Yes, Nelly Korda was the winner this week, earning her second major championship this year and becoming just the third world No. 1 to win the U.S. Women’s Open. Given that Annika Sorenstam and Inbee Park are the other two, she’s in awfully good company.
But the other winner these past few days? Riviera.
Or maybe we should put it this way: The USGA, and women’s golf overall, won by having the good sense to finally put this nation’s championship in one of the sport’s most iconic layouts. Los Angeles – and particularly the community that surrounds Riviera, still in recovery mode from the devastating fires that ravaged Pacific Palisades in January, 2025 – also won, with this week-long reminder that this community is still awfully special, no matter what the haters say.
(And yes, we ourselves joke about the traffic and commute times, when we’re not grousing about it, so no need to go there.)
Really, anyone who watched the final round – including those wondering if there might be bonus golf on Monday in the form of a playoff – had to come away enthused.
At the conclusion of this tournament, the amazement shouldn’t be about Riviera’s ability to host, or that the course was enough of a test that as the leaders reached the back nine Sunday, there was a four-way tie for the lead at 7-under – and Britain’s Charley Hull, who was 3-over par after the first two rounds, was lurking right behind and wound up finishing second.
Is it a testament to the course, and the conditions, that it was so competitive down to the end? Maybe. Maybe not. The USGA may have made the pin placements challenging – it’s the way things are done on the final day, after all – but the wind was a challenge as the day progressed, and there’s not much that can be done about that.
But I suspect some of those who played the course were reminded, if they weren’t already aware, of the history that has made Riviera iconic. It has hosted the men’s U.S. Open (1948) and PGA Championships (1983 and ’95), a U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and a U.S. Amateur in 2017, as well as the NCAA Division I men’s championship in 2012.
It will be the site of the men’s and women’s Olympic competitions in two years, and the men’s U.S. Open will be back here in 2031. (Why was the men’s Open at L.A. Country Club three years ago instead of Riviera? Good question.)
And, really, that iconic clubhouse overlooking it all and particularly the amphitheatre effect of the 18th green as one group after another approaches the end of the round and particularly the end of the tournament on a Sunday afternoon … that is goosebump territory.
As it certainly was for the champion.
“It’s such an iconic golf course (and) event,” Korda said after accepting the champion’s trophy on that 18th green Sunday afternoon. “You know, the golf course holds so much history, and to have my name alongside so many great champions is a dream come true.”
And, she said later in her media session, that walk up the 18th had an impact.
“It’s really amazing to see,” she said. “I mean, especially with the hole. It kind of gave me vibes of like in Paris (during the 2024 Olympics) where it was just a very great golf course for fans to watch, where there’s not a bad seat in the house, and it makes it really cool to walk up to see the iconic golf, the clubhouse and everyone sitting around cheering me on.
“I had to honestly, a couple times, tell myself, okay, stay in the moment, stay in the moment, because I was dreaming, I was dreaming of hoisting the trophy a little too early. And I kept reverting back. I’m like, ‘the job’s not done, the job’s not done, yeah.’”
Korda isn’t from L.A., but that philosophy – “job’s not finished,” as Kobe Bryant memorably noted – does resonate around here.
Majors are different, especially when the competition is as tight as it was Sunday afternoon. Korda, Hull, Gaby Lopez, In Gee Chun, and Sei Young Kim all had a shot at the trophy, and at one point there was a four-way tie for the lead: Korda (on the 12th hole), Chun (13th), Kim and Lopez (both on the 14th) at 7-under, with Hull (on the 15th) at 6-under.
One by one, the pack separated. Kim hit her second shot into the left rough on the par-14 13th, and wound up sliding a 10-foot putt to the right for bogey. Chun bogied 12 and 13. Lopez made a late charge with birdies on 10, 11 and 13, but she gave one back when she missed a 7-footer for par on 16.
As it turned out, Hull – who tied the Open record for low score over the final two rounds by going 65-67 – punctuated it with a birdie on 17 and a dead-on par putt on 18, putting herself at 7 under.
“I love that feeling” that comes with a high stakes situation, Hull said afterwards. “I love the feel of being under the gun, under pressure. It’s not like a life and death situation, but you know that adrenaline that you get, that adrenaline like … when you do go wrong you got to bounce back.
“It’ll be a massive comedown tomorrow, not because I (came in) second but because the adrenaline goes out of my body. But I love the feeling.”
After Hull put the pressure on, Korda birdied 17 to go 8 under. And then, her par putt on 18 – measured at 2 feet, 10 inches – spun tantalizingly around the rim of the cup before dropping in and ending the suspense.
Hey, it’s close enough to Hollywood. There had to be some drama, right?
“How cool is Riviera?” USGA chief executive officer Mike Whan said during the trophy ceremony. “It was the star of the show.
“I promise we’ll be here (again) much quicker.”
Mike, we’re holding you to that.
jalexander@scng.com