2011 U.S. Women's Open
The 2011 U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship was the 66th U.S. Women's Open, played July 7–11 at The Broadmoor East Course in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was one of 13 national championships conducted by the United States Golf Association. The course is at an elevation of over above sea level and previously hosted the U.S. Women's Open in 1995, the first major championship won by Annika Sörenstam. Broadmoor East was the first course in the history of the tournament to play longer than
Because of repeated weather delays during each of the tournament days, each round spanned multiple days and play was concluded on Monday, July 11.
The champion was So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, who defeated compatriot Hee Kyung Seo in a three-hole aggregate playoff. Both players finished the regulation 72 holes at 281, two strokes ahead of Cristie Kerr. Seo completed her final round on Sunday and Ryu on Monday morning. Ryu won the playoff by three strokes, with birdies on the last two holes.
This was the first U.S. Women's Open to use the three-hole aggregate playoff. The playoff was formerly 18 holes, last played in 2006; the format was changed for 2007. The tournament was televised by ESPN and NBC Sports.
Qualifying and field
The championship was open to any female professional or amateur golfer with a USGA handicap index not exceeding 4.4. Players qualified by competing in one of twenty 36-hole qualifying tournaments that took place between May 16 and June 5 at sites across the United States. Additional players were exempt from qualifying because of past performances in professional or amateur tournaments around the world.Exempt from qualifying
Many players were exempt in multiple categories. Players are listed only once, in the first category in which they became exempt, with additional categories in parentheses next to their names. Golfers qualifying in Category 10 who qualify by more than one method are also denoted with the tour by which they qualified.1. Winners of the U.S. Women's Open for the last ten years
Juli Inkster, Paula Creamer Eun-Hee Ji, Cristie Kerr, Birdie Kim, Inbee Park, Karrie Webb
Exempt but did not enter tournament: Hilary Lunke, Meg Mallon, Annika Sörenstam
2. Winner and runner-up from the 2010 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship
Danielle Kang
3. Winners of the LPGA Championship for the last five years
Anna Nordqvist, Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng
4. Winners of the Ricoh Women's British Open for the last five years
Catriona Matthew, Jiyai Shin, Sherri Steinhauer
Exempt but did not enter tournament: Lorena Ochoa
5. Winners of the Kraft Nabisco Championship for the last five years
Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Morgan Pressel
6. 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place from the 2010 U.S. Women's Open Championship
Na Yeon Choi I.K. Kim, Brittany Lang, Amy Yang, Christina Kim, Lexi Thompson, Sakura Yokomine
7. Top 70 money leaders from the 2010 final official LPGA money list
Shi Hyun Ahn, Kyeong Bae, Amanda Blumenherst, Laura Diaz, Shanshan Feng, Meaghan Francella, Katie Futcher, Sandra Gal, Natalie Gulbis, Sophie Gustafson, Hee-Won Han, Maria Hjorth, Katherine Hull, Amy Hung, M.J. Hur, Pat Hurst, Vicky Hurst, Haeji Kang, Jeong Jang, Jimin Kang, Song-Hee Kim, Candie Kung, Jee Young Lee, Meena Lee, Seon Hwa Lee, Teresa Lu, Kristy McPherson, Na On Min, Azahara Muñoz, Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, Gwladys Nocera, Se Ri Pak, Hee Young Park, Stacy Prammanasudh, Beatriz Recari, Michele Redman, Alena Sharp, Sarah Jane Smith, Angela Stanford, Karen Stupples, Momoko Ueda, Mariajo Uribe, Wendy Ward, Michelle Wie, Lindsey Wright, Sun Young Yoo, Heather Bowie Young
Exempt but did not enter tournament: Karine Icher
