U.S. Women’s Open champions (10)
Na Yeon Choi (2012), In Gee Chun (2015), Paula Creamer (2010), Eun-Hee Ji (2009), Cristie Kerr (2007), Brittany Lang (2016), Inbee Park (2008, 2013), So Yeon Ryu (2011), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Michelle Wie (2014)

U.S. Women’s Open runners-up (11)
Na Yeon Choi (2010), Cristie Kerr (2000), I.K. Kim (2013), Candie Kung (2009), Brittany Lang (2005), Stacy Lewis (2014), Anna Nordqvist (2016), Suzann Pettersen (2010), Morgan Pressel (2005), Angela Stanford (2003), Amy Yang (2012, 2015)

U.S. Women’s Amateur champions (7)
Danielle Kang (2010, 2011), Lydia Ko (2012), Jane Park (2004), Morgan Pressel (2005), Eun Jeong Seong (2016), Jennifer Song (2009), Mariajo Uribe (2007)

U.S. Women’s Amateur runners-up (6)
Virginia Elena Carta (2016), Brooke Henderson (2014), Moriya Jutanugarn (2011), Jessica Korda (2010), Azahara Munoz (2008), Jane Park (2003)

U.S. Girls’ Junior champions (7)
Ariya Jutanugarn (2011), I.K. Kim (2005), Minjee Lee (2012), Inbee Park (2002), Eun Jeong Seong (2015, 2016), Jenny Shin (2006), Lexi Thompson (2008)

U.S. Girls’ Junior runners-up (5)
Candie Kung (1997), Alison Lee (2012), Inbee Park (2003, 2005), Jane Park (2004), Angel Yin (2015)

U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champions (6)
Brianna Do (2011), Kyung Kim (2012), Tiffany Joh (2006, 2008), Candie Kung (2001), Jennifer Song (2009), Michelle Wie (2003)

U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links runners-up (3)
Eun Jeong Seong (2014), Jennifer Song (2008), Michelle Wie (2004)

USA Curtis Cup Team members (17)
Paula Creamer (2004), Austin Ernst (2012), Mariel Galdiano (2016), Tiffany Joh (2008), Cristie Kerr (1996), Kyung Kim (2014), Jessica Korda (2010), Brittany Lang (2004), Alison Lee (2014), Stacy Lewis (2008), Ally McDonald (2014), Jane Park (2004, 2006), Jennifer Song (2010), Bailey Tardy (2016), Lexi Thompson (2010), Alison Walshe (2008), Michelle Wie (2004)

GB&I Curtis Cup Team members (9)
Carly Booth (2008), Georgia Hall (2014), Charley Hull (2012), Leona Maguire (2010, 2012, 2016), Catriona Matthew (1990, 1992, 1994), Stephanie Meadow (2012, 2014), Becky Morgan (1998, 2000), Florentyna Parker (2008), Jodi Ewart Shadoff (2008)

NCAA Division I champions (4)
Virginia Elena Carta (2016, Duke), Austin Ernst (2011, Louisiana State University), Stacy Lewis (2007, University of Arkansas), Azahara Munoz (2008, Arizona State University)

Olympic Medalists (3)
Shanshan Feng (2016, bronze, People’s Republic of China), Lydia Ko (2016, silver, New Zealand), Inbee Park (2016, gold, Republic of Korea)

Players with Most U.S. Women’s Open Appearances (2017 included)
Cristie Kerr (22), Karrie Webb (22), Catriona Matthew (21), Angela Stanford (18), Candie Kung (16), Paula Creamer (15), Christina Kim (15), Suzann Pettersen (15), Morgan Pressel (15), Brittany Lincicome (14), Michelle Wie (14), Karine Icher (13), Brittany Lang (13), Jane Park (13), I.K. Kim (12), Shanshan Feng (11), Stacy Lewis (11), Ai Miyazato (11), Becky Morgan (11), Hee Young Park (11), Inbee Park (11), Lexi Thompson (11), Amy Yang (11), Sandra Gal (10), Eun Hee Ji (10), Jessica Korda (10), Jennifer Song (10), Mariajo Uribe (10)

Active Consecutive U.S. Women’s Open Appearances (2017 included)
Karrie Webb (22, 1996-2017), Cristie Kerr (20, 1998-2017), Angela Stanford (18, 2000-17), Paula Creamer (15, 2003-17), Candie Kung (15, 2003-17), Suzann Pettersen (15, 2003-17), Brittany Lincicome (14, 2004-17), Morgan Pressel (13, 2005-17), Brittany Lang (13, 2005-17), I.K. Kim (12, 2006-17), Shanshan Feng (11, 2007-17), Stacy Lewis (11, 2007-17), Hee Young Park (11, 2007-17), Lexi Thompson (11, 2007-17), Amy Yang (11, 2007-17), Eun Hee Ji (10, 2008-17), Jessica Korda (10, 2008-17)

