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The 2022 U.S. Women’s Open returns to Pine Needles Resort & Golf Club, located in Southern Pines, N.C., for a record fourth time this week and features a star-studded field.
Two-time major winner and world No. 1 Jin Young Ko chases her first USWO title and arrives for her sixth start in the championship as the pre-tournament favorite, listed at +750 via PointsBet Sportsbook. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, ranked No. 3, is behind her at +1200, as she looks for her third major victory and first since the 2016 Chevron Championship. Australia’s Minjee Lee, ranked No. 4, is also at +1200.
Americans Lexi Thompson and Nelly Korda round out the betting favorites, with world No. 6 Thompson (+1300) looking to atone for a final-round collapse last year when she held a five-stroke lead but ultimately bogeyed her way out of contention, missing the playoff – won by Yuka Saso – by a shot.
This week marks return to competition for world No. 2 Korda, listed at +1800, who will play for the first time since early February after being diagnosed with a blood clot in her left arm and subsequent surgery.
The 156-player field features 78 fully exempt golfers – including 12 past U.S. Women’s Open champions – and 31 amateurs, with players representing 18 U.S. states and 28 countries. Other top headliners this week include:
- Defending champion and world No. 15 Saso (+3300), who’s made eight cuts in 10 starts this season with four finishes inside the top 12;
- World No. 16 Jennifer Kupcho (+5000), winner of the year’s first major, the Chevron Championship;
- Three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion Annika Sorenstam (+35000), who captured her second USWO title in 1996 at Pine Needles and earned her spot by winning the 2021 U.S. Senior Women’s Open;
- Top-ranked amateur Rose Zhang (+12500), who secured her spot in the field by winning the 2021 U.S. Girls’ Junior and 2021 McCormack Medal. Zhang also recently completed her freshman season at Stanford, where she won five tournaments including the NCAA individual title and helped the Cardinal capture the team title in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The rest of the field comprises qualifiers from 26 sites, which conducted 36-hole qualifying from April 19-May 16 at 23 locations in the U.S. and at three international sites (England, Japan and South Korea). The USGA accepted a record total of 1,874 entries for this year’s championship, breaking the previous record of 1,873, set in 2015 for the USWO at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania. This year marked the eighth consecutive time that more than 1,500 entries were accepted for the tournament, with entries for 2022 accepted from golfers in 46 U.S. states and 57 foreign countries.
This year’s U.S. Women’s Open features a $10 million purse, up $4.5 million from 2021, with the winner taking home $1.8 million. The champion also will receive the Mickey Wright Medal, custody of the Harton S. Semple Trophy for the ensuing year and an exemption into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Open Championships. Additionally, the winner will receive a replica trophy and five-year exemptions into the Chevron Championship (formerly ANA Inspiration), AIG Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship.
Of note, the USGA has committed to raise the women’s purse to $11 million and then $12 million by 2026. However, it still lags behind the men’s U.S. Open, which featured a $12.5 million purse in 2021 at Torrey Pines, with Jon Rahm earning $2.25 million for his win.
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Odds to win 2022 U.S. Women’s Open (via PointsBet Sportsbook):
+750: Jin Young Ko
+1200: Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee
+1300: Lexi Thompson
+1800: Nelly Korda
+2000: Nasa Hataoka
+2800: Hyo Joo Kim, Hye Jin Choi, Atthaya Thitikul
+3000: Megan Khang, Celine Boutier, Yuka Saso
+3300: Jessica Korda, Xiyu Lin, Madelene Sagstrom
+4000: Sei Young Kim, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit, Nanna Madsen
+5000: Danielle Kang, Ryann O’Toole, In Gee Chun, Jennifer Kupcho, Hae Ran Ryu, Ayaka Furue, Maja Stark, Mao Saigo
AMATEURS AIM TO BREAK 55-YEAR-OLD RECORD AT USWO:
This year’s field features 31 amateurs, including six of the top 50, and all of whom look to break a 55-year-old record dating back to 1967, when 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.
Along with No. 1-ranked Rose Zhang (+12500), look for 2021 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Jensen Castle (+35000), the 21-year-old from West Columbia, S.C., who’s making her second USWO start (missed cut in 2021) and also is one of four players in the field set to compete in the 2022 Curtis Cup matches that begin June 10.
Making her USWO debut is 19-year-old Anna Davis (+15000), from Spring Valley, Calif., who became the youngest Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion in April. The left-hander has since played in her first two LPGA events, making the cut in both.
Past USGA women’s championships at Pine Needles Lodge & G.C.:
- 1989 U.S. Girls’ Junior: Brandie Burton def. Camie Hoshino, 1 up
- 1991 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur: Phyllis Preuss (221 total) by one stroke over Belle Robertson and Anne Sander (222 total).
- 1996 U.S. Women’s Open: Annika Sorenstam (8-under 272) won by six strokes over Kris Tschetter (278 total).
- 2001 U.S. Women’s Open: Karrie Webb (7-under 273) won by eight strokes over Se Ri Pak (1-over 281).
- 2007 U.S. Women’s Open: Cristie Kerr (5-under 279) won by two strokes over Lorena Ochoa and Angela Park (3-under 281).
- 2019 U.S. Senior Women’s Open: Helen Alfredsson (1-over 285) won by two strokes over Juli Inkster and Trish Johnson (3-over 287).
PINE NEEDLES RETURNS TO CENTER STAGE FOR 2022 U.S WOMEN’S OPEN:
Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club, located in Southern Pines, N.C., will host the U.S. Women’s Open for a record fourth time. The first U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles was held in 1996, won by Annika Sorenstam, followed by Karrie Webb in 2001. Cristie Kerr claimed the 2007 title at Pine Needles, which has has hosted six previous USGA championships, the second-highest total in North Carolina after Pinehurst Resort’s famed Course No. 2.
