The 81st US Women’s Open presented by Ally gets underway at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California on Thursday 4 June — and for the first time in the championship’s history, the women are playing one of the most celebrated courses in world golf.
Riviera Country Club has long been part of golf’s furniture. Designed by Golden Age architect George C. Thomas Jr. and opened in 1927, it has hosted a US Open, two PGA Championships, and plays host each year to the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational. In 2028, it will stage the Olympic golf competition. It is, by any measure, among the finest golf courses in the world.
This week, for the first time, it belongs to the women.
While Riviera has previously hosted a US Open (1948) and US Amateur (2017), this is the first USGA women’s championship ever conducted at the club. That fact alone lends the week an extra layer of significance — this is not just another major, it is a milestone.
The course will play as a par 71 at 6,699 yards, and with a layout that rewards precision and penalises error, scoring is unlikely to run away. Riviera is expected to play long, which will suit the longer hitters in the field.
The title race: Korda hunts her missing major
Nelly Korda arrives at Riviera as the pre-tournament favourite and as defending Chevron champion, having already captured her third career major title earlier this season. The world number one has, however, never won the US Women’s Open — a gap in an otherwise formidable major record. Last year at Erin Hills, Korda finished tied second behind champion Maja Stark.
We will be running a separate piece on Korda’s pre-tournament press conference, but the short version is this: Riviera sets up as the stage on which she could finally add the national title to her collection.
Jeeno Thitikul, who has yet to win a major, is also among the leading contenders, while Ruoning Yin, Hyo Joo Kim and Hannah Green will also be among those fancying their chances on a course that should suit ball-strikers.
Maja Stark returns to defend the title she won at Erin Hills last year. Should the Swede successfully defend, she would become the first player to retain the US Women’s Open since Karrie Webb in 2001
The British and Irish interest
There are five Englishwomen in the field this week: Lottie Woad, Charley Hull, Mimi Rhodes, Bronte Law, and amateur Nellie Ong.
Woad arrives in California on the back of one of the most eye-catching seasons by a British player in recent years. The 2026 Kroger Queen City Championship winner has finished no worse than tied eighth in her last two major starts. Still only 21, the young Englishwoman is making her US Women’s Open debut at one of the most storied venues in the game. She tees off in round one alongside Minjee Lee and Nasa Hataoka from the 10th tee at 10:18 a.m. local time.
Hull has four career runner-up finishes in majors without winning one, including a tied second at this event in 2023. The Englishwoman has not finished better than 10th in her last six worldwide starts since her Saudi Ladies International win in February, but her excellent ball-striking could make her a contender on a course that asks the right questions. Hull tees off alongside Jeeno Thitikul and Patty Tavatanakit at 4:03 p.m. local time on Thursday.
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh and Ireland’s Leona Maguire are also in the field.
The bigger picture: $12 million on the line
The purse stands at $12 million, with $2.4 million going to the champion — the largest prize fund in women’s golf and a reflection of where the US Women’s Open sits in the sport’s landscape.
Korda, Thitikul, Hyo Joo Kim, Hannah Green and Lottie Woad headline a field that represents the full depth of the world game. Every player in the top 50 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings is present with only three exceptions
How to watch the US Women’s Open on Sky Sports
Sky Sports will show extended live coverage from Pacific Palisades across all four days. There are eight hours of live action from each of the first two days, and five hours on both Saturday and Sunday.
Coverage begins at 7pm BST on Thursday and Friday on Sky Sports Mix, before getting under way at 10pm on Saturday and 8pm for Sunday’s final round. Coverage is also live from 11pm each night on Sky Sports Golf.
The US Women’s Open forms part of a triple-header of live golf on Sky Sports this week, with the DP World Tour’s KLM Open and the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament also live from Thursday.
Follow all the action at The Womens US Open
Picture Credit:- USGA
