# 2008 U.S. Women's Open

The 2008 U.S. Women's Open was the 63rd U.S. Women's Open, held June 26–29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis. It was the first U.S. Women's Open played at the course, which hosted the Solheim Cup in 2002. The winner was 19-year-old Inbee Park, four strokes ahead of runner-up Helen Alfredsson. The tournament was televised by ESPN and NBC Sports.
The course hosted the U.S. Open in 1930, part of the grand slam of Bobby Jones.

## Field
### Exempt players

1. Last 10 U.S. Women's Open Champions Juli Inkster, Birdie Kim, Cristie Kerr, Hilary Lunke, Meg Mallon, Se Ri Pak, Annika Sörenstam, Karrie Webb
2. Top two finishers in the 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur and winner of the 2006 U.S. Women's Amateur Amanda Blumenherst (a), Kimberly Kim (a), Mariajo Uribe (a)
3. Last five LPGA Champions Suzann Pettersen, Yani Tseng
4. Last five Women's British Open Champions Jeong Jang, Lorena Ochoa, Sherri Steinhauer, Karen Stupples
5. Last five Kraft Nabisco Champions Grace Park, Morgan Pressel
6. From the 2007 U.S. Women's Open, the 20 lowest scorers and ties. Kyeong Bae, Paula Creamer, Julieta Granada, Amy Hung, Jimin Kang, Christina Kim, Mi Hyun Kim, Jee Young Lee, Brittany Lincicome, Catriona Matthew, Ai Miyazato, Angela Park, Inbee Park, Jiyai Shin, Angela Stanford
7. From the 2007 LPGA Tour money list, the top 40 money leaders Shi Hyun Ahn, Nicole Castrale, Laura Davies, Laura Diaz, Meaghan Francella, Natalie Gulbis, Sophie Gustafson, Rachel Hetherington, Maria Hjorth, Pat Hurst, I.K. Kim, Young Kim, Brittany Lang, Sarah Lee, Seon Hwa Lee, Na On Min, Stacy Prammanasudh, Reilley Rankin, Lindsey Wright
8. From the 2008 LPGA Tour money, the top 35 money leaders through June 1 Minea Blomqvist, Na Yeon Choi, Allison Fouch, Hee-Won Han, Song-Hee Kim, Candie Kung, Leta Lindley, Teresa Lu, Jane Park, Momoko Ueda, Sun Young Yoo
9. Winner of tournaments from the conclusion of last year's U.S. Women's Open until now Louise Friberg
10. Top 3 players from the Japan LPGA Tour, LPGA of Korea Tour, and Ladies European Tour Sun-Ju Ahn, Bettina Hauert, Jeon Mi-jeong, Eun-Hee Ji, Gwladys Nocera, Sakura Yokomine

### Qualifiers

* Helen Alfredsson
* Sarah Almond (a)
* Chieko Amanuma
* Rachel Bailey
* Vanessa Brockett
* Laurie Brower
* Silvia Cavalleri
* Jeanne Cho-Hunicke
* Il Mi Chung
* Cydney Clanton (a)
* Eva Dahllof
* Diana D'Alessio
* Heather Daly-Donofrio
* Wendy Doolan
* Lauren Doughtie (a)
* Moira Dunn
* Kathleen Ekey (a)
* Courtney Ellenbogen (a)
* Shanshan Feng
* Jamie Fischer
* Danah Ford
* Tara Goedeken (a)
* Anna Grzebien
* Nicole Hage
* Kim Hall
* Sin Ham
* Candy Hannemann
* Mina Harigae
* Marcy Hart
* Janell Howland
* Katherine Hull
* Jang Ha-na (a)
* Na Ri Kim
* Carin Koch
* Jessica Korda (a)
* Kelli Kuehne
* Katrina Leckovic
* Erynne Lee (a)
* Jennie Lee (a)
* Joanne Lee (a)
* Meena Lee
* Stacy Lewis
* Tiffany Lua (a)
* Charlotte Mayorkas
* Jill McGill
* Patricia Meunier-Lebouc
* Sydnee Michaels (a)
* Janice Moodie
* Paola Moreno (a)
* Miriam Nagl
* Martha Nause
* Liselotte Neumann
* Virada Nirapathpongporn
* Angela Oh (a)
* Ji Young Oh
* Sunny Oh
* Cyd Okino (a)
* Kristen Park (a)
* Emily Powers (a)
* Michele Redman
* Jean Reynolds
* Jennifer Rosales
* Kristen Samp
* Giulia Sergas
* Alena Sharp
* Jenny Shin (a)
* Ashleigh Simon
* Karin Sjödin
* Jennifer Song (a)
* Bomi Suh
* Victoria Tanco (a)
* Alexis Thompson (a)
* Sherri Turner
* Gina Umeck
* Lynn Valentine
* Whitney Wade
* Alison Walshe (a)
* Linda Wessberg
* Michelle Wie
* Leah Wigger
* Carri Wood
* Amy Yang
* Aiko Yoshida
* Heather Young
(a) - amateur

## Course layout

| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yardage | 344 | 473 | 557 | 178 | 438 | 412 | 316 | 227 | 413 | 3,358 | 528 | 353 | 164 | 525 | 185 | 345 | 360 | 441 | 530 | 3,431 | 6,789 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 37 | 73 |
Source:

