Half the battle is done. The field has been cut from 156 and as we move into the weekend at The Olympic Club the storylines for the 76th U.S. Women’s Open come clearly into focus. History looms everywhere you look. And a venue that has never failed to produce drama the five times it has been host to a U.S. Open appears set to do the same in its inaugural effort with a women’s major championship.
Records can be rewritten this weekend involving amateurs, in regard to age and in terms of majors won and U.S. Women’s Open Championships claimed. It’s not even Sunday yet and this much can already be said: The U.S. Women’s Open and The Olympic Club are a winning combination.
Here are 3 things to look for in Round 3 on Saturday.
Amateurs Again in Mix
Only one amateur has won the U.S. Women’s Open: Catherine Lacoste in 1967. And the youngest winner of the championship is Inbee Park, who was 19 in 2008. Megha Ganne, a 17-year-old from New Jersey who has not yet started her senior year of high school, can shatter Park’s age record and join Lacoste in the winner’s circle as she enters the weekend at 4-under-par 138, in a tie for third place. And she is not alone. Maja Stark, a 22-year-old Swede out of Oklahoma State University, is at 141, in a tie for ninth.
Amateurs have had increasing success in the U.S. Women’s Open since 2000. In 2005, Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang tied for second at Cherry Hills, and this year marks the fifth straight Women’s Open with at least one amateur in the top five entering the weekend. Last year, in fact, there were two: Linn Grant and Kaitlyn Papp played in the final two groups on Saturday.
Walk in the Park
Since winning the championship for the first time in 2008, Inbee Park has been a fixture on the leader board of the U.S. Women’s Open. She won again in 2013 and another victory would tie her for third all-time with Annika Sorenstam, Babe Zaharias, Hollis Stacy and Susie Berning behind the four titles by Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls. It would also give Park eight LPGA majors, tying her for sixth behind Sorenstam and Zaharias (10), Louise Suggs (11), Wright (13) and Patty Berg (15).
Park, who is at 2-under-par 140 after 36 holes, has finished in the top 10 nine times in the U.S. Women’s Open, including T-6 last year. She also won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics and the 2002 U.S. Girls’ Junior, an event in which she was runner-up in 2003 and 2005. She has been a winner at every level.
Major Setback
The Olympic Club has been the stern test everyone expected, and a bevy of big names packed their bags early and headed home, including past U.S. Women’s Open champions A Lim Kim, Eun-Hee Ji, Sung Hyun Park, Michelle Wie West, Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr. Also missing out on the weekend were major winners Hinako Shibuno and Sophie Popov, as well as Rolex Rankings No. 4 Nelly Korda.
Not missing the weekend was Sarah Burnham, who followed a 76 with a 5-under-par 66, which was more than nine strokes under the course average for the second round.
The action resumes Saturday on the Lake Course at The Olympic Club. Follow it streaming on uswomensopen.com, the U.S. Women’s Open app, or from 2-5 p.m. EDT on NBC and 5-10 p.m. EDT on Golf Channel.
Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.
