After shocking eliminations at the fierce greens of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the 2024 edition of the US Women’s Open is headed to its third round. World No. 1 Nelly Korda made par on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to keep her playing over the weekend. At +10 for the two days, she missed the cutline by two strokes, ending her nearly year-long streak of no missed cuts! The likes of Ariya Jutanugarn, Rose Zhang, Ingrid Lindblad, Lexi Thompson, Allisen Corpuz, and Jennifer Kupcho also joined Korda in heading home early.

75 players advanced to the weekend with an 8 over or less. Notably, only four players finished the first two rounds overall under par, with Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai leading the way at 4 under. She’ll be the last to tee off on Saturday as she tries to keep her two strokes over the weekend.

One solo player on the greens this weekend

Seeing how there are an odd number of players competing for the final two days of the US Women’s Open, there ought to be an odd one out. For Saturday, that honor goes to Sofia Garcia, who will start off the round with no partner on the field. She will tee off solo at 11:45 a.m. BST. The remaining players will follow her in the order listed below, in pairs:

11.45 am: Sofia Garcia

11.55 am: Adela Cernousek (a), Gabriela Ruffels

12.05 pm: Hyo Joo Kim, Jin Young Ko

12.16 pm: Madelene Sagstrom, Megan Khang

12.27 pm: Alexandra Forsterling, Caroline Inglis

12.38 pm: Alana Uriell, Kin Kaufman

12.49 pm: Hae Ran Ryu, Alsion Lee

1.00 pm: Jenny Shin, Alexa Pano

1.11 pm: Emily Kristine Pedersen, Kristen Gillman

1.22 pm: Marissa Steen, Mariel Galdiano

1.33 pm: Charley Hull, Gaby Lopez

1.44 pm: Sarah Kemp, Isi Gabsa

1.55 pm: Amelia Garvey, Pia Babnik

2.06 pm: Yan Liu, Hyunkyung Park

2.17 pm: Hannah Green, Celine Boutier

2.28 pm: Ashleigh Buhai, Yuna Nishimura

2.39 pm: Anna Nordqvist, Cheyenne Knight

2.50 pm: Akie Iwai, Maude-Aimee Leblanc

3.01 pm: Jiwon Jeon, Amyu Ozeki

3.12 pm: Su Ji Kim, Atthaya Thitikul

3.23 pm: Ally Ewing, Jeongeun Lee6

3.34 pm: Narin An, Xiyu Janet Lin

3.45 pm: Jiyai Shin, Casandra Alexander

3.56 pm: Carlota Ciganda, A Lim Kim

4.07 pm: Aditi Ashok, Ruoning Yin

4.18 pm: Sophia Popov, Arpichaya Yubol

4.29 pm: Yuri Yoshida, Albane Valenzuela

4.40 pm: Ayaka Furue, Nasa Hataoka

4.51 pm: Miyu Yamashita, Min Byeol Kim

5.02 pm: Danielle Kang, Rio Takeda

5.13 pm: Jodi Ewart Sahdoff, Yui Kawamoto

5.24 pm: Ai Suzuki, Catherine Park (a)

5.35 pm: Chisato Iwai, Sakura Koiwai

5.46 pm: Megan Schofill (a), Hinaku Shibuno

5.57 pm: Mi Hyang Lee, Jin Hee Im

6.08 pm: Wei-Ling Hsu, Asterisk Talley (a)

6.19 pm: Yuka Saso, Minjee Lee

6.30 pm: Andrea Lee, Wichanee Meechai

At the moment, a few new faces hold the top positions. Meechai has never won a major; in fact, she has never even placed in the top 10 of one. Andrea Lee, too, is looking for her first major win and has only two top-10 finishes at any major (2020 and 2023 at the Women’s British Open). However, neither of the two will have it easy, with major winners Yuka Saso and Minjee Lee closing on their tails just one stroke off the leader.

The dark horse that no one saw coming at the 2024 US Women’s Open

Minjee Lee and Yuka Saso, who’ve won majors (2 and 1, respectively) in the past, no doubt have the composure to navigate the tough course this week. And even though Meechai and Andrea have no majors, they are experienced LPGA pros and will no doubt put up a good fight. However, one name in the top five that no one expected this week is Asterisk Talley!

Talley, is only 15 years old and has already outshone many big names this week. Despite being the youngest on the field, the amateur has outperformed at the U.S. Open with rounds of 70 and 71 on Thursday and Friday. Currently at T5, the young phenom is just 5 stokes shy of the leader.

If Asterisk Talley goes on to win this week, she will become the youngest women’s major winner ever! Lydia Ko currently holds that spot, having won her first major at 18 years, 4 months, and 20 days. Interestingly, Ko is also the youngest LPGA Tour winner, having won an event when she was just 15 years, 4 months, and 3 days old. Talley, with some superb golf over the weekend, can obliterate both of those records!