The 2021 U.S. Women's Open was the 76th U.S. Women's Open, played June 3âÂÂ6, 2021 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.
The U.S. Women's Open is the oldest of the five current major championships and was the second of the 2021 season. It has the largest purse in women's golf at $5.5 million.
The winner was the Philippines' Yuka Saso, who defeated Japan's Nasa Hataoka on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff after both players had tied at 280 (4 under par). In third place was American Lexi Thompson, who had held a five stroke lead just before the midway point of the final round but dropped five strokes on the back-nine, including bogeys on each of the last two holes, to miss the playoff by one stroke.
The 2021 U.S. Women's Open was played on The Olympic Club's Lake course, which had previously hosted the men's U.S. Open five times. It was the first time the tournament had been in California since 2016, when it took place at CordeValle Golf Club.
The field for the U.S. Women's Open is made up of players who gain entry through qualifying events and those who are exempt from qualifying. The exemption criteria include provision for recent major champions, winners of major amateur events, and leading players in the Women's World Golf Rankings. 156 players will make up the field.
This list details the exemption criteria for the 2021 U.S. Women's Open and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players are exempt is indicated in parentheses.
1. Recent winners of the U.S. Women's Open (2011âÂÂ2020)
2. The leading ten players, and those tying for tenth place, in the 2020 U.S. Women's Open
3. The winner of the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur
4. The runner-up in the 2020 U.S. Women's Amateur
5. Recent winners of the ANA Inspiration (2017âÂÂ2021)
6. Recent winners of the Women's PGA Championship (2017âÂÂ2020)
7. Recent winners of Evian Championship (2016âÂÂ2019)
8. Recent winners of WomenâÂÂs British Open (2016âÂÂ2020)
9. The leading 30 players from the 2020 LPGA Race to the CME Globe final points standings
10. Winners of official LPGA Tour events from the originally scheduled date of the 2020 U.S. Women's Open to the start of the 2021 tournament
11. The winner of the 2021 Augusta National Women's Amateur
12. The winner of the 2020 Womens Amateur Championship
13. The winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2020
14. The leading 10 players on the 2021 Race to CME Globe points standings as of April 14, 2021
15. The leading 75 players on the Women's World Golf Rankings as of April 14, 2021
16. The leading 75 players on the Women's World Golf Rankings not otherwise exempt as of May 17, 2021
17. The leading player from the 2020 China LPGA Tour order of merit not otherwise exempt as of April 14, 2021
18. The top four finishers in the 2020 South African Women's Open
19. The leading two players from the 2020 LPGA of Korea Tour order of merit not otherwise exempt as of April 14, 2021
20. Special exemptions
The championship is open to any female professional or amateur golfer with a USGA or World Handicap System index not exceeding 2.4. Players may qualify by competing in tournaments of over 36 holes held between April 21 and May 13, 2021, at 22 designated sites. The following table details the players who qualified.
The following players gained a place in the field having finished as the leading alternates in the specified final qualifying events:
Thursday, June 3, 2021
Source:
Friday, June 4, 2021
Source:
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Source:
Sunday, June 6, 2021
Source:
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par<br>
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par<br> <small>Source:</small>