The 2024 U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally gets started this Thursday at Lancaster Country Club, and the major championship is celebrating its 79th playing. Of the 156 players in the field, 21 of those athletes are currently Epson Tour members and are vying for a cut of a $12 million purse. See who is in the field and where they stack up heading into a challenging major week in Lancaster, Pa.:
First Appearances
Harriet Lynch
Hometown: Fresno, California
Age: 23
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: Debut
Lynch is a 2024 Epson Tour rookie and will also be making her first start at the U.S. Women’s Open this year. While competing collegiately at Fresno State University, she finished third in the 2024 Mountain West Conference Championship, competed in The Women’s Amateur conducted by the R&A in 2022 and finished her fifth and final year with a 73.31 scoring average.
Alexa Melton
Hometown: Covina, California
Age: 23
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: Debut
Melton enters her first U.S. Women’s Open after making two of five cuts in her sophom*ore season on the Epson Tour. The California native attended Pepperdine University and the University ofSouthern California during her college career, winning the 2019 Southern California Golf Association Women’s Amateur before turning professional.
Alana Uriell
Hometown: Carlsbad, California
Age: 27
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: Debut
Uriell is another player making her first U.S. Women’s Open start at Lancaster Country Club. The University of Arkansas alum has found success on the Epson Tour in her career, winning the SKYiGOLF Championship in 2019 and adding six more top-10 finishes to that resume over the last three years. Uriell also recorded a top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour during her 2019 season, finishing T9 at Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Now, in 2024, Uriell is entering the U.S. Women’s Open after earning her best finish of the season at the Copper Rock Championship (T12).
Savannah Vilaubi
Hometown: Downey, California
Age: 30
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: Debut
While Vilaubi started her professional career on the Epson Tour in 2016, she did not play her full first season on the Tour until the next year in 2017 and is making her first U.S. Women’s Open start this week. Since 2017, she has had one victory at the 2023 Copper Rock Championship and seven more top-10 finishes on her Epson Tour resume. Vilaubi competed on the LPGA Tour during the 2022 season but did not play in the U.S. Women’s Open that year. The 30-year-old will have her fiancé on the bag caddying for her this week in Lancaster, the same person who was on her bag the last time she played in an LPGA Tour event.
Madison Young
Hometown: Canton, Georgia
Age: 27
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: Debut
Young is making her first U.S. Women’s Open appearance and first LPGA Tour start at Lancaster Country Club. It has been a year of firsts for the Georgia native, as she captured her first Epson Tour victory at the Casino Del Sol Championship earlier this season, and she sits at No. 2 in the 2024 Race for the Card. Since her rookie season on the Epson Tour in 2020, Young has collected five additional top-10 finishes to go along with her victory.
Second or Third Appearance
Sofia Garcia
Hometown: Asuncion, Paraguay
Age: 25
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 2nd
Garcia has status on both the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour this season, and she has made two Epson Tour starts and four LPGA Tour starts so far this year. On the Road to the LPGA, Garcia made both cuts in those two starts, and in her four starts on the LPGA Tour, she has made two of four cuts. Her best finish on either Tour is a T11 result that came at the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic. Garcia made the cut in 2022 in her first start at the U.S. Women’s Open and is in good form to make it two for two in Lancaster, Pa.
Sabrina Iqbal
Hometown: San Jose, California
Age: 22
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 2nd
Iqbal made her first start as a professional at the 2024 Copper Rock Championship after her grad transfer year at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Before she headed to Colorado, Iqbal played four seasons at Texas Christian University, where she captured medalist honors twice, and she advanced to match play at the 2019 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Iqbal is making her second U.S. Women’s Open appearance this year after qualifying for the event in 2019 as an amateur.
Soo Bin Joo
Hometown: Seoul, Republic of Korea
Age: 20
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 2nd
Joo earned LPGA Tour and Epson Tour status for her rookie season in 2023, only making three starts on the Epson Tour that year and spending the majority of her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, where she finished 117th in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. During her 2024 campaign, Joo has made five starts on the Epson Tour, making the cut in all five events. The 20-year-old is playing in her second U.S. Women’s Open and is looking to make it a regular stop on her schedule as she continues her young career.
Ruixin Liu
Hometown: Guangdong, People’s Republic of China
Age: 25
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 2nd
Liu made her first appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2023 at Pebble Beach Golf Links, finishing T33 in her tournament debut. Liu has a decorated past on the Official Qualifying Tour of the LPGA, winning seven times in her career, including the 2024 Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic. Ruixin has qualified for the LPGA Tour twice through the Race for the Card and is hoping her win and her sixth-place finish at the 2024 Blue Bay LPGA is just the start of her becoming an LPGA Tour regular once again.
Amelia Lewis
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Age: 33
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 3rd
Lewis is making her first start at the U.S. Women’s Open in 9 years, having played in the major championship the last time it was held at Lancaster Country Club. Lewis has spent time on both the Epson and LPGA Tours, recording 14 top-10 finishes between both circuits. The Florida native has spent the beginning of her 2024 season on the Epson Tour where she has made the cut in all six events she has played this year. In her last appearance in Lancaster, Lewis fell short of making the cut but will look to change her luck this week.
