PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – It’s finally here. For the first time in US Women’s Open history, the best women in the world will tee it up at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links. That it comes at a time when a fresh-faced Rose Zhang is enjoying a meteoric rise in the game is the cherry on a week of celebration.
The purse will be announced on Wednesday, but in 2022 the field played for a record $10 million with winner Minjee Lee receiving $1.8 million. Karrie Webb was the last player and eighth overall to successfully defend her title in 2000-2001. The last two defending champions have missed the cut the following year.
Michelle Wie West and Annika Sorenstam are among the dozen past champions in the field, and there’s a chance this might be their last appearance in the event. For more on two of the most popular players to ever play the game and more, read on:
USGA history
The 2023 US Women’s Open will be the 14th USGA championship ever held at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The first US Amateur, won by Harrison Johnston, came in 1929. LPGA founder Betty Jameson won the 1940 US Women’s Amateur. Robert H. Riegel (1947) and Grace Lenczyk (1948) followed, along with David Gossett (1999) and Viktor Hovland (2018).
Jack Nicklaus won the US Amateur in his first appearance at Pebble in 1961, beating Dudley Wysong, 8 and 6, in the championship match. Nicklaus went on to win the first US Open held at Pebble Beach in 1972.
Tom Watson (1982), Tom Kite (1992), Tiger Woods (2000), Graeme McDowell (2010) and Gary Woodland (2019) won the five other US Opens contested at Pebble.
The Babe wins at Pebble
While this is the first women’s major ever held at Pebble Beach, it is not the first LPGA event. Not long after the LPGA was formed in 1950, Babe Zaharias won the Weathervane Transcontinental Women’s Open. Patty Berg won the second edition in 1951.
Course setup
The course will play to a par 72 with an official yardage of 6,509 yards. The second hole will play to a par 5 at 509/465 yards. While the fifth has played as a par 4 for the three most recent US Opens, it played as a par 5 in 1972, 1982 and 1992.
(As a par 4, the second hole ranked No. 2 in difficulty at the 2019 US Open.)
Rose’s record day
Rose Zhang set a new women’s course record at Pebble Beach last fall at the Carmel Cup to open up her sophomore season. Her 9-under 63 included seven birdies, an eagle and 10 pars. She bested Brittany Lincicome’s record of 64, set at the 2021 Pebble Beach Invitational.
The men’s course record is a 61, which former Texas Tech golfer Hurly Long shot in 2017. Tom Kite (1983), David Duval (1997) and Patrick Cantlay (2021) each shot 62 in a professional tournament.
Zhang’s 63 included a stretch in which she played Nos. 4-7 in five under, carding an eagle on the sixth hole. She won the 54-hole event by five strokes over teammate Megha Ganne at 13 under. The course played to a par of 72 at 6,156 yards.
Annika’s back
Ten-time major winner Annika Sorenstam accepted a special exemption into this year’s championship. One of four players to win the US Women’s Open three times (1995, 1996 and 2006), Sorenstam has made 16 previous appearances in the championship, the most recent coming last year at Pine Needles where she missed the cut.
Sorenstam won 72 times on the LPGA and stepped away from playing full time after the 2008 season to start her family. She competed in her first LPGA event in more than a dozen years in 2021, making the cut at the Gainbridge LPGA event at her home club, Lake Nona.
One last time
Michelle Wie West hasn’t teed it up in an official LPGA event since last year’s US Women’s Open at Pine Needles, where she officially announced that she was stepping away from the tour.
But that wasn’t her final goodbye. Wie West, the 2014 US Women’s Open champion, knew then that she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to play Pebble Beach with her husband, Jonnie, on the bag and the rest of her family watching.
It’s fitting that the most well-known player in the women’s game in recent years will take part in what could be the most important championship in US Women’s Open history.
In early May, Wie West took part in the Women’s Open media day, playing nine holes there for the first time in blustery conditions.
“I didn’t dream of this to be the last one,” she said, “but if I could this would be the way to go.”
Bonus golf
in Pebble Beach, Calif. on Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (Copyright USGA/Kip Evans)
Should there be a playoff on Sunday, Nos. 17 and 18 will be used for the championship’s two-hole aggregate playoff. Pebble Beach’s strong finish actually fueled the USGA’s decision to choose a two-hole aggregate format when moving away from the 18-hole playoff.
The par-3 17th played was the fourth-hardest hole in 2019 and the 18th ranked 15th.
Must-see TV
A historic event deserves historic coverage. This year’s US Women’s Open will be broadcast live on NBC, USA Network and Peacock. This year marks the first time that NBC will air a women’s major in primetime, with the third and fourth rounds airing from 12-6 pm Pacific. In addition, there will be a record 26 hours of “Live From the US Women’s Open” on Golf Channel.
|
Day/Date |
Time (Local/PDT) |
Network |
Coverage |
|
Thursday, July 6 |
1-3 p.m 3-8 p.m |
Peacock USA Network |
First Round First Round |
|
Friday, July 7 |
1-3 p.m 3-8 p.m |
Peacock USA Network |
Second Round Second Round |
|
Saturday, July 8 |
12-6 p.m |
NBC |
Third Round |
|
Sunday, July 9 |
12-6 p.m |
NBC |
Final Round |
Field notes
A total of 43 players will be making their first US Women’s Open appearance at Pebble Beach. The championship field includes 27 amateurs. Angela Stanford, 45, who won the Senior LPGA Championship last week, has played the most consecutive US Women’s Opens at 24 (including 2023).
At 52, Annika Sorenstam is the oldest player in the field while 14-year-old Angela Zhang of Bellevue, Washington, is the youngest. World no. 1 Jin Young Ko celebrates her 27th birthday on July 7.
With Jessica Korda out indefinitely due to a back injury, there are two sets of sisters in the field. While Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn make their 10th US Women’s Open appearance in the same field, twins Chisato and Akie Iwai of Japan make their debut.
Future Pebble
While this is the first US Women’s Open at Pebble, it won’t be the last. There are three Women’s Open championships already on the books for 2035, 2040 and 2048. The men will return in 2027, 2032, 2037 and 2044.
Story originally appeared on GolfWeek