PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — This week has been marked on the calendar for fairly a while, and it is lastly right here. The world’s greatest feminine golfers will compete this week at historic Riviera Nation Membership for the U.S. Girls’s Open trophy.
With a second main championship of the season at stake, the setting could not be extra interesting. The golf course that commonly hosts the PGA Tour in February will tackle a special aspect by internet hosting a girls’s occasion for the primary time.
Listed here are 4 tales price noting.
It is no secret who will draw probably the most eyeballs and cameras this week. There is a good cause why world No. 1 Nelly Korda is making a much-hyped, high-profile look at this 12 months’s largest girls’s main event. She competed in seven occasions this 12 months, ending second in three, tied for eighth in a single, and gained three others, together with a dominant efficiency ultimately month’s Chevron Championships.
“I didn’t win final 12 months, however I positively felt just a little extra motivated after that,” Korda mentioned.
Parity dominated the LPGA final season with an unprecedented 29 completely different winners, together with no back-to-back winners within the first 24 tournaments. To this point this season, the outcomes paint a special story with Korda on the heart of all of it.
On Tuesday, the 27-year-old downplayed the concept she’s the face of the sport, however that is the fact of the LPGA, even when she does not need to admit it or settle for it. She is by far the most well-liked particular person within the recreation and likewise the particular person with probably the most wins proper now.
That is why she’s favored — dare I say, anticipated — to be in Sunday’s winner’s circle. However even when her degree of play is what it’s this season, and this course is about in her recreation’s favor, beating Liv and the remainder of the sector can be no straightforward job.
Korda has beforehand spoken about his sophisticated relationship with the U.S. Open. From 2020 to 2024, she missed the reduce 3 times and solely had one top-10 end. And final 12 months at Erin Hills, she entered the again 9 on Sunday and had an opportunity to win for the primary time. Though she narrowly missed out (T-2), the outcome appeared to have left an essential mark on her.
“I used to be extra hungry to be in that place,” Korda mentioned. “I assumed there was no higher place to be than searching the again 9 of a serious on Sunday, particularly the Girls’s Open. (Profitable) could have been a lifelong dream, however I nonetheless have an opportunity.”
Will Gino Titicle lastly have his massive second?
Aside from Nelly Korda, no participant has performed as persistently good golf lately as Titikul, who began this 12 months at No. 1 on this planet. Since becoming a member of the Tour in 2022, she has recorded 59 top-10 finishes and 9 wins.
There is no such thing as a query how nice Titikul is. That is why it is nonetheless mind-boggling to see her battle to recover from the hump at a serious event.
In 2021, he participated in his first main as an expert on the Evian Championship and attracted consideration as he completed in fifth place. Since then, she has completed within the prime 10 in 9 of 23 possibilities at majors and missed the reduce 5 instances, together with final month in opposition to Chevron. On the U.S. Open, Titikul missed the reduce twice in 4 appearances and likewise completed sixth.
For Titicle, it appears so simple as competing within the sport’s largest occasions is only one facet of her recreation.
“I feel the ups and downs are the most important problem for me (within the majors), as a result of after I was youthful I used to be hitting the greens quite a bit and I wasn’t chipping as a lot,” Titicle mentioned this week, noting he is not altering something about his strategy to the majors. “I simply speak to my coach about what wants to vary, however within the majors, he is the identical method, you do not have to vary something, as a result of similar to once you change your routine, it is time to change your mindset.”
It would not be shocking to see Titikul in rivalry this week, and it is sensible to take into account that she’s solely 23 years outdated. But when her file has taught us something, it is that you just by no means know what you are going to get when she tees off at a serious championship. So how is her chipping going this week? Nicely, Riviera has sticky Kikuya grass across the greens, so it will not be straightforward.
Riviera in a special highlight
When the golf calendar turns to February, the Riviera turns into one of many prime locations on the PGA Tour. Gamers and followers alike rave about their love for the venue, the surroundings, and the way this explicit set of 18 holes feels completely different than most different programs on the calendar.
Come June, Riviera can be coaching one other muscle for the primary time shortly. Los Angeles has had a reasonably dry winter and spring, however the golf course is wanting strong and quick, with greens bouncing and rolling that you do not typically see on the lads’s aspect. Additionally, though the course is situated in a valley, it’s not proof against the affect of the close by sea breeze, which can also be a giant issue.
“Two days in the past I hit one of many greens with a pitching wedge, and at the moment I hit it with a 5-iron,” Lydia Ko mentioned. “It wasn’t prefer it was tremendous windy. So the mixture of the wind energy and the time of day you play it can make the course just a little extra agency…I feel that is why it will be tough however enjoyable and truthful. It is uncommon that you just go to a course that is tremendous truthful, and I feel this can be a actual testomony to that.”
“Each day goes to be completely different. I do know the winds will change right here from morning to afternoon based mostly on the wind coming off the water,” Korda mentioned. “Each day goes to be a special recreation plan.”
This week’s course will focus much more on technique. Spin, trajectory, and angle to the inexperienced are crucial, particularly for gamers who’re doubtless to make use of lengthy irons to the inexperienced. The size of the course is advantageous for lengthy hitters, as some fairways slender a bit across the 275-yard mark, however some should make their very own strategic selections on sure holes. That is why some may argue that the scale of a course like Riviera, by way of size, low ball flight, and elegance, is healthier suited to girls than for males.
If situations and climate stay as stunning as they’ve been, we may see the Riviera come to life like by no means earlier than this week.
“It is actually a second-shot golf course,” Michelle Wie West mentioned. “It’s actually cool for the followers to have the ability to watch us play and evaluate how we performed in opposition to them.”
Veterans vs. Youth Motion
Wanting on the prime 10 on this week’s odds sheet, there’s a very fascinating break up.
Except for Korda and 23-year-old Titikul (who holds the highest two spots), the listing contains key gamers resembling Lydia Ko, Minjee Lee, Kim Hyo Joo and Hannah Inexperienced, all of whom have gained at the least one main event and are round 30 years outdated. Charlie Hull, 30, has but to win a serious, however he has completed within the prime 10 twice in his final two makes an attempt and is taken into account one of many 15 favorites to win heading into this week.
The remainder of the listing, then again, is made up of younger, promising gamers who’ve already proven sufficient promise and outcomes to imagine they could possibly be subsequent in line. They embody 24-year-old Miyu Yamashita (defending British Girls’s Open champion), 23-year-old Ruoning Ying (4 top-five finishes previously seven majors), and 22-year-old Lottie Ward (T-3 at Evian final 12 months as an beginner and two top-10 finishes within the subsequent two majors as a professional).
Ward, specifically, has been instrumental in each facet since successful the 2024 Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Newbie, and does not appear to have had a lot of a studying curve since turning professional. Her most up-to-date LPGA Tour win in Cincinnati gave her two wins, and he or she additionally had two wins on the Girls’s European Tour.
However do not rely out veterans simply but. Inexperienced is a risk in Southern California, having gained the LPGA occasion right here (JM Eagle LA Championship) 3 times, together with this 12 months. It is protected to say she’s snug enjoying golf programs on the West Coast, and it would not be shocking if she added Riviera to her listing. And after we speak about tough golf programs, you’ll be able to’t ignore Lee both. The three-time main champion has already gained the U.S. Open and will earn her second victory this week in her elite strategy recreation.
