{"id":349073,"date":"2026-06-06T04:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/349073\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T04:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T04:22:19","slug":"alison-lee-in-prime-position-for-u-s-womens-open-title-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/349073\/","title":{"rendered":"Alison Lee in prime position for U.S. Women’s Open title run"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alison Lee<\/a> is trying to balance a major championship and motherhood.<\/p>\n

So far, so good.<\/p>\n

The former UCLA standout shot a 68 at Riviera Country Club on Friday to inch to the top of the leaderboard in the second round<\/a> of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open<\/a>, putting the devoted mom in prime position for a weekend run at her first major victory.<\/p>\n

Lee grew up in Valencia, and that\u2019s where she\u2019s staying this week so her parents can watch their 13-month-old grandson, Levi Todd Kidd, who late Friday afternoon was perched on his mother\u2019s lap in the scoring tent.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

\u201cI will say over the last few months it\u2019s been tough,\u201d Lee conceded earlier this week. \u201cBut we had a breakthrough last week and he\u2019s sleeping a lot better. Therefore, my life has been a lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee, who shot 70 on Thursday, likewise could be on the verge of a career breakthrough. She has yet to win on the LPGA Tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo win in basically my backyard would be super cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t the only local player with momentum heading into the weekend. Fellow Bruin Patty Tavatanakit<\/a> is three shots off the lead, as is Allisen Corpuz<\/a>, who played at USC.<\/p>\n

\"Ruoning <\/p>\n

Ruoning Yin hits out of a green side bunker on No. 17 during the second round of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open on Friday. Yin is tied with Lee for the lead at four-under through 138 holes.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

On an afternoon that was cooler and grayer than Thursday, the woman ranked No. 1 in the world got back on track. After shooting a 73<\/a> in the opening round, Nelly Korda<\/a> relocated her rhythm with four birdies on her way to a 67, earning some cheers from a gallery that, though relatively modest, was the biggest of the day.<\/p>\n

Lee was among a small group of players who shot a 68. That included \u201cDumbo\u201d \u2014 South Korea\u2019s In Gee Chun<\/a> \u2014 who got that nickname years ago because of her exceptionally keen hearing. She has embraced the moniker. The Disney character adorns her golf bag and is her driver headcover, and her fans refer to themselves as the \u201cFlying Dumbos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chun is in the hunt for her fourth major championship, having won the Open in 2015, Evian in 2016, and Women\u2019s PGA in 2022.<\/p>\n

Were Chun to win this tournament, she would be in rarefied air with bookend victories separated by 11 years. According to Elias Sports Bureau, among women with multiple U.S. Open titles, Meg Mallon had the longest gap (13 years apart), followed by Annika Sorenstam (10 years).<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s a big difference between being at a logjam atop the leaderboard on Friday and lifting the Harton S. Semple Trophy<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust stick to the game plan, nothing changes,\u201d Chun said of her mindset heading into the weekend. \u201cI don\u2019t want to think about the future to put extra pressure on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In <\/p>\n

In Gee Chun reacts her par putt on the eighth hole during the second round of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Jennifer Kupcho<\/a>, who led the field with a 66 on Thursday, has her own way of dealing with external pressure. She talks to her mom before and after a tournament \u2014 but not during it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and my mom kind of have an understanding,\u201d she said, \u201clike, \u2018Just don\u2019t text me. I don\u2019t want to hear from you if I play good. I don\u2019t want to hear from you if I play bad. We\u2019ll talk at the end of the tournament.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Kupcho, raised in Colorado, said she hasn\u2019t banned her folks from attending, \u201cBut I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe she could have used a sympathetic ear Friday. After leading outright Thursday, she came back to earth Friday with a 73 but was still only a shot off the leader.<\/p>\n

\"Jennifer <\/p>\n

Jennifer Kupcho hits out of a fairway bunker on No. 9 during the second round of the 81st U.S. Women\u2019s Open at Riviera Country Club on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The same could not be said for Michelle Wie West<\/a>, who followed a 75 with a 74 \u2014 a deflating finish for the LPGA legend who came out of retirement to use her final year of exemption to play at Riviera.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I would be lying to say I wasn\u2019t disappointed. I would have loved to have made the cut today, granted all day,\u201d Wie West said. \u201cBut I had a blast honestly, with playing here at Riv, such a special week to have played it, and to have family, friends, a lot of familiar faces coming out, it was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hit some good shots, hit some good putts, and kind of felt that feeling again, which is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Nelly <\/p>\n

Nelly Korda misses a birdie putt on No.3 during the second round of the U.S. Women\u2019s Open on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alison Lee is trying to balance a major championship and motherhood. So far, so good. The former UCLA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[142843,87609,142844,2424,142842,8356,48,52,51,47,50,49,1741,1045,142846,87614,142845,7756,12967,141666,72],"class_list":["post-349073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-alison-lee","tag-birdie","tag-fourth-major-championship","tag-friday","tag-gee-chun","tag-hole","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-lot","tag-open","tag-outright-thursday","tag-riviera","tag-second-round-leaderboard","tag-son","tag-tournament","tag-u-s-women","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}