US Women’s Open where 4 Canadians compete for a record purse

The winner of the 2023 US Women’s Open will cash a $2 million check as part of the record $11 million purse at Pebble Beach.

Last month, the Women’s PGA Championship paid $1.5 million to the winner as part of a $10 million total event purse, furthering the trend of winning tournament prizes on the LPGA Tour.

“I have to say, as someone who has spent much of his life on the women’s side of the game, to sit on Pebble Beach talking about going to Pine Valley, talking about 12 hours of network TV and playing for $11 million, some things are better than you dream of,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said Wednesday.

The USGA received a record number of event registrations – 2,107, a record 250 – for the US Women’s Open. The winner claimed a $1.8 million prize last year and a total of $10 million in winnings was handed out.

“It doesn’t matter what city you live in, the clothes you wear, or the clubs you play with,” said Shannon Rouillard, senior director of USGA’s Open Women’s Championships. “If you can get the ball in the hole, you have a chance to compete in the US Women’s Open.”

Pebble Beach will again host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2035, USGA President Fred Perpall said in a statement announcing the upcoming host venues.

“As a girl dad, I can’t wait to see one of these impressive ladies sink the putt at 18 to win a US Open,” said Perpall. “I know all the little girls out there now get to dream their dream of sinking that putt at 18, and what a special gift that is, not just to the little ladies but to the entire game of golf.”

Henderson, three amateurs form a Canadian contingent

Monet Chun is one of four Canadians to tee off at the third major of the women’s golf season. World No. 11 Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., is the top-ranked Canadian in the field, with Chun, Lauren Kim of Surrey, BC, and Celeste Dao of Notre-Dame-de-l’Ile-Perrot, Que., all amateurs.

“It’s a really great opportunity,” Chun said after finishing training at Pebble Beach. “I’m getting the chance to see where I stand.

“Of course I would really like to turn pro, but that will only be after I graduate. So just a good test.”

All three Canadian amateurs are on NCAA school golf teams. Chun plays for Michigan, Kim attends the University of Texas and Dao is in Georgia.

Chun qualified for the US Women’s Open runner-up from last year’s US Women’s Amateur Championship. Kim earned her berth on May 15 at a qualifier at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam, BC, and Dao did the same at Duxbury Yacht Club in Duxbury, Massachusetts, on June 7.

“I think we’re all pretty excited about it and really good opportunities for all three of us,” said Chun. “I think we just want to play the best we can here.

Chun currently ranks 95th in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, having won this year’s Lady Buckeye Invitational and the 2022 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. That makes her the highest ranked Canadian in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings. Kim is 121st overall and Dao is 1,081st.

Chun said she just wants to focus on her game at the US Open instead of setting goals for the week.

“I think once I get caught up in the score it’s just going to be in my head a lot,” she said. “So right now I’m just playing to the best of my ability and seeing where my game is at this point and trying to put a target there.”

Henderson qualified for the US Women’s Open as the reigning winner of the Evian Championship, but would also have made it to Pebble Beach based on four other qualifiers.

She finished 15th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on June 25, six shots behind China’s Ruoning Yin. The Women’s PGA Championship was the second major of the season and the most recent event on the LPGA Tour calendar.