A major test: Golfers face new track at 80th US Women’s Open

ERIN,Wisconsin: When it comes to the USGA’s desire to challenge the best players in the world, the US Women’s Open is no different from the men’s version.

“It’s the biggest test in the game of golf,” world No. 1 Nelly Korda said. “Definitely has tested me a lot. I love it.”

The LPGA schedule has reached its summer stretch, when majors dominate the landscape. This week, a field of 156 (including 26 amateurs) will test themselves at the 80th US Women’s Open at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin

The championship’s winning score has been just 3 or 4 under par in three of the last five editions, and players are planning for another stiff test in Erin Hills’ US Women’s Open debut. The most difficult major is also the most lucrative: It featured a record $12 million in prize money in 2024, a number expected to rise again this week.

Erin Hills is on the lengthier side for the ladies as a par-72, 6,829-yard track. That won’t faze Korda, one of the longest drivers in the women’s game, but she’s got an eye on the various fairway bunkers that threaten to eat up tee shots.

Korda is having a much different start to this season than in 2024, when she won five starts in a row and seven tournaments in total. She’s notched three top-10 finishes but no victories just yet.

“Definitely have had a bit of good and a bit of bad,” she said. “Kind of a mix in kind of every event that I’ve played in. I would say just patience is what I’ve learned and kind of going back home and really locking in and practicing hard.”

With one more week in the top spot of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda will become the first American woman to spend 100 weeks at No. 1 in her career.

She’s hardly the only player chasing history this week. Lydia Ko of