{"id":709506,"date":"2026-06-02T02:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T02:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709506\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T02:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T02:48:17","slug":"2026-us-womens-open-10-players-to-watch-at-riviera-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/709506\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 US Women’s Open: 10 players to watch at Riviera \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in the history of the most prestigious championship in women\u2019s golf, the US Women\u2019s Open is coming to Riviera Country Club in southern California. The fabled course is where Ben Hogan won the 1948 US Open, and where Tiger Woods made his PGA Tour debut at 16 years of age, among other historic milestones. This week, new history will be made in the canyons that define the exclusive golf club. A field of 156 women from around the world will be playing with a $US12 million prizemoney payout on the line.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Lexi Thompson is missing her first US Women\u2019s Open in nearly two decades. Here\u2019s what she had to say about it<\/a><\/p>\n

At 6,699 yards (6,126 metres), Riviera will play long, the George Thomas Jnr and associate William P. Bell course forcing players to deal with undulations and uneven lies on several holes. Off the fairway, balls will sink into the famous kikuyu rough<\/a>, known to be dense enough to entrap wayward golf balls. The greens aren\u2019t large, rewarding strong ball-strikers. And, as with every US Women\u2019s Open, the winner\u2019s putter has to be hot enough to withstand four rounds on what will surely be treacherous greens running fast all week.<\/p>\n

So who should be on your radar for the year\u2019s second women\u2019s major? Here are 10 players we\u2019ll be watching, appearing in their order on the Rolex Women\u2019s Rankings, from lowest to highest.<\/p>\n

Megha Ganne<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age: 22
Rolex Rankings: 1,041
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 3\/1
Best finish: T-14, 2021
2025 finish: DNP<\/p>\n

The reigning US Women\u2019s Amateur champion, Ganne just capped a decorated amateur career by helping Stanford University claim another NCAA title. She graduates later this month, and is making her pro debut at Riviera. Ganne has history in the US Women\u2019s Open, playing in the final group in the final round as a teenager at Olympic Club in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Julia Lopez Ramirez \"2275527908\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Sarah Stier<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 72
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 1\/1
Best finish: T-19, 2025
2025 finish: T-19<\/p>\n

Ramirez was a breakout star last year at Erin Hills. A triple-bogey on the last hole brought her down to finishing T-19, but she was in the hunt the entire week, largely thanks to her length. She\u2019s the longest hitter on the LPGA Tour in 2026, averaging 291.4 yards (266.5 metres). Riviera is going to play long, so Ramirez\u2019s power is going to serve her there, too.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Allisen Corpuz \"2275444210\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Sarah Stier<\/p>\n

Age: 28
Rolex Rankings: 57
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 7\/3
Best finish: Win, 2023
2025 finish: T-31<\/p>\n

Corpuz has had a quietly impressive season to date, recording four top-15 finishes. Not a lot of players in the field have ties to Riviera, but Corpuz has said she\u2019s played there while she attend college at UCLA. Even if she hasn\u2019t spent much time on the grounds, playing college golf nearby means she does have some comfort with this style of golf: one of the locations where UCLA practises is Bel Air Country Club, designed by the same architect as Riviera, George C. Thomas, and featuring a steep routing through canyons like Riviera. Corpuz is incredibly accurate off the tee (fourth in fairways hit), which will help keep her out of Riviera\u2019s dense kikuyu rough. And she\u2019s won a US Women\u2019s Open in California before: in 2023 at Pebble Beach.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Ina Yoon<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 40
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 1\/1
Best finish: T-14, 2025
2025 finish: T-14<\/p>\n

Length will always help you at a US Women\u2019s Open, and Yoon is ranked ninth on the LPGA Tour in driving distance, averaging 279 yards (255 metres) off the tee. Even though she\u2019s ranked 51st in driving accuracy, she\u2019s still hitting 72.5 percent of her greens in regulation, one of the best averages on tour. Playing from the rough is a reality of USWO golf, and Yoon has proven she can still hit greens, even when she\u2019s not in the fairway. She\u2019s finished in the top-six three times during the 2026 LPGA season.<\/p>\n

\"Riviera<\/p>\n

Photo: Bill Hornstein<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Lydia Ko \"2276420573\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Dylan Buell<\/p>\n

Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 10
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 14\/13
Best finish: T-3, 2016
2025 finish: T-26<\/p>\n

A win from Ko would give her the Career Grand Slam (with five majors, the LPGA counts winning four as the Career Grand Slam, and winning all five the Super Career Grand Slam). She\u2019s the owner of one of the greatest short games in golf, which is a necessity when scrambling at a US Women\u2019s Open. She missed the cut in the first major of the year, but has three top-five finishes so far in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Miyu Yamashita \"2274614732\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n

Age: 24
Rolex Rankings: 8
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 3\/2
Best finish: T-12, 2024
2025 finish: T-36<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old from Japan is the LPGA\u2019s No.1-ranked player in strokes gained\/putting. She grabbed her first major at last year\u2019s AIG Women\u2019s Open. Although she hasn\u2019t won yet in 2026, she has four top-5 finishes and hits more than 80 percent of her fairways.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Hannah Green<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 6
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 7\/7
Best finish: T-12, 2025
2025 finish: T-12<\/p>\n

A two-time winner in 2026, the Aussie is positioned well<\/a> for a run at Riviera, having never missed a cut in her previous seven US Women\u2019s Open starts. She\u2019s ranked third on the LPGA Tour in strokes gained\/putting. And you\u2019re going to need to know how to putt if you\u2019re going to win a US Women\u2019s Open. She\u2019s won a major before (2019 KPMG Women\u2019s PGA) so knows the pressure or being in contention \u2013 and how to handle it.<\/p>\n

RELATED: US Women\u2019s Open next target on Hannah Green\u2019s hit list<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Ruoning Yin \"2276235915\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Dylan Buell<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 4
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 4\/3
Best finish: T-4, 2025
2025 finish: T-4<\/p>\n

Yin is winless in 2026, but has finished runner-up twice leading into Riviera and has five career LPGA titles to date, including a major (2023 KPMG Women\u2019s PGA). When she pulled off that victory at Baltusrol, she did it with her ball-striking, which bodes well for Riviera. Yin is gaining 2.6 strokes on the field from tee to green in 2026. The only thing that could hold her back is her putter; she\u2019s currently losing 0.73 strokes to the field.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Jeeno Thitikul \"2276737248\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Dylan Buell<\/p>\n

Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 2
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 4\/2
Best finish: T-6, 2024
2025 finish: MC<\/p>\n

The No.2 player in the world has two wins in 2026. Despite winning nine times in her career on the LPGA Tour, she\u2019s yet to win a major, a blemish that\u2019s starting to become a fully fledged problem. She\u2019s finished in the top-10 in all of them and has won the CME Group Tour Championship twice, so it\u2019s not like she doesn\u2019t have the experience needed to win. She hits a lot of greens (76 percent, fourth on tour), which will serve her well at Riviera.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u2022 \u2022<\/p>\n

Nelly Korda \"2274296990\"\/<\/p>\n

Photo: Ishika Samant<\/p>\n

Age: 27
Rolex Rankings: 1
US Women\u2019s Open starts\/Cuts made: 11\/8
Best finish: T-2, 2025
2025 finish: T-2<\/p>\n

Korda has played in seven LPGA events in 2026 prior to the US Women\u2019s Open, winning three of them and finishing runner-up three more times. Her total strokes gained is 4.03 \u2013 the best on tour. And tee to green, she\u2019s gaining 4.75 strokes on the field. She is a phenomenal ball-striker, and another major victory will make clinching a spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame a realistic goal in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time in the history of the most prestigious championship in women\u2019s golf, the US Women\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[345007,4225,64,63,1379,755,138747,29527,345008,121700,345009,30658,345010,34405,21225,44,208759,146408,85,204890,11766],"class_list":["post-709506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-allisen-corpuz","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-features","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-hannah-green","tag-ina-yoon","tag-jeeno-thitikul","tag-julia-lopez-ramirez","tag-lydia-ko","tag-megha-ganne","tag-miyu-yamashita","tag-nelly-korda","tag-news","tag-riviera-country-club","tag-ruoning-yin","tag-sports","tag-us-womens-open","tag-usga"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}