SAN MARTIN, CA (July 4, 2016) -- The 71st playing of the U.S. Women's Open is set to begin on Thursday at CordeValle Golf Club and this year 26 amateurs from around the world will be in the field.

Of the group in this year's field, 10 players are presently ranked in the top-100 of the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com Rankings:

Lauren Stephenson (No. 3): Before transferring to Alabama, Stephenson became the first Clemson women's golfer to reach the NCAA Women's Tournament. Stephenson, a first-team Rolex Junior All-American in 2014, has already had a successful summer winning the Women's Eastern Amateur.

Bailey Tardy (No. 7): It was a banner freshman year for Tardy at Georgia. Not only did she take home SEC Freshman of the Year and first-team All- SEC honors, but she was also voted a first-team All- American. Tardy became the first Bulldog freshman to earn All-American honors since Reilley Rankin in 1998.


Hannah O'Sullivan (No. 15): 2016 marks the fourth time that Sullivan will compete in the U.S. Open. She previsoulsy missed the cut in 2012 and 2014, before making the cut last year and tying for 53rd.

Last year O'Sullivan picked up four signature wins; including the U.S. Women’s Amateur and Symetra Tour’s Gateway Classic. Her Symetra Tour win made her the first amateur to win on the tour since Kellee Booth in 1999.

Earlier this year, O'Sullivan finished tied for 65th in the LPGA Tour's ANA Inspiration.

Jennifer Kupcho (No. 23): A strong freshman year at Wake Forest for Kupcho, ended with a sixth place finish at the NCAA Championship's and a place on the All-American honorable mention list.

Kupcho reached the Round of 16 in the 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur and was named the Colorado Women's Golf Association Player of the Year.

Hye-Jin Choi (No. 25): Choi has already played in two LPGA Tour events this year, making the cut both times. In February Choi tied for 38th at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open and tied for 52nd in April's LOTTE Championship Presented by Hershey.

So far this year, Choi has played in four ranking events and she is yet to finish outside the top-16. Her best finish was a win at the Lake Macquarie Women's Amateur.

Robynn Ree (No. 43): A rising sophomore at USC, Ree won The Gold Rush tournament in February to record her first collegiate win. Ree capped off her freshman year, by being named to the All-American second-team.

Prior to arriving at USC Ree was a 2014 AJGA first- team All-American.

Sierra Brooks (No. 47): Heading to Wake Forest in the fall, Brooks finished runner-up in the 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur after winning the South Atlantic Women’s Amateur earlier in the year.

Albane Valenzuela (No. 64): Earlier this season Valenzuela finished tied for 65th at the LPGA ANA Inspiration, while in two ranking events she has top-10 finishes. Valenzuela's best finish came at the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur, when she finished second.

Mika Liu (No. 72): Liu already has a USGA championship to her name as she heads to CordeValle Golf Club. In 2015, playing alongside Rinko Mitsunaga who is also in the field this week, she won the inaugural U.S. Women's Four-Ball title. In January, Liu won the South Atlantic Ladies Amateur to get her season off to a strong start.

Leona Maguire (No. 86): The 2015 Annika Award winner will be heading into her junior year at Duke and it has already been a successful career. Maguire won the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational during the fall season of 2015-216 calendar year.

As a freshman, she finished first at the NCAA Central Regional and was also voted the national Freshman of the Year.

ADDITIONAL AMATEURS IN THE FIELD

-Chih-Min Chen
-Marissa Chow
- Allisen Corpuz
-Julia Engstrom
-Anna Hack
-Yu Sang Hou
- Alexandra Kaui
-Naomi Eun Young Ko
-Yan Liu
-Rinko Mitsunaga
-Haeran Ryu
- Karah Sanford
-Chika Sawada
-Erica Shepherd
-Hannah Wood
-Yunjie Zhang

-The USGA contributed to this story

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