U.S. Women’s Open: World’s best female golfers set to battle it out at iconic Pebble Beach course

It has only been two weeks since the last major, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, and with the dust only just settling on China’s Ruoning Yin’s maiden victory, the world’s best now descend on one of golf’s most iconic and historic courses – Pebble Beach Golf Links – for the first time ever to contest the U.S. Women’s Open.

The oldest major in women’s golf, will head to the famous layout on the Monterey Peninsula which has witnessed some of the sport’s biggest names lift the grandest of prizes, and Australia’s Minjee Lee will hope to add her name to that list by defending the title that she won in historic fashion last year.

Whilst many will be keeping an eye on how Lee fares, there will be particular focus on one of the hottest prospects to have graced the game in recent years, 20-year-old Rose Zhang, who won on her LPGA debut just nine days after turning professional last month.

Not only will there be an expectancy due to her recent win and impressive finish at last months major at Baltusrol, but also – and you’ll hear it plenty this week – Zhang holds the Pebble Beach women’s competitive course record (63), carded during the second round of the Carmel Cup last September.

Zhang’s rapid rise has even surprised herself.

“I would have never expected myself to be in this position,” Zhang said about her immediate success as a professional.

“Just being able to be in contention has been incredible, feeling-wise, and I feel like my game has been on par with a lot of the professionals and the veterans out here.

“But, yeah, it’s not something that I anticipated, and I have just felt like these positions have just been, I guess, in a way it has helped me to really realize that I have a lot of potential and I can become better.

“I’m always just someone to try to put my foot forward and improve even more.”

The season’s third major also presents an opportunity for the top-ranked players to bounce back from disappointing performances at Baltusrol where current World No. 1 Jin Young Ko finished tied for 20th and Lilia Vu, Atthaya Thitikul and Nelly Korda all missed the cut.

World No.2 Korda recorded rounds of 76 and 77 to miss the cut by six, but the 24-year-old insists she didn’t get too hung up on when she spoke to the media this week.

“It was obviously pretty disappointing,” she said. “I flew out on Friday right after the round – I think it’s just golf.

“You constantly go through it just like the roller coasters of it. I think it just makes you appreciate the highs more, I would say.

“But I’ve been making sure that I was mentally ready to come into this week. I just put my head down and grinded. I love that about golf. I think no one knows everything and no one is an expert, and I think that this is the beauty of the game, is that everyone experiences highs and lows.”

European hopefuls include the likes of Ireland’s Leona Maguire, who held the overnight lead heading into the final round at Baltusrol, and Sweden’s Linn Grant, who’ll be aiming to follow in her compatriot’s footsteps and become the first European winner since Annika Sorenstam in 1996.