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Women’s US Open at Pebble
Third Major of the year on the women’s side heads to Pebble Beach, LIV returns to London, John Deere Classic preview, and more
Jack Middlebrook
July 05, 2023
Purses
LIV London
U.S. Women's Open
John Deere Classic
Made in HimmerLand
MBN Ladies Open
MinebeaMitsumi Ladies Hokkaido Shimbun Cup
U.S. Women's Open
This week, the spotlight of the golfing world is on the U.S. Women's Open. The prestigious tournament is set to take place at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links. Pebble has previously held the U.S. Open for the men’s six times but this will be the first for the women.
It's #USWomensOpen week! 😍
Welcome to Pebble Beach.
— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen)
1:52 PM • Jul 3, 2023
The tournament features the strongest field of the year on the women’s side. The defending champ is Minjee Lee, who claimed her first major last year at Pine Needles. The Australian star has had a run of good finishes since her playoff loss at the Cognizant Founders Cup and looks ready to take on Pebble.
The world's number one, Jin Young Ko of South Korea, arrives with a pair of wins and a tie for twentieth at the Women’s PGA Championship. She hasn’t missed a cut all year and looks poised for another good finish this week.
Nelly Korda is a bit of a question mark after the missed cut at the Women’s PGA Championship. With just a week off after the less-than-stellar play, hopefully, her back is feeling good, and will be back in the hunt this week.
Lydia Ko, ranked third, has had steady if unspectacular performances in recent tournaments, with her best finish being T3 at the Aramco Team Series in Florida.
Keep an eye on another contender, Ruoning Yin from China. Fresh off a win at the Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol, Yin's excellent ball-striking skills are a great fit for the small greens at Pebble Beach.
Rose Zhang makes her second major start as a professional after a solid tie for eighth at Baltusrol. She does have some history at Pebble, having played a collegiate event for Standford last September and shot a 63, hitting all 18 greens. Good signs for Rose this week!
Tee times for the first two rounds of the 78th #USWomensOpen are LIVE. 🚨
— U.S. Women's Open (USGA) (@uswomensopen)
4:31 PM • Jul 4, 2023
Another player to keep an eye on this week is Miyuu Yamashita of Japan. She is the 19th-ranked player globally, and her recent performances in Japan have been Tigeresque - 3 wins in her last six tournaments, with the others being a tie for second, a tie for third, and a tie for tenth. This will be her first event of the year in the States. Hopefully, jet lag doesn’t hit too hard, and we can see how her stuff stacks up against the best in the world.
A major highlight of this week is the final professional appearance of Michelle Wie West. Wie West is concluding her illustrious career with five LPGA victories, including a 2014 U.S. Women’s Open win at Pinehurst. She didn't make the cut in the last two U.S. Opens she participated in, but we anticipate her final tournament to be memorable.
LIV London
LIV returns to its inaugural venue, Centurion Club in London, for its ninth event this year.
The defending champion, Charl Schwartzel, won the event last year by one shot. His form recently has not been great, with his best finish this year being a tie for seventh in Adelaide.
The stop in London will be LIV’s last event before The Open Championship. As of the qualifying tournaments that finished yesterday, there will be 16 LIV players in the field at The Open at Royal Liverpool.
Cam Smith, the defending Open Champion, has been trending in the right direction with a string of top 10 finishes along with a tie for twelfth last week.
Similarly, the PGA Champion Brooks Koepka enters the week on the back of a 3rd place finish at LIV Valderrama and looking for a last tune-up before the Open.
Talor Gooch has had major success internationally this year. He has won in Spain, Singapore, and Australia and will look to add another title in England to extend his lead in the LIV season-long points race.
PGA Tour - John Deere Classic
The PGA Tour heads to Silvis, Illinois, for the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. The field is lighter this week before the PGA Tour heads to Scotland for the co-sanctioned Scottish Open with the DP World Tour.
JT Poston returns to defend his title after a wire-to-wire victory propelled him to a spot in the Tour Championship last year.
Emiliano Grillo, who tied for second place in the last year’s event, has had some strong recent results outside of the missed cut at the US Open, finishing T15 at the Travelers Championship and claiming a playoff victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
Cameron Young, the highest-ranked player in the field, will also be vying for his first PGA Tour win. The American, currently world number 19, has had a somewhat mixed season with finishes like T60 at the Travelers Championship and T32 at the US Open.
Others to watch include Denny McCarthy, who arrives off the back of a top-10 finish at the Travelers Championship and a playoff loss to Viktor Hovland at the Memorial.
While the field might not be the strongest, you can be guaranteed a lot of birdies at TPC Deere Run. Three of the last four winners have gotten it below 20 under for the tournament, with Michael Kim winning in 2018 at a blistering 27 under.
DP World Tour - Made in HimmerLand
This week the DP World Tour travels to Farsø, Denmark, for the Made in HimmerLand tournament at HimmerLand Golf & Spa Resort. Oliver Wilson is the defending champion, but locals will be eagerly following Danish players, including the Højgaard twins, Nicolai and Rasmus, and Thorbjørn Olesen, aiming for their maiden home title win.
Three slots for The Open Championship await the top non-exempt performers. Spanish players Pablo Larrazabal and Adrian Otaegui, recent winners at the KLM Open and Korea Championship respectively, are also strong contenders in the field.