2026 U.S. Women’s Open: 10 players to watch at Riviera

For the first time in the history of the most prestigous championship in women’s golf, the U.S. Women’s Open is coming to Riviera C.C. in Southern California. The fabled course is where Ben Hogan won the 1948 U.S. Open, and where Tiger Woods made his PGA Tour debut at 16 years old, among other historic milestones. During the first week of June, new history will be made in the canyons that define this exclusive golf club. A field of 156 women from around the world will be playing with a $12 million prize money payout on the line.

At 6,699 yards, Riviera will play long, the George Thomas Jr. 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, known to be dense enough to entrap wayward golf balls. The greens aren’t massive, rewarding strong ball-strikers. And, as with every USWO, the winner’s putter has to be hot enough to withstand four rounds on what will surely be treacherous greens running fast all week.

Advertisement

So who should be on your radar for the year’s second women’s major? Here are 10 players we’ll be watching, appearing in their order on the Rolex Women’s Rankings, from lowest to highest.

Megha Ganne

C. Morgan Engel

Age: 22 Rolex Rankings: 1,041 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 3/1 Best finish: T-14, 2021 2025 finish: DNP

The reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champ, Ganne just capped a decorated amateur career by helping Stanford claim another NCAA title. She graduates later this month, and is making her pro debut at Riviera. Ganne has a history in the USWO, playing in the final group in the final round as a teenager at Olympic Club in 2021.

Advertisement

More From Golf Digest

ShopRite LPGA Celine Boutier is a winner again on the LPGA Tour. But it wasn’t the best thing that happened to her on Sunday

LPGA Balancing Act: What it takes to be a mom and play on the LPGA

U.S. Women’s Open Riviera’s Kikuyu grass, explained

• • •

Julia Lopez Ramirez

Sarah Stier

Age: 23 Rolex Rankings: 72 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 1/1 Best finish: T-19, 2025 2025 finish: T-19

Ramirez was a breakout star last year at Erin Hills. A triple 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’s the longest hitter on the LPGA Tour in 2026, averaging 291.39 yards. Riviera is going to play long, so Ramirez’s power is going to serve her here, too.

Advertisement

• • •

Allisen Corpuz

Sarah Stier

Age: 28 Rolex Rankings: 57 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 7/3 Best finish: Win, 2023 2025 finish: T-31

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’s played there while she attend college at UCLA. Even if she hasn’t 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 UCLA practices is Bel Air C.C., designed by the same architect as Riviera, George C. Thomas, and featuring steep routing through canyons like Riviera. Corpuz is incredibly accurate off the tee (No. 4 in fairways hit), which will help keep her out of Riviera’s famously dense Kikuyu rough. And she’s won an USWO in California before: 2023 at Pebble Beach.

Advertisement

• • •

Ina Yoon

Orlando Ramirez

Age: 23 Rolex Rankings: 40 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 1/1 Best finish: T-14, 2025 2025 finish: T-14

Length will always help you at a USWO, and Yoon is ranked ninth on tour in driving distance, averaging 279 yards off the tee. Even though she’s ranked 51st in driving accuracy, she’s 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’s not in the fairway. She’s finished in the top six three times during the 2026 LPGA season.

Advertisement

1 / 12

Bill Hornstein

2 / 12

3 / 12

Carlos Amoedo

4 / 12

Taku Miyamoto/Courtesy of Riviera Golf and Tennis, Inc.

5 / 12

Bill Hornstein

6 / 12

Carlos Amoedo

7 / 12

Carlos Amoedo

8 / 12

Taku Miyamoto/Courtesy of Riviera Golf and Tennis, Inc.

9 / 12

Carlos Amoedo

10 / 12

Taku Miyamoto/Courtesy of Riviera Golf and Tennis, Inc.

11 / 12

Bill Hornstein

12 / 12

Bill Hornstein

Previous Next Pause Play false Private Riviera Country Club Pacific Palisades, CA 4.8 29 Panelists

A compact and shrewd design by George C. Thomas Jr. and associate William P. Bell, Riviera features everything from a long Redan par-3 to a bunker in the middle of a green to an alternate-fairway par-4. With its 18th green at the base of a natural amphitheater, and its primary rough consisting of club-grabbing Kikuyu, Riviera seems tailor-made as a tournament venue. It hosted a PGA Championship in 1995, a U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and a U.S. Amateur in 2017, but no U.S. Open since 1948. Riviera was recently awarded the 2031 U.S. Open, and it will also host the 2028 Olympics. But it’s the site of an annual PGA Tour event, which is even better exposure to the golf world. View Course

Advertisement

• • •

Lydia Ko

Dylan Buell

Age: 29 Rolex Rankings: 10 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 14/13 Best finish: T-3, 2016 2025 finish: T-26

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’s the owner of one of the greatest short games in golf, which is a necessity when scrambling at a USWO. She missed the cut in the first major of the year, but has three top-five finishes so far in 2026.

• • •

Miyu Yamashita

Icon Sportswire

Age: 24 Rolex Rankings: 8 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 3/2 Best finish: T-12, 2024 2025 finish: T-36

Advertisement

The 24-year-old from Japan is the LPGA’s No. 1-ranked player in strokes gained/putting. She grabbed her first major at last year’s AIG Women’s Open. Although she hasn’t won yet in 2026, she has four top-5 finishes and hits more than 80 percent of her fairways.

• • •

Hannah Green

Sarah Stier

Age: 29 Rolex Rankings: 6 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 7/7 Best finish: T-12, 2025 2025 finish: T-12

A two-time winner in 2026, the Aussie is positioned well for a run at Riviera, having never missed a cut in her previous seven USWO starts. She’s ranked No. 3 on tour in strokes gained/putting. And you’re going to need to know how to putt if you’re going to win a U.S. Women’s Open. She’s won a major before (2019 KPMG Women’s PGA) so knows the pressure or being in contention—and how to handle it.

Advertisement

• • •

Ruoning Yin

Dylan Buell

Age: 23 Rolex Rankings: 4 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 4/3 Best finish: T-4, 2025 2025 finish: T-4

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’s 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’s currently losing .73 strokes to the field.

• • •

Jeeno Thitikul

Dylan Buell

Advertisement

Age: 23 Rolex Rankings: 2 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 4/2 Best finish: T-6, 2024 2025 finish: MC

The No. 2 player in the world has two wins in 2026. Despite winning nine times in her career on the LPGA Tour, she’s yet to win a major, a blemish that’s starting to become a full-fledged problem. She’s finished in the top-10 in all of them and has won the CME Group Tour Championship twice, so it’s not like she doesn’t have the experience needed to win. She hits a lot of greens (76 percent, No. 4 on tour), which will serve her well at Riviera.

• • •

Nelly Korda

Ishika Samant

Age: 27 Rolex Rankings: 1 U.S. Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 11/8 Best finish: T-2, 2025 2025 finish: T-2

Advertisement

Korda has played in seven LPGA events in 2026 prior to the USWO, winning three of them and finishing runner-up three more times. Her total strokes gained is 4.03, tops on tour. And tee to green, she’s 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.