The 2026 U.S. Women’s Open will be the first time the U.S. Golf Association Women’s Championship will be held at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, but it won’t be the first time women will make history at one of America’s most iconic golf courses. It happened many months ago.
(At the 1945 LA Open, Sam Snead birdied the final hole and beat Byron Nelson by one stroke.) But history had already been made by then, and it wasn’t made by humans. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, playing her second LA Open after qualifying Monday with a round of 76-76, fell within the 36-hole cut and became the first (and still only) woman on the PGA Tour to make it through the weekend.
Zacharias ultimately played in seven tournaments on the PGA Tour during his career, including three at the LA Open, but it was the 1945 event that is highlighted in the history books to this day.
More history has been made on the men’s side at Riviera, where the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational continues to be held each year, but this week that opportunity will be given to the women’s side.
“I don’t think women’s golf is valued as much as it should be,” Alison Lee said. “We’ve got some really great golfers here. We want more people to come out and see how great they are. The fact that we’re here in Los Angeles, I mean, they don’t have any excuses.”
“The Kings lost, the Lakers lost. They can come here and watch. There’s nothing else going on this week. So they have time.”
And with Chance Knocking, there’s a good chance world number one Nelly Korda will give us the answer.
Korda can claim the title as the LPGA’s only major winner this season, as he came away from the field at the Chevron Championship in late April to win by five strokes on another golf course commonly seen on the PGA Tour. She had three wins and three runner-up finishes in six starts before finishing T8 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in May.
But the three-time major champion’s checkered history has made the U.S. Women’s Open a kind of white whale. Korda, who missed out on qualifying in 2024 after scoring an 80 at Lancaster Country Club, narrowly missed out on Erin Hills in 2025, but settled for a T2 finish behind winner Maja Stark. Her runner-up finish was her third top-10 finish in 11 championship appearances.
If this championship turns out to be against Korda, many others will be left to munch on the spoils, as she is one of the few players to have won multiple times on tour this season. Gino Titicle has two wins thanks to a four-stroke victory at the Mizuho Americas Open. Hannah Green has several titles under her belt, Kim Hyo-joo also won back-to-back titles in March, and it was supposed to be an exciting week in Los Angeles for the U.S. Women’s Open.
2026 U.S. Women’s Open Field Odds
Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
- Nelly Korda (7/2)
- Gino Titicle (9-1)
- Kim Hyo Joo (13-1)
- Luoning Ying (13-1)
- Hannah Green (18-1)
- Miyu Yamashita (26-1)
- Choi Hye Jin (27-1)
- Lydia Ko (27-1)
- Minjee Lee (30-1)
- Charlie Hull (34-1)
- Lottie Ward (39-1)
2026 US Women’s Open TV Schedule
always east
Round 1 — Thursday, June 4th
- TV Broadcast: 2pm to 7pm on USA Network | 7pm to 10pm on Peacock
- Stream Featured Groups: USGA App, Peacock from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Round 2 — Friday, June 5th
- TV Broadcast: 2pm to 7pm on USA Network | 7pm to 10pm on Peacock
- Stream Featured Groups: USGA App, Peacock from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Round 3 — Saturday, June 6th
- TV Broadcast: 5-7pm on USA Network | 7-10pm on NBC, Peacock
- Featured Group Stream: TBA on USGA App, Peacock
Round 4 — Sunday, June 7th
- TV coverage: 5pm to 8pm on NBC | 3pm to 8pm on Peacock
- Featured Group Stream: TBA on USGA App, Peacock
