Mehaffey looks set for US Women's Open but Maguire facing nervous wait
Leona Maguire and her caddie, Gary Marshall
Olivia Mehaffey looks set to qualify but Leona Maguire missed out on one of 10 spots in December’s US Women’s Open by just $2,228 and now faces a nervous wait to see if she is added to the field via the Rolex World Rankings.
Arizona State amateur and world No 16 Mehaffey will make the field if she remains in the top 20 when the rankings are updated this week and she enters by November 11.
But Slieve Russell National touring professional Maguire, who is ranked 172nd in world, is 67th in the pecking order as the USGA prepares to fill out the 156 strong field from the Rolex World Rankings on November 9.
With 138 players already exempt, just 18 places are available, meaning she will need 49 players to opt against travelling to Houston next month - the list features some 47 players from Korea and Japan alone.
Maguire looked set to qualify for the final women’s major of the year at Champions Golf Club in Houston from December 10-13 as one of the top 10 players not already exempt on the LPGA Money List through last month’s LPGA Drive On Championship.
Olivia Mehaffey.. Picture by Pat Cashman
But she finished tied 69th in Greensboro and the 10th automatic spot went to Lindsey Weaver of the United States who tied for 20th there and finished one spot ahead of the Cavan woman at 54th in the money list.
The 156-player field for the championship is composed entirely of exempt players due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 10 exempt players from the LPGA Money List are: No. 7 Jasmine Suwannapura, No. 10 Stacy Lewis, No. 25 Jodi Ewart Shadoff, No. 33 Cydney Clanton, No. 37 Andrea Lee, No. 40 Mina Harigae, No. 42 Kelly Tan, No. 46 Perrine Delacour, No. 48 Xiyu Lin and No. 54 Weaver.
The USGA announced on April 3 that the 75th US Women’s Open, initially scheduled for June 4-7, would be moved to Dec. 10-13. To account for reduced daylight, the Jackrabbit Course at Champions Golf Club will be used in Rounds 1 and 2 with the Cypress Creek Course, which was originally slated to host all four rounds of championship play.
In June, it was announced that the championship would be conducted without traditional qualifying and on Oct. 21, it was announced the championship would not have fans on-site due to health and safety concerns resulting from the ongoing pandemic.
Considered the world’s premier women’s golf championship, the U.S. Women’s Open is one of 14 national championships conducted annually by the USGA. The championship began in 1946 and its winners include Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Betsy Rawls, Mickey Wright, Hollis Stacy, Amy Alcott, Meg Mallon, Annika Sorenstam, Se Ri Pak, Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Inbee Park and Michelle Wie.