Ingrid Lindblad (a)
Hometown: Halmstad, Sweden
Age: 24
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 3rd
Lindblad will be making her third career start at the U.S. Women’s Open this week before she has even turned professional. The No. 1 ranked amateur in the world last played in the event in 2022, where she finished T11. She has also played in the AIG Women’s Open four times, so she has plenty of experience playing in major championships at a young age. Lindblad is expected to turn professional after the U.S. Women’s Open and is currently signed up to make her Epson Tour debut at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in June.
Four or More Appearances
Ssu-Chia Cheng
Hometown: Taipei, Chinese Taipei
Age: 26
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 4th
Cheng is another player who has been battling between the Epson and LPGA Tours over the past few seasons. In 2024, Cheng has only made one start on the LPGA Tour, missing the cut by a few shots at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship. Her Epson Tour season, on the other hand, has gotten off to a flying start. Cheng has two top-three finishes this season and is currently No. 16 in the Race for the Card, just on the outside looking in at the top 15 spots.
Amelia Garvey
Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand
Age: 23
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 4th
Garvey is heading back to the U.S. Women’s Open once again after qualifying for the event in 2023. Garvey finished No. 36 in the Race for the Card in 2023, earning a season-best runner-up finish at the FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship. In 2024, the 23-year-old has not had the start she is capable of but is looking at the U.S. Women’s Open as her turning point of the season.
Kaitlyn Papp Budde
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Age: 25
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 4th
Papp Budde will be making her fourth start at the U.S. Women’s Open when she tees it up on Thursday at Lancaster Country Club. In 2020, at the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas, Papp Budde earned low amateur honors, finishing in a tie for ninth. In her 2024 season, Papp Budde has made two starts each on both the Epson and LPGA Tours, making all four cuts in that stretch, with a T13 result at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro on the LPGA Tour being the standout event so far this year. With her game rounding into shape at the right time, the Texas native is on track for another good run on one of the biggest stages in women’s golf.
Rachel Rohanna
Hometown: Marianna, Pennsylvania
Age: 33
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 4th
Rohanna is making her fourth U.S. Women’s Open start this year and her first since 2019. The Pennsylvania native will be playing in front of a home crowd as she walks around Lancaster Country Club on Thursday during her first round. Rohanna has plenty of success on the Epson Tour, collecting 20 top-10 finishes, including two victories. The LPGA Mom will enter the U.S. Women’s Open coming off two missed cuts, but she’ll still be looking to play the weekend in front of her local fans.
Lauren Stephenson
Hometown: Lexington, South Carolina
Age: 26
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 5th
Stephenson is making her fifth appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2024. In her previous four starts, she has made three cuts, all coming in her last three appearances. Her starts in 2020 and 2021 both resulted in a T30 finish, her best result at a U.S. Women’s Open. This year on the Epson Tour, Stephenson has shown why she has been an LPGA Tour regular since her rookie season. In her five starts, she has made four cuts with three top-10 finishes and a season-best result of T4 that came at the Atlantic Beach Classic.
Marissa Steen
Hometown: West Chester, Ohio
Age: 34
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 5th
Steen enters the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open making the cut in two of her four previous appearances, with her last start coming in 2022, where she ultimately finished T22. The Ohio native is a three-time winner on the Epson Tour, and all three of those victories came in her 2014 season. She has spent multiple seasons on the LPGA Tour, recording a T10 finish at the 2021 AIG Women’s Open.
Mariel Galdiano
Hometown: Pearl City, Hawaii
Age: 25
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 6th
Galdiano is making her first U.S. Women’s Open appearance since qualifying in 2022. Galdiano made her way into the field after winning in a playoff at her qualifying site in California. In her previous five starts at the U.S. Women’s Open, Galdiano has made the cut once, doing so in 2015 at this year’s host site, Lancaster Country Club. Learn more about Mariel’s journey to the 2024 U.S. Women’s Open here.
Kim Kaufman
Hometown: Clark, South Dakota
Age: 32
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 7th
Kaufman will be making her second appearance at Lancaster Country Club for this year’s U.S. Women’s Open, and this is her seventh career appearance at the major championship. In 2015, when the tournament was last held at Lancaster Country Club, Kaufman made the cut, ultimately finishing in a tie for 35th. She then made the cut the next year when the event headed to CordeValle in California. Since then, she has struggled to find her form at the U.S. Women’s Open, missing the cut in her last four starts. The 32-year-old is having a strong start to her season on the Epson Tour, making all seven cuts so far this year and earning three top-10 finishes and a runner-up result at the Atlantic Beach Classic. Past experience and good form could be the key for Kaufman this week in Pennsylvania.
Mariajo Uribe
Hometown: Bucaramanga, Colombia
Age: 34
U.S. Women’s Open Appearance: 11th
Uribe enters the week with the most experience out of anyone on this list. She will be teeing it up in her 11th U.S. Women’s Open, but her first in seven years. In her previous 10 starts, Uribe has made five cuts and finished T10 at the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen Country Club. The Colombian has a history of winning USGA events, capturing the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2008 at Crooked Stick Golf Club. Uribe is also a two-time Olympian, having the honor of representing her native Colombia at the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
