Who will win the US Women’s Open 2024 at Lancaster Country Club?

Who can stop Nelly Korda at the 2024 US Women's Open?

Can anyone stop Nelly Korda from adding the US Women’s Open to her major resume when the action gets underway for the second major championship of the season?

We’re almost six months deep into the LPGA Tour season and we’ve only seen six different winners. What are the chances of seeing a seventh come Sunday afternoon at the US Women’s Open?

The 7/2 front-runner for the season’s second major from Lancaster Country Club needs no real introduction. The Nelly Korda superlatives have largely been exhausted with the game’s dominant force not just expected to win every time she tees it up, but to carry the future of women’s golf too.

Korda heads to Pennsylvania as a two-time Major champion, tied on career-defining wins with her equally irrepressible counterpart on the PGA Tour. Nelly’s six wins from seven events this season make Scottie’s four from 12 appear almost ‘human’.

As pointed out by Golf Wars author Iain Carter, the American is an aggregate 74-under for her six strokeplay events thus far in 2024 and has amassed a bigger gap in the Rolex Rankings between herself and No.2 Lydia Vu than the margin between Vu and the 1000th ranked player. Yes, you read that correctly.

Periods of unrivaled dominance in sport are never allowed to play out quietly. It’s par for the course and an early acid test from the media to see just how heavy the weight of expectation sits on the shoulders of those tipped for greatness.

The trouble for Nelly is that her start to 2024 really has been unprecedented. It’s the work of Tiger circa 2000, and whether she likes it or not, it won’t be the first time that comparison is made in the days leading up to the US Women’s Open.

And going on evidence to date, the 25-year-old Floridian appears to be thriving under the pressure, turning more eyeballs toward the women’s game with every week that passes and on course to smash one million followers on Instagram.

On one hand, another Korda win in Pennsylvania is the best thing for the continued rise in prominence of the women’s game, on the other, seeing her rivals refuse to follow the script can only be a positive too. A thriving game requires strength in depth, it needs rivalries, it needs storylines…just not ones that feature orange jumpsuits and handcuffs!

So, who are the protagonists most likely to create them this week? It won’t be Lilia Vu after the World No.2 withdrew for the second straight major to continue her recovery from a back injury. Here’s a selection of likely challengers to another Korda crown.

Hannah Green (AUS): 25/1

The Australian’s name on many’s lips as most likely to upset the apple cart. Green is the only player to have beaten Korda in the past four months at the JM Eagle Championship for her second win on the LPGA Tour this season. She also has Major pedigree having won the 2019 PGA Championship. Korda aside, Green is the in-form player of 2024, rising 24 places to World No.5 since the turn of the year, and has the momentum to mount a serious challenge this week.

Rose Zhang (USA): 18/1

The American 21-year-old has already notched up three top 10 finishes in Major championships and two LPGA Tour titles with her latest coming a few weeks ago at the Cognizant Founders Cup. A further T5 finish at the T-Mobile Match Play in April cements why the back-to-back NCAA Division I Champion is second-favorite with the bookmakers to go well in Lancaster.

Charley Hull (ENG): 33/1

The World No.8 missed the cut at the 2015 US Women’s Open, but at that time in her career, she was playing the bulk of her golf on the Ladies European Tour. Now, the English star is playing the majority of her golf Stateside and despite only having two victories on the LPGA Tour she has a good chance of breaking her Major duct in Pennsylvania. At the 2023 US Women’s Open Hull finished in a tie for second, later in the season she finished in solo second at the Women’s Open.

Brooke Henderson (CAN): 25/1

Unlike some players in the field (including Korda), this won’t be Henderson’s first time playing a competitive tournament at Lancaster Country Club. The Canadian played in the 2015 US Women’s Open hosted at this venue when she was just 17 years old. That week Henderson finished in a tie for 5^th place and one month later she won her first LPGA Tour event. Despite not lifting a trophy in 17 months, a strong finish at The Chevron Championship (T3) is something she can build on, and given her knowledge of the course, she deserves to be in the conversation.

Allisen Corpuz (USA): 80/1

Despite Corpuz only registering one top-10 finish this season and falling outside the world’s top 50, it doesn’t take away from the fact she is the defending champion from Pebble Beach 12 months ago. Unfortunately for the Americans, however, recent history hasn’t been kind to those with back-to-back aspirations. Australian Karrie Webb last achieved the feat in 2000 and 2001 after Annika Sorenstam triumphed in 1995 and 1996.

Minjee Lee (AUS): 30/1

While the US Open Champion from 2022 may have only a couple of top-10 finishes this year, she is a big tournament player with two majors and a further eight LPGA Tour wins to her name. If she gets off to a strong start this week then Minjee has the minerals to compete, and few know their way to the finish line as well as the Australian.

Today’s Golfer Picks:

Iona Stephen, TG Columnist: Nelly Korda is the one to beat, there is no doubt about it. We are going to read a lot about her in the build-up up and rightly so. Everyone who’s anyone will be tuning in to watch her play. Lancaster is a venue that also suits Nelly’s game, rewarding quality ball striking tee to green and even better if you can bring the ball in high. But how is her energy tank? After all all this winning must be hard work. It seems Nelly is taking it all in her stride and it feels somewhere inevitable she will have a chance to win come Sunday.

Sarah Pyett, Deputy Digital Editor: I’m going to say Ayaka Furue (25/1). With 5 top-ten finishes this season, and only one finish outside the top 25, I think her game is strong enough to lift the trophy at Lancaster Country Club this weekend. The Flynn course requires absolute accuracy off the tee, and with Ayaka currently sitting third in the LPGA driving accuracy rankings for the 2024 season, she definitely has the potential to top the leaderboard.

James Hogg, Equipment Writer: I would like to say with confidence that the American won’t win this week, but it’s hard to look past the most in-form golfer on the planet. However, Canada’s Brooke Henderson (25/1) is my pick. Henderson is accustomed to being at the top of the leaderboard – having racked up 20 professional victories including two major championships. She also finished T5 when the US Open was played at Lancaster in 2015.

Another player I’m leaning towards this week is Charley Hull (33/1). Hull ranks highly for GIR which is important around Lancaster Country Club. I don’t imagine the scoring will be incredibly low which should help Hull because her issue can be the putter.

Will Shreeve-Peacock, Commercial Content Writer: I know it’s boring but I can’t see past Nelly Korda (7/2) right now. She’s won six out of the seven events she’s played in! For 2024 she is averaging a score of 69.26 and is leading the LPGA in GIR at 76% which is why I can see there only being one outcome this week. If it was in Europe at the Open then maybe there’s more to consider, but on home soil this year she is by far the best in the field. Alternatively, I think Maja Stark (66/1) and Hannah Green (25/1) have the form and game to compete for the win.

Selected others (correct 28 May, 10.00):

Atthaya Thitikul 22/1

Jin Young Ko 22/1

Sei Young Kim 25/1

Hyo Joo Kim 30/1

Ruoning Yin 35/1

Jennifer Kupcho 40/1

Lydia Ko 50/1

Celine Boutier 50/1

Linn Grant 50/1

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About the author

Ross Tugwood

Senior Digital Writer

Ross Tugwood is a Senior Digital Writer for todays-golfer.com, specializing in data, analytics, science, and innovation.

Ross is passionate about optimizing sports performance and has a decade of experience working with professional athletes and coaches for British Athletics, the UK Sports Institute, and Team GB.

He is an NCTJ-accredited journalist with post-graduate degrees in Performance Analysis and Sports Journalism, enabling him to critically analyze and review the latest golf equipment and technology to help you make better-informed buying decisions.