First-Time U.S. Women’s Open Competitors (40)
Ty Akabane (a), Elin Arvidsson, Aditi Ashok, Seon Woo Bae, Sara Banke, Isabelle Boineau, Emma Bradley (a), Virginia Elena Carta (a), Anne Chen (a), Robyn Choi (a), Casey Danielson, Laura Gonzalez Escallon, Rachel Heck (a), Emma Henrikson, Suyeon Jang, Valdis Thora Jonsdottir, SoWhi Kang (a), Fumika Kawagishi, August Kim, Min Sun Kim, Jin Young Ko, Nanna Koertz Madsen, Bronte Law, Jeongeun6 Lee, Minyoung Lee, Seung Hyun Lee, Meghan MacLaren, Morgane Metraux (a), Florentyna Parker, Paula Reto, Supamas Sangchan, Brooke Seay (a), Eun Jeong Seong (a), Natalie Srinivasan (a), Maddie Szeryk (a), Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (a), Pei-Ying Tsai, Jessica Welch, Dana Williams (a), Weiwei Zhang

2009 U.S. Girls’ Junior Competitors, conducted on the Old and New Courses at Trump National, Bedminster (12)
Austin Ernst, Ariya Jutanugarn (quarterfinalist), Danielle Kang, Kim Kaufman (quarterfinalist), Kyung Kim, Jessica Korda, Alison Lee, Ally McDonald, Stephanie Meadow, Jenny Shin, Kelly Shon, Lexi Thompson

Countries Represented in the Field (28)
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, People’s Republic of China, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Korea, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United States of America, and Wales

States Represented in the Field (17)
Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin

CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The USGA accepted 1,709 entries for the 72nd U.S. Women’s Open. The 2015 championship at Lancaster (Pa.) Country Club holds the entry record with 1,873.

The 156-player field includes 97 fully exempt golfers, 10 of who are past Women’s Open champions. Sectional qualifying, conducted over 36 holes, was held at 25 sites between May 22 and June 12, four international (England, Japan, People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea) and 21 in the United States.

Katherine Kirk, who won the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic on Sunday, July 9, was the final player to accept an exemption into the championship. The final six players in the field were added on Monday, July 10: Sara Banke, Nelly Korda, Madelene Sagstrom, Maddie Szeryk (a), Alison Walshe and Angel Yin – all of whom were first alternates from their respective sectional qualifying sites. The final spots had been held for players who might have earned an exemption by moving into the top 50 of the Rolex Rankings as of July 9.

Amateur Players in the Field (21)
Ty Akabane, Emma Bradley, Virginia Elena Carta, Anne Chen, Robyn Choi, Hye-Jin Choi, Mariel Galdiano, Rachel Heck, SoWhi Kang, Dylan Kim, Jennifer Kupcho, Leona Maguire, Morgane Metraux, Brooke Seay, Eun Jeong Seong, Natalie Srinivasan, Lauren Stephenson, Bailey Tardy, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit, Dana Williams

Top-Ranked Amateur Players in the Field
Eleven amateurs are in the top 50 of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™ as of July 5:

No. 1 – Leona Maguire
No. 2 – Hye-Jin Choi
No. 5 – Mariel Galdiano
No. 6 – Eun Jeong Seong
No. 11 – Jennifer Kupcho
No. 12 – Bailey Tardy
No. 16 – Virginia Elena Carta
No. 18 – Lauren Stephenson
No. 30 – Maddie Szeryk
No. 32 – Paphangkorn Tavatanakit
No. 43 – Morgane Metraux

Notable Amateur Storylines
Hye-Jin Choi, 17, one of three amateurs to return a 72-hole score in the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open at CordeValle, earned low-amateur honors. In 2016, Choi won the individual Women’s World Amateur Team Championship and helped the Republic of Korea capture the team title. She also won the 2016 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. This year she won the Australian Women’s Amateur, and has played in two LPGA events, finishing in the top 30 in both appearances: ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open (T-7) and the Lotte Championship (T-30).

Mariel Galdiano, 19, of Pearl City, Hawaii, is playing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Open – the most of any amateur in the field. She first qualified in 2011 at age 13, and played in the 2013 and 2015 championships. In the 2015 U.S. Women’s Open, she finished T-42, one stroke behind Megan Khang, who claimed low-amateur honors. In 2016, Galdiano, a rising sophomore at UCLA who won the 2015 Canadian Women’s Amateur, represented the USA Team in the Curtis Cup Match and the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship. In the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur, she carded a championship-record, 9-under-par 133 to earn medalist honors, besting the previous 36-hole record by two strokes. 

Leona Maguire, 22, the Mark H. McCormack Medal winner in 2015 and 2016 as the top-ranked player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking™, won the 2017 Ladies British Open Amateur Championship. A rising senior at Duke University, along with her identical twin sister, Lisa, she compiled a 70.29 stroke average during the 2016-17 season, which is the second-lowest average in NCAA history as well as a Duke and ACC single-season record. She has seven career collegiate victories, including the 2015 and 2017 ACC Championships and 2015 NCAA South Bend (Ind.) Regional. She and Jennifer Kupcho, who is also in the Women's Open field, finished runner-up to Monica Vaughn in the 2017 NCAA championship. In 2017, Maguire became the first two-time recipient of the Annika Award, given to the top college player of the year. She also earned the award following her freshman year. In 2016, she helped the Great Britain & Ireland Team win the Curtis Cup and represented the Republic of Ireland in the Olympic Games, where she earned low-amateur honors.

