A Wide Open 2025 U.S. Women’s Open

Predicting what will happen at a major championship is always difficult. As the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open descends upon Erin Hills this week, that task is harder than ever. The first few months of the LPGA season haven't been dominated by one player like we saw last year during Nelly Korda’s win streak. The young talent pool seems deeper than ever, with three rookies already grabbing their first wins. At the first major of the year a few weeks ago at Carlton Woods, the highest ranked players were mostly non-factors over the weekend.

But the main reason this week feels wide open is simply because it's U.S. Women's Open week. Unexpected and under-the-radar champions have become the norm in recent years. Only one champion since 2020 has been ranked higher than 25th in the world at the time of her win. For context, every major winner in 2024 was ranked 25th or higher, except for the U.S. Women's Open.

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Last year at Lancaster Country Club, Yuka Saso, ranked 30th in the world, was certainly a recognizable winner. She won her first U.S. Women’s Open at Olympic Club in 2021, tying Inbee Park as the youngest player to win the championship. Saso was ranked 40th at the time and disappeared from contending in majors for a full two years. Her name is now synonymous with unpredictability. Her two career wins on tour are her two U.S. Women's Open victories. There's no one in golf with a more bizarre resume. Nobody is picking Saso to win this week, but nobody would be that surprised if she does hit the trifecta come Sunday. That's the enigma she's become.

It's that type of randomness that's been the theme of this week. Allisen Corpuz was ranked 29th when she won at Pebble Beach in 2023 and wasn't the big name everyone was hoping would come out on top at the site of so many historic victories. A Lim Kim was ranked 93rd and was making her major championship debut in 2020 at Champions Golf Club. She ended the week one-for-one in majors and then proceeded to miss the cut in her next six major starts. Minjee Lee's win in 2022 is the outlier of the past five years. She was ranked fourth when she won at Pine Needles and has been a mainstay on tour since.

This week’s venue could lend itself to a unique mix of names on the leaderboard. The last time major championship golf was at Erin Hills, the course didn’t favor a certain type of player. Brian Harman was the 54-hole leader at the 2017 U.S. Open before Brooks Koepka took control on Sunday. Harman and Kopeka have completely different skill sets, yet they each figured out a way to pick apart the course. Unless the wind plays a factor, the players won’t be missing very many fairways at wide-open Erin Hills. Length off the tee will still be an advantage, but the less accurate drivers will have more leeway than usual. There’s potential for players who aren’t strong off the tee to still have opportunities to score and contend into the weekend. That’s a rarity for USGA championships. 

Another reason this week might bring the unexpected is that the current top 10 in the Rolex Rankings don't have the strongest track record in this event. Add up all of their career appearances in U.S. Women’s Opens and you only get a paltry 11 top-10 finishes. World No. 1 Nelly Korda has struggled mightily during this week. Lydia Ko has only two top 10s in this championship for her career, the fewest of any major. Other top-10 stalwarts Ruoning Yin, Lilia Vu, and Hannah Green have yet to crack into the top 10 at all. It's still very likely someone from this group of ten will win on Sunday, but this week has a knack for not panning out how people think it will.

The U.S. Women's Open certainly doesn't need a household name to win. Its status as a marquee event isn’t going anywhere. The spotlight it puts on women’s golf through exceptional coverage, investment in technology, and the largest purse in the game makes this week a huge opportunity for the sport. Once again, the USGA has put all the pieces in place for women’s golf to shine. A big-name winner to match the moment sure would be nice, though. 

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