8. Top 10 money leaders from the 2011 official LPGA money list, through the close of entries on May 4
All players in this category already qualified in at least one other category
9. Winners of LPGA co-sponsored events, whose victories are considered official, from the conclusion of the 2010 U.S. Women's Open Championship to the initiation of the 2011 U.S. Women's Open Championship
All players in this category already qualified in at least one other category
10. Top five money leaders from the 2010 Japan LPGA Tour, Korea LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour
Japan LPGA Tour: Sun-Ju Ahn, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Yukari Baba
Korea LPGA Tour: Bo Mee Lee, Soo Jin Yang, Shin Ae Ahn, So Yeon Ryu, Hye Youn Kim
Ladies European Tour: Lee-Anne Pace, Laura Davies, Melissa Reid
Exempt but did not enter tournament: Iben Tinning
11. Special exemptions selected by the USGA'
none''
Qualifiers
The following players qualified for the 2011 U.S. Women's Open through one of the sectional qualifying tournaments. At sites with multiple qualifiers, players are listed in order of qualifying scores, from lowest score to highest.May 16 at Oak Valley Golf Club, Beaumont, California
Ariya Jutanugarn, Gabriella Then, Moriya Jutanugarn
May 16 at The Oaks Club, Osprey, Florida
Jessica Korda, Victoria Tanco, Doris Chen, Jane Park
May 16 at Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Reilley Rankin, Whitney Wade, Mariah Stackhouse
May 16 at Paradise Pointe Club, Kansas City, Missouri
Yoo Kyeong Kim
May 17 at Carolina Trace Country Club
Jean Chua, Lauren Doughtie
May 17 at Indiana Country Club, Indiana, Pennsylvania
Whitney Neuhauser, Jennifer Johnson
May 22 at Poipu Bay Golf Club, Koloa, Hawaii
Mariel Galdiano
May 23 at Lake Merced Golf Club, Daly City, California
Ryann O'Toole, Mina Harigae, Sofie Andersson, Shinobu Moromizato
May 23 at Deerwood Country Club, Jacksonwille, Florida
Mi Hyun Kim, Aree Song, Silvia Cavalleri, Lindy Duncan, Christine Wolf, Nicole Hage, Paola Morena
May 23 at Westmoreland Country Club, Wilmette, Illinois
Junthima Gulyanamitta, Brittany Johnson, Ashley Prange, Karin Sjödin
May 23 at Woodmont Country Club, Rockville, Maryland
Leta Lindley, Julieta Granada, Cindy Lacrosse, Young-A Yang, Chella Choi, Saehee Son, Danah Bordner, Joanna Coe
May 23 at Medina Golf and Country Club, Medina, Minnesota
Amy Anderson, Kelly Shon
May 23 at Fiddler's Elbow Country Club, Bedminster, New Jersey
Hee Kyung Seo, Belén Mozo, Jin Young Pak
May 23 at Royal Oakes Country Club, Vancouver, Washington
Jessi Gebhardt, Christina Proteau, Sue Kim
May 25 at Crestview Country Club, Agawam, Massachusetts
Alison Walshe, Dewi Claire Schreefel, Anna Grzebien, Jennifer Kirby, Harukyo Nomura, Brittany Marchand, Jaclyn Sweeney
May 31 at Industry Hills Golf Club, City of Industry, California
Jennifer Rosales, Stephanie Kono, Erynne Lee, Lizette Salas
May 31 at Pine Forest Country Club, Houston, Texas
Katy Harris, Lisa McCloskey, Becky Morgan
May 31 at Prestonwood Country Club, Plano, Texas
Sarah Kemp, Emily Collins, Chelsea Mocio
June 2 at Alta Mesa Golf Club, Mesa, Arizona
Kyung Kim, Betsy King, Margarita Ramos
June 5 at Broadmoor Golf Club, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Anya Alvarez, Garrett Phillips, Mallory Blackwelder
Alternates'''
Rachel Rohanna, Xi Yu Lin, and Jennifer Song – the first alternates from the Colorado Springs, Beaumont, CA, and the New Jersey qualifiers, respectively, were added to the field because all the winners of regular LPGA events from the close of entries on May 4 through the start of the U.S. Women's Open, had already qualified for the 2011 U.S. Women's Open.
Emma Talley, the first alternate from the Wilmette, Illinois qualifier was added to the field on June 27 because the winner of the LPGA Championship, Yani Tseng, had already qualified for the Championship.
