Jennifer Kupcho carded a 5-under-par 66 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the 81st U.S. Women’s Open Presented by Ally at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Kupcho, a four-time LPGA Tour winner and 2022 Chevron Championship winner, opened with three consecutive birdies and added a near-ace on the par-3 16th to finish one stroke ahead of 2020 KPMG Women’s PGA champion Sei Young Kim.
“I really like this golf course,” said Kupcho. “It kind of fits my eye.”
Kim posted a 4-under 67 after recording five birdies, including a pair to start her round and three consecutive birdies on Nos. 6-8.
Five players are tied for third at 3-under 68: Hinako Shibuno, Gaby Lopez, Ina Yoon, Hyunjo Yoo and Minji Kang.
A group of four players sit two shots off the lead at 2-under 69, including 2022 U.S. Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee, 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA champion Ruoning Yin, Patty Tavatanakit and Nasa Hataoka.
Kupcho entered the week seeking her first made cut in the championship since 2022. Her opening-round 66 matches the lowest score of her nine U.S. Women’s Open starts and gives the Colorado native her first lead after any round in the championship.
NOTABLE
- Seven former major champions are among the top 10 and ties after Round 1 -- Jennifer Kupcho, Sei Young Kim, Hinako Shibuno, Minjee Lee, Ruoning Yin, JiYai Shin and Patty Tavatanakit -- the most after the first round of a U.S. Women's Open since 2014.
- Over the last 35 years, the eventual U.S. Women's Open champion was either leading or within five shots of the first-round lead in all but three instances:
- Sung Hyun Park (2017) was 7 back after Round 1
- So Yeon Ryu (2011) was 6 back after Round 1
- Meg Mallon (2004) was 7 back after Round 1
- Each of the last six U.S. Women's Open champions shot 2-under or better in the first round:
- Playing in her 10th U.S. Women's Open, Jennifer Kupcho leads at the end of the first round (66, -5). It is the first time in 29 career rounds that she broke 70 at this championship. She led all players in Round 1 in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, after entering the week ranking 76th in that category for the season. It is the first time that she led any tournament round in that category since the final round of the 2022 U.S. Women's Open. It is the third time in her major championship career that Kupcho has led or co-led after the first round. She did that at the 2022 Chevron Championship, which she won; and the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship at which she finished T-11.
- Kupcho joins the following list of Americans since 2000 to hold the outright lead at the end of the first round of a U.S. Women's Open:
- Sei Young Kim is second on the leaderboard after posting a 67 (-4) in Round 1. She had shot 70 or higher in each of her most recent 43 major championship rounds, which was the longest such active streak.
- Kupcho and Kim rank 1-2 on the leaderboard entering the second round. The last time every player in the top-2 (and ties) after the first round of the U.S. Women's Open was an established major champion was 1990, when Jane Geddes and Patty Sheehan shared the lead at Atlanta Athletic Club.
- Minjee Lee was the only player to shoot a bogey free first round. For Lee, it is the second bogey-free round of her USWO career, having done that in the first round in 2017 at Trump National. It is the third bogey-free round of her 2026 season, having done that at the HSBC Women's World Championship and the Fortinet Founders Cup, both in March.
- Three amateurs shot under par in the first round, all shooting 70 (1-under): Aphrodite Deng, Paula Francisco Liano and Maria Jose Marin. The last time there were a trio of amateurs under par through Round 1 of the U.S. Women's Open was in 2023 at Pebble Beach: Aine Donegan (-3), Amari Avery (-2) and Benedetta Moresco (-2).
- The 78 early wave players averaged 73.17 while the 78 players who teed off in the later wave averaged 73.94.
- Here are how the Top 10 players in the Rolex Rankings fared in Round 1:
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