17-Year-Old Canadian Professional Huang Medals, LPGA Veteran Kang Qualify for U.S. Women's Open

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, Minn. – During her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour in 2025, Anna Huang earned a pair of victories to become the first Canadian golfer with multiple titles in Tour history.

 

She made her first appearance at the Women’s British Open last season, and after firing a 1-under 141 Thursday at Somerset Country Club, Huang qualified for her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open—still more than five months away of her 18th birthday.

 

“I feel like there’s a little bit of pressure to run it back and qualify again,” said Huang, who shot 74-77 during her first appearance last season at Erin Hills to miss the cut by six shots. “This morning I woke up and online it said there were two spots instead of one, which was a big relief.

 

“Majors in general, they’re so challenging and the layout almost makes it a different competition. I think this year I’ll pick better targets and map out the course better than I did last year.”

Huang will be joined at the national championship at iconic Riviera Country Club next month by six-time LPGA Tour winner Danielle Kang, who claimed the second qualifying spot Thursday after posting an even par 142.

 

After carding a 1-under 70 during her opening round Thursday, Huang remained 1-under until a bogey at her 17th hole, but she bounced back by sinking a 10-footer for birdie on her final hole to earn medalist honors at 1-under 141.

 

“I was expecting the weather to be a lot worse today, but it warmed up pretty quickly after the frost delay, which surprised me and made things a lot easier,” Huang said. “Obviously 36 holes is a lot of golf, so I was trying to stay patient, and everything went pretty smoothly.

 

“Ended up having to make a must-make birdie on the last hole, so that was nice.”

 

Turning professional to begin 2025 after finishing 29th at Q-school the previous December, Huang qualified for both the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills and the Women’s British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.

 

The Vancouver native earned her first career win last September with a dominant six-stroke victory at the La Salle Open in Spain, becoming the fourth youngest winner on the Ladies European Tour, and joined Atthaya Thitikul, Lydia Ko and Amy Yang as the Tour’s only teenage winners.

 

She followed it up with a second victory the very next week at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France.

 

“This year’s been better—being a rookie is challenging because you’re meeting new people and seeing new places,” Huang said. “More experience this season and a good support team behind me. Golf Canada has been helping me a lot.”

 

In what turned out to be a spectacular bogey on her final hole of the day Thursday, the 33-year-old Kang returns to the U.S. Open after missing the championship for the first time in 15 seasons in 2025.

 

“I’m just really happy that I get to go to Riviera,” Kang said after qualifying Thursday. “I missed out last year and I earned my way there, so that’s pretty cool.

 

“I was just really focused on the shot that I was hitting. The course was playing tough—it was long and a very USGA setup. I had to hit a driver on a par-3 during both rounds, which only happens at U.S. Opens.”

 

Posting a 2-over 73 during Thursday’s morning session, Kang carded a bogey and two birdies during her opening nine, and would capitalize on both par-3s on the back, including the 180-yard seventh where she knocked her tee shot to three feet for her fourth birdie of the round to reach 1-under for the tournament.

 

An errant tee shot found the hazard at the par-4 ninth, leaving Kang in a precarious position on her final hole.

 

“The ball was sitting on the mud and all I thought was to hit the fat part of the green and make bogey or a chance at par,” Kang said. “Afterwards, my job was to recoup and try to be ready for anything that happened, but I was very proud of the bogey I made.”

 

A final-round 69 secured Kang’s spot at the national event where she has a pair of top-20s and a fourth-place finish in 2018.

 

“I carried my own bag the last 18 holes—a friend carried the first 18, but he had to go to work,” Kang said following her round. “Everyone at Somerset has been wonderful, and it was a really Minnesota welcome—loved it.”

 

Kang played two seasons at Pepperdine University before joining the LPGA Tour in 2011. The San Francisco native first broke through when she held the 54-hole lead at the 2017 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and went on to defeat Canadian Brooke Henderson by one stroke for her first career victory.

 

She’d add one victory in each of the next three seasons before notching two victories in 2020 at the LPGA Drive On Championship and the Marathon Classic.

 

Kang reached as high as World No. 4 in 2019 and was named to four U.S. Solheim Cup teams.

 

Her most recent victory came at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in 2022 before a medical issue sidetracked her career. She’s battled to regain her form since, making just 14 cuts in her last 37 starts since 2024.

 

Kang has made the cut in each of her first two starts to begin the 2026 season, finishing 27th at the Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba last week.

 

Prior to turning professional, Kang won the U.S. Women’s Amateur in 2010 and competed in all four majors in 2011, while successfully defending her title at the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

 

Thailand’s Jaravee Boonchant finished as first alternate and Malaysia’s Jeneath Wong finished as second alternate.

 

The 2026 U.S. Women’s Open marks the first time Riviera Country Club will host a major women’s event in the club’s 100-year history.

 

Riviera has been home to the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational (formerly the L.A. Open) since 1923 and has hosted three previous USGA championships: U.S. Open (1948) and the U.S. Senior Open (1998).

 

Most recently, Doc Redman sank a 60-foot eagle putt to even the final match of the 2017 U.S. Amateur against Doug Ghim before prevailing in a playoff.

 

A pair of PGA Championships were also contested at Riviera in 1983 and 1985.