Stretching 6,638 yards, Pine Needles will play at a par-71 (35-36), with exact yardage for each round varying due to course setup and conditions. The course was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1928, with golf course architect John Fought overseeing renovations in 2004 that included the restoration of greens and bunkers to their original forms with the aid of vintage aerial photos. In 2017, course architect Kyle Franz managed a project that included green rebuilding and bunker restoration aimed at maximizing hole locations.
2022 LPGA major championship schedule (winner/defending champion):
- March 31-April 3: Chevron Championship; 2022 champion: Jennifer Kupcho; Mission Hills CC (Dinah Shore Tournament Course), Rancho Mirage, Calif.
- June 2-5: U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and GC, Southern Pines, N.C. (Yuka Saso)
- June 23-26: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Congressional CC, Bethesda, Md. (Nelly Korda)
- July 21-24: Amundi Evian Championship, Evian Resort GC, Evian-les-Bains, France (Minjee Lee)
- Aug. 4-7: AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland (Anna Nordqvist)
LAST YEAR AT THE 76th U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN:
The Philippines’ Yuka Saso drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the first hole of sudden death to defeat Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (listed this week at +2000) for the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open title at The Olympic Club’s Lake Course, in San Francisco. At 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old, Saso joined two-time USWO champion Inbee Park as the youngest winner (same age in 2008) in event history and became the first Filipino to capture the Harton S. Semple Trophy.
Saso entered the final round one stroke behind 54-hole leader Lexi Thompson, and the teen rallied to the finish with birdies at 17 and 18 to post a 2-over 73, finishing at 4-under 280 and forcing a playoff with Hataoka, who shot 3-under 68 to grab the clubhouse lead. Thompson, who held a five-stroke lead after eight holes, played her final 10 holes in 5-over par for a final-round 75 and missed the playoff by a shot. The playoff went to sudden death after Saso and Hataoka each made back-to-back pars in the two-hole aggregate playoff.
This year, Saso will attempt to become the eighth player to successfully defend her title. Since 1991, only Annika Sorenstam (1995, 1996) and Karrie Webb (2000, 2001) have accomplished the feat, and both came at Pine Needles. Only four other players have finished top 10 in the championship following their victory (2019 winner Jeongeun Lee6 was sixth in 2020; 2002 champ Juli Inkster finished eighth in 2003; 1992 winner Patty Sheehan was sixth in 1993; and 1991 winner Meg Mallon was fourth in 1992).
U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN PICKS:
Best bet: … Nelly Korda (+1800). While the 23-year-old told media that she’s “not expecting too much,” Korda also noted she feels 100 percent ahead of her return to competition. This week marks her eighth U.S. Women’s Open appearance, where she’s made five cuts in seven starts with her best finish being a T-10 in 2018 at Shoal Creek. She missed the cut in 2020 and 2021. Last season, Korda captured four titles, including the Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title, and also won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. In three starts this season, she finished no worse than T-20 (Gainbridge LPGA) and she was T-4 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Don’t count out: … Lexi Thompson (+1300). The 11-time LPGA title winner only has one major on her resume – the 2014 Chevron Championship – and she told media at Pine Needles on Tuesday that she looks at last year’s USWO as a learning experience: “Didn’t go the way I wanted to, but every time I tee it up there’s always something to learn. I always say there’s really no feeling, you’re always learning.” She’s made 11 cuts in 15 USWO starts, with five top 10s, including last year’s T-3 and a T-2 in 2019 when she finished two strokes back of winner Jeongeun Lee6.
Sentimental favorites: …Annika Sorenstam (+35000), Michelle Wie West (+50000). Sorenstam, the only player in the 2022 field to have played all three previous USWO championships at Pine Needles (1996, 2001 and 2007), will make her 16th appearance in the U.S. Women’s Open, where she’s missed just two cuts (1997, 1999) in 15 starts with three wins (1995, 1996, 2007), two runner-up results (2002, 2004) and two other top 10s (T-4 in 2003; T-9, 2000). At age 51, the Swede will look to become the oldest USWO winner ever. The current record is held by Babe Didrikson Zaharias, who won the 1954 Women’s Open at age 43. … 2014 champion Wie West recently revealed that she’ll step away from the LPGA tour after this week, where she’ll make her 17th appearance in the U.S. Women’s Open. She’s made nine cuts in 16 USWO starts with top-10 finishes in 2006 (T-3) and 2018 (T-10). Wie West’s last victory came at the 2018 HSBC Women’s World Championship. In 2019, she married Jonnie West, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West, and the couple welcomed their first child (daughter Makenna) in June 2020. Wie West said only next year’s USWO at Pebble Beach remains on her competitive golf calendar, which also marks the final year of her 10-year exemption as a past champion.
HOW TO WATCH THE 77th U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN:
Coverage of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open from Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club will be presented by NBC Sports across NBC, Golf Channel and Peacock beginning Thursday, June 2, through Sunday, June 5. Golf Channel will air “Live from the U.S. Women’s Open” featuring live pre- and post-event coverage daily beginning Wednesday (through Sunday).
Thursday: 1-3 p.m. on Peacock; 3-8 p.m. on USA.
Friday: 1-3 p.m. on Peacock; 3-8 p.m. on USA.
Saturday: 12-1 p.m. on Peacock; 1-3 on USA; 3-6 on NBC.
Sunday: 1-3 on USA; 3-7 on NBC.
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