The field for the 80th United States Women’s Open at Erin Hills is beginning to take shape, as eight former champions have been accepted into the tournament.
The United States Golf Association announced Thursday that 1,904 entries were accepted for the tournament that will be held May 29-June 1 at the championship golf course in Erin.
It is the second-most entries for a Women’s Open, trailing only the 2023 event at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California (2,107). Among those entrants are eight former tournament champions, who are exempt from qualifying.
That group includes defending champ Yuka Saso, who won the Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Saso, still just 23 years old, became the youngest player to win multiple Women’s Opens, as she captured the 2021 event as well.
Saso will be joined by past champions Gee Chun (2015), Sung Hyun Park (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2018), Jeongeun Lee6 (2019), A Lim Kim (2020), Minjee Lee (2022) and Allisen Corpuz (2023).
Along with the former champions, the field list for the championship includes 24 of the top 25 players in the world. That list includes world No. 1 Nelly Korda, No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul and No. 3 Lydia Ko.
The entire field will consist of 156 players and 84 already are exempt from qualifying, a group that will only grow as the golf season continues. Others who will enter that group are LPGA Tournament champions prior to the Women’s Open, top-75 point leaders in the Rolex Rankings who are not already exempt, and the winners of the Chevron Championship, Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship and NCAA Women’s Division I championship (the latter two must remain amateurs, however).
Erin Hills will be hosting its fifth USGA championship, which includes the 2017 U.S. Open won by Brooks Koepka. It will become the 16th course to host both men's and women's opens. The 2025 championship will be the third to be held in Wisconsin: Blackwolf Run in Kohler hosted the 1998 and 2012 championships.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 8 former champs, No. 1 Nelly Korda 2025 in U.S. Women’s Open field
