[Photo: Getty images]

World No.5 and a major champion already, Hannah Green has returned to Lancaster Country Club to lead a six-strong Australian contingent at the $18 million US Women’s Open.

The Perth native first visited Lancaster Country Club 10 years ago as a fan watching Karrie Webb play the 2014 US Women’s Open having won her scholarship series. Now, the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship winner Green will be joined by 2022 US Women’s Open champion and wold No.9 Minjee Lee, as well as in-form Gabriela Ruffels, Steph Kyriacou, veteran Sarah Kemp and Victorian amateur Keeley Marx.

The 2024 US Women’s Open will offer a $US12 million ($A18 million) purse.

Kyriacou believes Green is the form Australian having won twice on the LPGA Tour this year, in Singapore and Los Angeles. She also finished runner-up to world No.1 Nelly Korda at the Founders Cup in New Jersey. Only Korda, who has claimed an astonishing six LPGA Tour titles in 2024, and Green, haven won multiple times on the top women’s tour this year.

The 23-year-old Kyriacou told Australian media ahead of the US Open that it was a thrill to see Green’s three wins over the past 13 months. “I’m staying with her this week – she’s literally next door – but she just doesn’t really care what anyone thinks about how she goes about practice or what she does,” said Kyriacou. “She’s literally the most chill and calmest person I’ve met on the golf course. I watch her and I feel like I’m more stressed than her. She just does not change her demeanour the whole time and I’m on the sidelines with my heart racing thinking I’m going to have a panic attack.”

Scroll down to the bottom of this article for the Australian player profiles and tee times at the US Women’ Open, courtesy of Australian Golf Media.

PGA TOUR

Meanwhile, in the men’s game, Adam Scott, Harrison Endycott and Aaron Baddeley are looking to join a list of Australians to have won the Canadian Open, which includes Jason Day (2015), Nathan Green (2009) and Greg Norman (1984, 1992).

Scott moved to world No.58 with a T12 on the PGA Tour last week and needs another solid result to stay inside the world rankings top 60 in order to gain a start at the US Open and avoid humbling 36-hole qualifying. On the DP World Tour, Victorian David Micheluzzi, and West Australians Haydn Barron and Jason Scrivener will tee up in the European Open in Germany. There are also a whopping nine Australians in the Principal Charity Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.

Round 1 tee times AEST

US Women’s Open
Lancaster Country Club, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Round 1
8:45pm*          Amelia Garvey (NZ)
9:18pm*          Sarah Kemp
10:24pm*         Lydia Ko (NZ)
10:35pm          Gabriela Ruffels
10:57pm          Keeley Marx (a)
2:52am            Steph Kyriacou
3:58am            Minjee Lee
4:09am            Hannah Green

Round 2
9:07pm*          Steph Kyriacou
10:13pm*         Minjee Lee
10:24pm*         Hannah Green
2:30am            Amelia Garvey (NZ)
3:03am            Sarah Kemp
4:09am            Lydia Ko (NZ)
4:20am            Gabriela Ruffels
4:42am*           Keeley Marx (a)

Defending champion: Allisen Corpuz
Past Aussie winners: Jan Stephenson (1983), Karrie Webb (2000, 2001), Minjee Lee (2022)
Prize money: $US12 million
TV times: Live 2am–10am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8am Sunday; Live 4am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo

PGA TOUR
RBC Canadian Open
Hamilton Golf & Country Club, Hamilton, Ontario
9:29pm*          Adam Scott
10:35pm          Ryan Fox (NZ)
3:17am            Aaron Baddeley
4:01am*           Harrison Endycott

Defending champion: Nick Taylor
Past Aussie winners: Joe Kirkwood Snr (1933), Jim Ferrier (1950, 1951), Kel Nagle (1964), Greg Norman (1984, 1992), Nathan Green (2009), Jason Day (2015)
Prize money: $US9.4 million
TV times: Live 8:45pm-8am Thursday, Friday; Live 11:15pm-9:30am Saturday; Live 10:15pm-8:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

DP World Tour
European Open
Green Eagle Golf Courses, Hamburg, Germany
4:50pm            David Micheluzzi
8:30pm            Daniel Hillier (NZ)
9:30pm*          Jason Scrivener
10:10pm*         Haydn Barron
10:30pm*         Sam Jones (NZ)

Defending champion: Tom McKibbin
Past Aussie winners: Graham Marsh (1981), Greg Norman (1986), Peter Senior (1990), Mike Harwood (1991)
Prize money: $US2.5 million
TV times: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 9pm-1:30am Saturday; Live 8:30pm-1:30am Sunday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

Ladies European Tour
Dormy Open Helsingborg
Allerum Golf Club, Sweden
Australasians in the field: Kirsten Rudgeley, Momoka Kobori (NZ), Amy Walsh

Defending champion: Lisa Pettersson
Past Aussie winners: Rebecca Artis (2013)
Prize money: €300,000

Korn Ferry Tour
UNC Health Championship
Raleigh Country Club, Raleigh, North Carolina
9:16pm            Dimi Papadatos
2:57am            Rhein Gibson
3:08am            Brett Drewitt

Defending champion: Jorge Fernández Valdés
Past Aussie winners: Mark Hensby (2000)
Prize money: $US1 million

PGA TOUR Champions
Principal Charity Classic
Wakonda Club, Des Moines, Iowa
Australasians in the field: Steven Alker (NZ), Steve Allan, Stuart Appleby, David Bransdon, Richard Green, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling, Cameron Percy, John Senden, Vijay Singh (FI), Michael Wright.