Eun Jeong Seong, 17, is the reigning U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, earning a 1-up victory over Virginia Elena Carta at Rolling Green Golf Club in Springfield, Pa., last August. With her victory, Seong, of the Republic of Korea, became the first player to win both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships in the same year, and the third female to win multiple USGA championships in the same year. Seong, who also won the 2015 U.S. Girls’ Junior, is the first player since Hollis Stacy, who won her third straight in 1971, to successfully defend her U.S. Girls’ Junior title. She is also the youngest player in history to have appeared in four USGA championship finals, with her lone loss to Fumie (Alice) Jo in the 2014 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. In 2017, she has played in four LPGA events: Kia Classic (MC), ANA Inspiration (MC), Lotte Championship (T-16) and the Volunteers of America Texas Shootout (T-40).

Bailey Tardy, 20, of Peachtree Corners, Ga., is a rising junior at the University of Georgia. She has qualified for three consecutive U.S. Women’s Opens, all from the sectional qualifier at Butler (Pa.) Country Club.

Youngest Competitor
At 15 years, 8 months and 21 days of age as of July 13 (the first day of the championship), Rachel Heck, of Memphis, Tenn., is the championship’s youngest competitor. Anne Chen (15/11/16) is the only other 15-year-old in the competition. 

Oldest Competitor
At age 47, Catriona Matthew, of Scotland, is the championship’s oldest competitor. Becky Morgan, 42, of Wales, is the championship’s oldest qualifier.

Field by Age
Age 15-19 – 20 players
Age 20-29 – 103 players
Age 30-39 – 30 players
Age 40-49 – 3 players

The average age of the championship field is 25.56.

Championship Birthdays 
Four players in the U.S. Women’s Open field will celebrate a birthday during championship week: Inbee Park of the Republic of Korea (turning 29 on July 12), Pernilla Lindberg of Sweden (turning 31 on July 13), Lauren Stephenson of Columbia, S.C. (turning 20 on July 13), and Hyo Joo Kim, of the Republic of Korea (turning 22 on July 14).

Sisters in the Field 
For the third consecutive year, and fourth time overall, sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, of Thailand, are in the field. Both exempt from qualifying, Ariya (236) and Moriya (235) lead the LPGA in birdies this year. Also in the field together for the third time are sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda. Nelly, the first alternate from the sectional qualifier in Bradenton, Fla., accepted a spot in the field on Monday, July 10, while Jessica was exempt from qualifying.

The Jutanugarns and Kordas are two of seven sets of sisters to have competed in the same U.S. Women’s Open:

Danielle and Dina Ammaccapane (8) – 1991-93, 1996, 1998-99, 2001-02
Alice Bauer and Marlene Bauer Hagge (12) – 1947, 1949-55, 1957-58, 1964, 1966
Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn (4) – 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017
Jessica and Nelly Korda (2) – 2013, 2016, 2017
Aree and Naree Song (2) – 2003, 2005
Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam (8) – 1997, 1999-2005
Hollis Stacy and Martha Stacy Leach (1) – 1980

Tri-State Connections
Though she currently resides in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Marina Alex is a self-proclaimed “Jersey Girl” who was born and raised in Wayne, less than 40 miles from Bedminster. She already has two holes-in-one this year.

Kelly Shon is from Port Washington, N.Y., about 75 miles from Bedminster. A graduate of Princeton University, she is the only player from Princeton to play on the LPGA Tour, and just the third LPGA player from an Ivy League school, joining Yale’s Heather Daly-Donofrio and Jeehae Lee.

What the Winner Receives
In addition to prize money, the champion will receive a gold medal, custody of the Harton S. Semple Trophy for the ensuing year and an exemption from qualifying for the next 10 U.S. Women’s Open Championships.

The 2017 purse is $5 million. The 2016 purse was $4.5 million, and the winner earned $810,000. 

Title Defense
Should Brittany Lang win, she would become the eighth player to successfully defend her championship title. She would join Mickey Wright (1958-59), Donna Caponi (1969-70), Susie Maxwell Berning (1972-73), Hollis Stacy (1977-78), Betsy King (1989-90), Annika Sorenstam (1995-96) and Karrie Webb (2000-01).

Year, Champion, Result in Defense
2016, Brittany Lang, ???
2015, In Gee Chun, Missed cut
2014, Michelle Wie, 11
2013, Inbee Park, T43
2012, Na Yeon Choi, T17
2011, So Yeon Ryu, T14
2010, Paula Creamer, T15
2009, Eun-Hee Ji, T39
2008, Inbee Park, T26
2007, Cristie Kerr, T13