1. For the second day in a row, a teenager stole the headlines at The Olympic Club. 19-year-old Yuka Saso shot a second-round 67 to become the first teenager to lead the U.S. Women’s Open after 36 holes since Angela Park in 2008. Through two rounds, Saso is among the leaders in putts per green in regulation (1.54) and putt make percentage from 10 to 20 feet (62.5%).
2. If Saso goes on to win on Sunday, she won’t quite make history as the youngest U.S. Women’s Open champion of all time. What she would go on to do, however, might be even more difficult to believe. On Sunday, Saso will be 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old. The only teenager to win the U.S. Women’s Open was Inbee Park in 2008. Her age? Exactly 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old.
3. The 2019 U.S. Women’s Open champion, Jeongeun Lee6, continues a remarkable beginning to her career in this championship. Friday, she carded a 67, her seventh round in the 60s at the U.S. Women’s Open since 2017, most of any player in that span. Lee6 has averaged 3.36 strokes gained total per round at this championship since making her debut, the best clip of any player during that stretch. Lee6 is trying to join Park as the only players from the Republic of Korea to win this championship multiple times.
4. 17-year-old Megha Ganne followed up her sparkling first-round 67 with an even-par 71 on Friday. In doing so, she posted a 36-hole total of 138, tying the best Women's Open score by an amateur through two rounds in the last 20 years. The last amateur to post a lower 36-hole total was Grace Park in 1999 (137). Before being passed by Saso in the late wave, Ganne was poised to become the first amateur to lead this championship through 36 holes since Carol Semple Thompson in 1978.
5. Though Ganne’s performance this week has been captivating, amateurs excelling through two rounds in this championship has happened frequently in recent years. This is the fifth consecutive U.S. Women’s Open in which at least one amateur has been inside the top five through 36 holes. Two of those women would go on to finish in the top 10: Hye Jin Choi, runner-up in 2017, and Kaitlynn Papp, who finished tied for ninth in 2020.
6. Again in position entering the weekend, Megan Khang is becoming a regular atop U.S. Women’s Open leader boards. Dating back to last December, this marks the fifth consecutive U.S. Women’s Open round in which Khang has been in the top five. Khang, who ranks third in the field in greens in regulation (75.0%), was tied for third through 36 holes last year at Champions Golf Club before ultimately finishing in fifth place.
7. Seven-time major champion Inbee Park is in contention again, thanks to a second-round 69 that vaulted her up the leader board Friday afternoon. Park made history with her round, carding the 25th score under par in her illustrious U.S. Women’s Open career, the most of any player in history. Since 2013, Park leads all players in the women’s major championships in wins, top 10s, scoring average, rounds in the 60s and overall score to par.
8. Jennifer Kupcho made a hole-in-one on the 13th hole, making it eight consecutive years the U.S. Women’s Open has had at least one ace. This streak is especially incredible considering there was nothing remotely close to it previously in this championship. Before this run of eight years in a row, the longest streak of years with a hole-in-one was just two years. It happened in 1983-1984, and 1997-1998. Now, the U.S. Women’s Open has had one every year since 2014 and counting.
9. After ranking as the fourth-most-difficult hole on the golf course in Round 1, the second hole played as the toughest on Friday. The 389-yard par 4 has yielded just 22% greens in regulation by the field through two days, and the 13 birdies are the fewest of any hole at The Olympic Club. Not a single player has made birdie after hitting their tee shot into the rough on the second hole through two rounds.
10. Can someone make a big run on the weekend to get the victory? Consider this: three of the last five U.S. Women’s Open champions were exactly seven strokes off the lead entering the weekend, including A Lim Kim at Champions in 2020. The last 36-hole leader or co-leader to win this championship was Michelle Wie West in 2014. That being said, 74 percent of U.S. Women’s Open winners since 1990 have been inside the top 10 through two rounds.
Justin Ray is the head of content for Twenty First Group. He has also worked as a senior researcher at ESPN and Golf Channel.