Defending champion: Stephen Ames
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US2 million
TV times: 9:30am-11am Saturday, Sunday; 9am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo

AUSTRALIANS AT THE US WOMEN’S OPEN

HANNAH GREEN

World ranking: 5

Age: 27

Professional wins: 12

Best finish at the USWO: T13 (2023)

The lowdown: Australia’s top-ranked player is set and ready for this having found herself in contention more often than not in 2024.

Since missing the cut at the year’s first major (The Chevron) Green won the LA Championship, her second of the year, then shared 18th at the Founders Cup followed by a runner-up to the dominant Nelly Korda last start at the Mizuho Americas Open.

The 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner has never missed the cut at the US Women’s Open and her best finish came last year. Ranked fourth on the LPGA for greens in regulation and first for putts per GIR bodes well for her chances.

Green was still an amateur last time Lancaster played host in 2015, but she was on site as a Karrie Webb Scholarship winner, with the West Australian winning a major in front of scholarship winners four years later.

SARAH KEMP

World ranking: 143

Age: 38

Professional wins: 13

Best finish at the USWO: 67th (2010)

The lowdown: One of the final players in the field as an alternate from qualifying, Kemp will play her seventh US Women’s Open this week and first since missing the cut in 2022 at Pine Needles.

This event has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for Kemp, however, at 38, the New South Wales product is arguably playing the best golf of her career.

Kemp has made six of 10 cuts so far this year, and arrives having made four in a row with her work on and around the greens the strongest part of the game this year.

STEPH KYRIACOU

World ranking: 87

Age: 23

Professional wins: Two

Best finish at the USWO: Debut

The lowdown: Owning plenty of experience in the other majors, Kyriacou makes her first US Women’s Open start this week at Lancaster, where her aggressive play and birdie habit will be an interesting mix with the golden age design.

Showing a level of comfort at the biggest events with two top-10s at the majors, Kyriacou is a proven winner with two top-20s so far this year on the LPGA Tour, where she ranks solidly in all distance and ball-striking statistics.

Based off her statistics to date this year, the putter will be the key for Kyriacou this week. However, when speaking to Australian media on Wednesday, the Sydneysider noted the importance of driving the ball straight due to the penalising rough at Lancaster.

MINJEE LEE

World ranking: 9

Age: 28

Professional wins: 13

Best finish at the USWO: Won (2022)

The lowdown: The only Aussie in the field this week that teed it up the last time the US Women’s Open was at Lancaster, Minjee missed the cut in 2015, which was her first year as a professional. Now a two-time major winner, the Lee that returns this week is a far different player.

Lifting this trophy two years back, Lee has a game almost tailor-made for the US Open golf, with the West Australian considered one of the finest ball-strikers in all of golf and showing some good lead-in form ahead of the year’s second major.

Celebrating her birthday earlier this week, Lee will be hoping for a third major as a late present, with her driving accuracy likely the key to success given her ability to not only hit greens in regulation, but with an excellent proximity to the hole average.

Mixed bag of form so far in 2024, however, when Lee makes the cut, she has not finished worse than T29 and has three top-15s from eight starts.

KEELEY MARX (a)

World ranking: 1,360

Age: 20

Professional wins: Nil

Best finish at the USWO: Debut

The lowdown: With a small gap in her playing schedule at Iowa State University, Marx took a six-hour drive to qualifying in Chicago and returned to school as medallist of the event with a major debut in her pocket.

The Victorian has long been a fixture of the amateur golf scene in Australia, as well as playing multiple professional events, and prior to qualifying recorded a top-15 in an NCAA event. Marx also claimed the IMG Academy Junior World title in 2022.

Gaining an insight to what her future might look like as an LPGA player once finished with college, Marx will tee it up in the same event as her childhood hero Lexi Thompson, who announced this week that she will retire from full time golf at year’s end.

GABI RUFFELS

World ranking: 40

Age: 24

Professional wins: Three

Best finish at the USWO: T13 (2020)

The lowdown: Somewhat remarkably at just 24, Ruffels will play her fourth US Women’s Open this week despite having taken up the game in her mid-teens.

Leading the Rookie of the Year race on the LPGA Tour, Ruffels heads to Pennsylvania in remarkable form having recorded back-to-back third-place finishes in her previous two starts, with another third earlier in the year.

Known as a top quality ball-striker, with six major top-25s already on her résumé, it is on the greens where Ruffels has impressed most this year. The former US Women’s Amateur champion ranking in the top-10 on Tour for all putting statistics, while her mindset has long been considered one of rising star’s major strengths.

LANCASTER CC

Although it was less than 10 years ago that Lancaster Country Club hosted this event for the first time, the course will look, and play, quite differently following the removal of trees and the addition of 12 new bunkers as part of a Ron Forse and Jim Nagle-led restoration.

Designed by William Flynn in 1920, the par-70 will measure 6,583 yards this week, with strategy and finding the fairways the keys to success around this underrated “Golden Age” design.

As is more often than not the case with a US Open, narrow twisting fairways will be the flavour of the week in Pennsylvania, with a course that is renowned for its pure rolling and undulating bentgrass greens.

A total of 8-under was good enough for In Gee Chun to claim victory here in 2015, with the par-3s particularly strong, while no champion will be comfortable until the final putt drops on the uphill par-4 last measuring 437 yards.