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Open kicked off on Thursday with the field playing in threesomes starting from either the first tee or the tenth tee. Featured threesomes included Annika Sörenstam, Suzann Pettersen, and Paula Creamer, ranked 2, 3, and 4 respectively in the world rankings. Sorenstam and Petterssen opened their U.S. Opens with scores of 75 (+2) and 77 (+4) respectively. Creamer shot a 70 to move three shots off the pace. The other featured threesome included number one ranked player Lorena Ochoa, defending U.S. Open champion Cristie Kerr, and 2007 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Maria José Uribe. Uribe led that group with a 69 to lead all amateurs and end the day in a tie for fourth overall; Kerr shot a 1-under 72; Ochoa had an up-and-down round of even-par 73. The rounds of the day belonged to Ji Young Oh, who had eight birdies and two bogeys and to Pat Hurst who had six birdies and an eagle. Oh and Hurst tied after Round 1 at six-under par 67.
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| T1 | Pat Hurst | 67 | −6 |
| T1 | Ji Young Oh | 67 | −6 |
| 3 | Song-Hee Kim | 68 | −5 |
| T4 | Louise Friberg | 69 | −4 |
| T4 | Jiyai Shin | 69 | −4 |
| T4 | Mariajo Uribe (a) | 69 | −4 |
| T7 | Helen Alfredsson | 70 | −3 |
| T7 | Paula Creamer | 70 | −3 |
| T7 | Laura Davies | 70 | −3 |
| T7 | Catriona Matthew | 70 | −3 |
| T7 | Linda Wessberg | 70 | −3 |

### Second round

Friday, June 27, 2008 Saturday, June 28, 2008
With Thursday's rounds completed many well-known American players took a step down on the competition while many lesser-known and international players took a step up. A two-hour weather delay required some to finish their rounds on Saturday morning. Angela Park had an even round on Thursday, and a 6-under 67 in the second round. She held a one-stroke lead over three others: Inbee Park of Korea, Helen Alfredsson of Sweden, and the only Finnish player in the tournament, Minea Blomqvist. The two leading Americans were Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr at 4-under 142. Both first-round leaders took a severe fall on Friday, with Ji Young Oh, who had to finish her second round on Saturday due to the weather delay, shooting a 76 and Pat Hurst turning in a 5-over 78. Many top-ranked or well-known players missed the cut, including Laura Davies (70-81), Natalie Gulbis (73-80), 13-year-old Alexis Thompson (75-77), 2003 champion and Minnesotan Hilary Lunke (74-78), Juli Inkster (74-81), and Michelle Wie (81-75).
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Angela Park United States | 73-67=140 | −6 |
| T2 | Helen Alfredsson | 70-71=141 | −5 |
| T2 | Minea Blomqvist | 72-69=141 | −5 |
| T2 | Inbee Park | 72-69=141 | −5 |
| T5 | Jeong Jang | 73-69=142 | −4 |
| T5 | Cristie Kerr | 72-70=142 | −4 |
| T5 | Candie Kung | 72-70=142 | −4 |
| T5 | Paula Creamer | 70-72=142 | −4 |
| T9 | Stacy Lewis | 73-70=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Momoko Ueda | 72-71=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Teresa Lu | 71-72=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Ai Miyazato | 71-72=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Louise Friberg | 69-74=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Jiyai Shin | 69-74=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Mariajo Uribe (a) | 69-74=143 | −3 |
| T9 | Ji Young Oh | 67-72=143 | −3 |

### Third round

Saturday, June 28, 2008
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Stacy Lewis | 73-70-67=210 | −9 |
| 2 | Paula Creamer | 70-72-69=211 | −8 |
| T3 | Helen Alfredsson | 70-71-71=212 | −7 |
| T3 | Inbee Park | 72-69-71=212 | −7 |
| 5 | I.K. Kim | 71-73-69=213 | −6 |
| 6 | Mi Hyun Kim | 72-72-70=214 | −5 |
| T7 | Mariajo Uribe (a) | 69-74-72=215 | −4 |
| T7 | Angela Park United States | 73-67-75=215 | −4 |
| T9 | Young Kim | 74-71-71=216 | −3 |
| T9 | Momoko Ueda | 72-71-73=216 | −3 |
| T9 | Teresa Lu | 71-72-73=216 | −3 |
| T9 | Jeong Jang | 73-69-74=216 | −3 |

### Final round

Sunday, June 29, 2008
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 1 | Inbee Park | 72-69-71-71=283 | −9 | 585,000 |
| 2 | Helen Alfredsson | 70-71-71-75=287 | −5 | 350,000 |
| T3 | Angela Park | 73-67-75-73=288 | −4 | 162,487 |
| T3 | In-Kyung Kim | 71-73-69-75=288 | −4 | 162,487 |
| T3 | Stacy Lewis | 73-70-67-78=288 | −4 | 162,487 |
| T6 | Giulia Sergas | 73-74-72-70=289 | −3 | 94,117 |
| T6 | Nicole Castrale | 74-70-74-71=289 | −3 | 94,117 |
| T6 | Mi Hyun Kim | 72-72-70-75=289 | −3 | 94,117 |
| T6 | Paula Creamer | 70-72-69-78=289 | −3 | 94,117 |
| T10 | Teresa Lu | 71-72-73-74=290 | −2 | 75,734 |
| T10 | Mariajo Uribe (a) | 69-74-72-75=290 | −2 | 0 |
Source:

#### Scorecard

Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Park | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −9 |
| Alfredsson | −7 | −8 | −7 | −6 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −5 |
| I.K. Kim | −6 | −7 | −6 | −6 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −3 | −4 | −5 | −4 | −5 | −3 | −4 |
| Lewis | −9 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −6 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 |
| Creamer | −8 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −6 | −6 | −5 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −3 |
| M.H. Kim | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source: