ERIN, Wis. — Angel Yin started experimenting with a new putter about a month ago and decided to use it in a tournament for the first time at the most prestigious event in women’s golf.
The move worked well in the first round at Erin Hills.
Yin made a 13 1/2-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 68 and a share of the U.S. Women’s Open lead with 2020 champion A Lim Kim, Jinhee Im, Yealimi Noh, Rio Takeda and Julia Lopez Ramirez.
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“I know U.S. Open is going to be extremely fast, so I wanted to find a putter that will hold the ground and just do what I want it to do,” Yin said. “It just so happened to be this putter. I started tinkering with it like about a month ago, and I got lucky to use it.”
The 26-year-old from California qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open as a 13-year-old at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin, back in 2012. She has experienced plenty of ups and downs since at this event.
She tied for second in 2019 at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina, but that’s the last time she finished under par at the U.S. Women’s Open. Yin missed the cut last year with a pair of 75s.
“Either really good or really, really terrible, where I don’t see the weekend,” Yin said. “I think it just says a lot about the championship. You have to play your best. There is no mediocre. … You can try to make good saves, but at the end of the day, if you don’t have it, you don’t have it.”
The biggest surprise among the early leaders was Lopez Ramirez, who had a bogey-free round in her U.S. Women’s Open debut.
Lopez Ramirez won consecutive Southeastern Conference titles at Mississippi State in 2023 and 2024, but she suffered a major setback earlier this year when what she initially believed was a bout of food poisoning actually was a case of appendicitis. Less than three months after her appendectomy, the Spaniard was in early contention at the top event in women’s golf.
“I feel like my confidence is coming back,” said Lopez Ramirez, whose highest finish this year is a tie for 29th.
Takeda started at No. 10 and made six birdies in a nine-hole stretch from No. 14 through No. 4 to make up for her bogeys at Nos. 17 and 2. Noh benefited from an eagle in the par-5 14th. Im had a bogey-free round that included four birdies in a span of five holes from Nos. 10-14. Kim made birdie putts of 42 1/2 feet on No. 1 and 32 1/2 feet on No. 3.
Chisato Iwai, Nasa Hataoka, Chiara Tamburlini, Youmin Hwang and Yui Kawamoto shot 69. Hinako Shibuno, Maja Stark, Pajaree Anannarukarn, Jiwon Jean, Shiho Kuwaki, Gaby Lopez and Mao Saigo were at 70. Saigo won the year’s first major, the Chevron Championship in Texas.
Those scores are notable because only two players finished under par in last year’s U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, with Yuka Saso posting a winning four-round total of 4-under 276. Saso, who is seeking her third U.S. Women’s Open title, had a 74 on Thursday.
Noh said the low scores at the 6,829-yard, par-72 course didn’t surprise her. Erin Hills’ difficulty often is based on the strength of the wind, and it was relatively calm early Thursday. Stronger winds are expected Friday.
“There are some tees out that are pulled up, and a lot of the par-5s, I think all of them are reachable,” Noh said. “Some par 3s were shorter than normal. So, I think for sure, with the minimal wind today, it was definitely a good scoring day.”
As an indication of how forgiving this course can be when there isn’t much wind, Brooks Koepka won the 2017 U.S. Open at 16 under to tie the tournament record during a pretty calm week at Erin Hills.
Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked player, had a 72 as she chases her first U.S. Women’s Open title. She has never finished her than a tie for eighth.
Korda entered this week having birdied an LPGA Tour-leading 29.17% of the time, but she didn’t make a single birdie until her final hole of the day. This still represented a better start for Korda than last year, when she made a 10 on her third hole of the tournament, carded an 80 in the opening round and went on to miss the cut.
“Overall, I can’t complain,” Korda said. “First day of the U.S. Open, it’s all about patience. I’m striking it pretty well, so hopefully I can carry that into the next couple days.”
Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul had a 75. No. 3 Lydia Ko shot 73.
