For the first time in the history of the most prestigious championship in women’s golf, the US Women’s Open is coming to Riviera Country Club in southern California. The fabled course is where Ben Hogan won the 1948 US Open, and where Tiger Woods made his PGA Tour debut at 16 years of age, among other historic milestones. This week, new history will be made in the canyons that define the exclusive golf club. A field of 156 women from around the world will be playing with a $US12 million prizemoney payout on the line.
RELATED: Lexi Thompson is missing her first US Women’s Open in nearly two decades. Here’s what she had to say about it
At 6,699 yards (6,126 metres), Riviera will play long, the George Thomas Jnr 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 large, rewarding strong ball-strikers. And, as with every US Women’s Open, the winner’s putter has to be hot enough to withstand four rounds on what will surely be treacherous greens running fast all week.
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
Age: 22
Rolex Rankings: 1,041
US Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 3/1
Best finish: T-14, 2021
2025 finish: DNP
The reigning US Women’s Amateur champion, Ganne just capped a decorated amateur career by helping Stanford University claim another NCAA title. She graduates later this month, and is making her pro debut at Riviera. Ganne has history in the US Women’s Open, playing in the final group in the final round as a teenager at Olympic Club in 2021.
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Julia Lopez Ramirez 
Photo: Sarah Stier
Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 72
US 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-bogey 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 291.4 yards (266.5 metres). Riviera is going to play long, so Ramirez’s power is going to serve her there, too.
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Allisen Corpuz 
Photo: Sarah Stier
Age: 28
Rolex Rankings: 57
US 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 where UCLA practises is Bel Air Country Club, designed by the same architect as Riviera, George C. Thomas, and featuring a steep routing through canyons like Riviera. Corpuz is incredibly accurate off the tee (fourth in fairways hit), which will help keep her out of Riviera’s dense kikuyu rough. And she’s won a US Women’s Open in California before: in 2023 at Pebble Beach.
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Ina Yoon
Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 40
US Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 1/1
Best finish: T-14, 2025
2025 finish: T-14
Length will always help you at a US Women’s Open, and Yoon is ranked ninth on the LPGA Tour in driving distance, averaging 279 yards (255 metres) 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.
Photo: Bill Hornstein
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Lydia Ko 
Photo: Dylan Buell
Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 10
US 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 US Women’s Open. She missed the cut in the first major of the year, but has three top-five finishes so far in 2026.
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Miyu Yamashita 
Photo: Icon Sportswire
Age: 24
Rolex Rankings: 8
US Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 3/2
Best finish: T-12, 2024
2025 finish: T-36
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.
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Hannah Green
Age: 29
Rolex Rankings: 6
US 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 US Women’s Open starts. She’s ranked third on the LPGA Tour in strokes gained/putting. And you’re going to need to know how to putt if you’re going to win a US 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.
RELATED: US Women’s Open next target on Hannah Green’s hit list
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Ruoning Yin 
Photo: Dylan Buell
Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 4
US 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 0.73 strokes to the field.
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Jeeno Thitikul 
Photo: Dylan Buell
Age: 23
Rolex Rankings: 2
US 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 fully 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, fourth on tour), which will serve her well at Riviera.
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Nelly Korda 
Photo: Ishika Samant
Age: 27
Rolex Rankings: 1
US Women’s Open starts/Cuts made: 11/8
Best finish: T-2, 2025
2025 finish: T-2
Korda has played in seven LPGA events in 2026 prior to the US Women’s Open, winning three of them and finishing runner-up three more times. Her total strokes gained is 4.03 – the best 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.