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
Missed the cut
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yardage | 420 | 339 | 560 | 142 | 426 | 402 | 426 | 166 | 535 | 3,416 | 460 | 440 | 223 | 450 | 413 | 432 | 180 | 600 | 443 | 3,631 | 7,047 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
Lengths of the course for previous U.S. Women's Opens:
- 1995:, par 70
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, July 7, 2011Friday, July 8, 2011
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Stacy Lewis | 68 | −3 | |
| T2 | Amy Anderson | 69 | −2 | |
| T2 | Lizette Salas | 69 | −2 | |
| T2 | Ryann O'Toole | 69 | −2 | |
| T5 | Lindy Duncan | 70 | −1 | |
| T5 | Maria Hjorth | 70 | −1 | |
| T5 | In-Kyung Kim | 70 | −1 | |
| T5 | Mika Miyazato | 70 | −1 | |
| T5 | Ai Miyazato | 70 | −1 | |
| T5 | Karrie Webb | 70 | −1 |
Second round
Friday, July 8, 2011Saturday, July 9, 2011
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Mika Miyazato | 70-67=137 | −5 | |
| 2 | Ai Miyazato | 70-68=138 | −4 | |
| 3 | In-Kyung Kim | 70-69=139 | −3 | |
| T4 | Stacy Lewis | 68-73=141 | −1 | |
| T4 | Ryann O'Toole | 69-72=141 | −1 | |
| T6 | Paula Creamer | 72-70=142 | E | |
| T6 | Eun-Hee Ji | 73-69=142 | E | |
| T6 | Lizette Salas | 69-73=142 | E | |
| T6 | Angela Stanford | 72-70=142 | E | |
| T6 | Wendy Ward | 73-69=142 | E |
- Amateurs : M. Jutanugarn, Anderson, Tanco, Duncan, Kang, Proteau, Shon, Kono, Talley, Lin, Rohanna, A. Jutanugarn, Kirby, Lee, Kim, Collins, McCloskey, Marchand, Mocio, Chen, Wolf, Stackhouse, Ramos, Then, Galdano.
- 72 players made the 36-hole cut at 149 or better.
Third round
Sunday, July 10, 2011
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| T1 | Cristie Kerr | 71-72-69=212 | −1 | |
| T1 | So Yeon Ryu | 74-69-69=212 | −1 | |
| T1 | Angela Stanford | 72-70-70=212 | −1 | |
| T4 | Mika Miyazato | 70-67-76=213 | E | |
| T4 | Hee Kyung Seo | 72-73-68=213 | E | |
| T6 | Ai Miyazato | 70-68-76=214 | +1 | |
| T6 | Inbee Park | 71-73-70=214 | +1 | |
| T8 | Paula Creamer | 72-70-73=215 | +2 | |
| T8 | In-Kyung Kim | 70-69-76=215 | +2 | |
| T8 | Lizette Salas | 69-73-73=215 | +2 | |
| T8 | Karrie Webb | 70-73-72=215 | +2 |
Final round
Sunday, July 10, 2011Monday, July 11, 2011
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| T1 | So Yeon Ryu | 74-69-69-69=281 | −3 | Playoff | |
| T1 | Hee Kyung Seo | 72-73-68-68=281 | −3 | Playoff | |
| 3 | Cristie Kerr | 71-72-69-71=283 | −1 | 215,493 | |
| 4 | Angela Stanford | 72-70-70-72=284 | E | 150,166 | |
| 5 | Mika Miyazato | 70-67-76-72=285 | +1 | 121,591 | |
| T6 | Ai Miyazato | 70-68-76-72=286 | +2 | 98,128 | |
| T6 | Karrie Webb | 70-73-72-71=286 | +2 | 98,128 | |
| T6 | Inbee Park | 71-73-70-72=286 | +2 | 98,128 | |
| 9 | Ryann O'Toole | 69-72-75-71=287 | +3 | 81,915 | |
| T10 | In-Kyung Kim | 70-69-76-73=288 | +4 | 70,996 | |
| T10 | Jiyai Shin | 73-72-73-70=288 | +4 | 70,996 | |
| T10 | Amy Yang | 75-69-73-71=288 | +4 | 70,996 |
Amateurs: Jutanugarn, Duncan, Tanco, Anderson, Kang
Source:
Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to parSource: