final round

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1 69-67-71-73=280 −4 Playoff
72-69-71-68=280
3 69-71-66-75=281 −3 381,974
T4 69-70-72-71=282 −2 245,394
68-70-74-70=282
6 68-79-67-70=284 E 197,751
T7 68-78-69-70=285 +1 147,265
71-70-74-70=285
70-74-72-69=285
72-74-72-67=285
71-69-73-72=285
Source:[12]

Scorecard

Hole1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 5 4
Saso −6 −4 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −4 −4
Hataoka −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 E −1 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 −2 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4
Thompson −8 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −6 −6 −6 −5 −5 -5 −4 −3
Feng −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2
Khang −1 E −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2 −3 −2
Yin E E E E E E −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −1 −1 −1 E E E
Henderson +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 E +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +1 +1
Jutanugarn +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +2 +1 +1 +1
Ko +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
Lin +4 +5 +5 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 +1
Park E +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +3 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble Bogey

Playoff

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Yuka Saso 4-4-3=11 −1 1,000,000
2 4-4-4=12 E 536,500

Scorecard

Hole 9 18 9
Par 4 4 4
Saso E E −1
Hataoka E E E
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Source:[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021 U.S. Women's Open: Fast Facts . United States Golf Association . May 31, 2021 . 2021-05-31 . USGAFF.
  2. Web site: Sirak . Ron . 2021-05-31 . U.S. Women's Open Showcases Talent on LPGA Tour . live . 2021-06-01 . LPGA. https://web.archive.org/web/20210531140556/https://www.lpga.com/news/2021/us-womens-open-showcases-talent-on-lpga-tour . May 31, 2021 .
  3. Web site: 2021-05-30 . 2021 US Women's Open field: Players, rankings . live . 2021-06-01 . Golf News Net. https://web.archive.org/web/20210531194028/https://thegolfnewsnet.com/golfnewsnetteam/2021/05/30/2021-us-womens-open-field-players-rankings-122967/ . May 31, 2021 .
  4. Web site: US Women's Open: Yuka Saso creates history with play-off victory . BBC Sport . June 7, 2021 . June 7, 2021.
  5. Web site: Dethier . Dylan . Lexi Thompson loses 5-shot lead in heartbreaking fashion at U.S. Women's Open . Golf.com . June 7, 2021 . June 6, 2021.
  6. Kelly . Todd . 2021-05-31 . How to watch the U.S. Women's Open at Olympic Club . 2021-06-01 . Golfweek.
  7. Web site: Currently Exempt Players for 76th U.S. Women's Open . USGA . June 4, 2021 . May 16, 2021.
  8. Web site: 2021 U.S. Women's Open Qualifying Results . USGA . June 4, 2021.
  9. Web site: U.S. Women's Open Leaderboard – Round 1 . . June 3, 2021 . June 3, 2021.
  10. Web site: U.S. Women's Open Leaderboard – Round 2 . LPGA . June 4, 2021 . June 5, 2021.
  11. Web site: U.S. Women's Open Leaderboard – Round 3 . LPGA . June 5, 2021 . June 5, 2021.
  12. Web site: U.S. Women's Open Leaderboard – Final. LPGA. June 6, 2021. June 6, 2021.
  13. Web site: Yuka Saso wins US Womens Open on 3rd playoff Hole . . June 6, 2021 . June 7, 2021.