Gaby Lopez made the cut at the 81st U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club and stood tied for third at 3-under after 36 holes, one shot behind leaders Alison Lee and Ruoning Yin as the tournament moved into the weekend.
Lopez’s position matters because the 36-hole cut pared the field to players at 4-over par or better; she finished comfortably above that line and within striking distance of the clubhouse leaders. The field began with 28 amateurs and just five amateurs survived the cut — one of them, Maria Jose Marin, was tied for 22nd at 1-over after two rounds.
The numbers that earned Lopez her spot came in a tidy second-round 71. She opened the day by birdying No. 1 to move into a tie for second, then dropped three consecutive shots with bogeys on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 before sinking a 12‑footer for birdie on the par‑3 16th that steadied her back to 3-under for the championship.
Lopez’s weekend position was built on the contrast between two stretches: she began the first round with five birdies on her first nine holes, but bogeyed three of her final eight holes in that opening round. Those late mistakes in round one, and the mid‑round wobble on 13‑15 in round two, are the specific lapses that kept her from taking the outright lead despite the early fireworks.
Context deepens the meaning of Lopez’s standing. A former All‑American for Arkansas, she has a record of making cuts in majors — including the 80th U.S. Open and the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship — and she will start the weekend in a position that demands both scoring and course management. The cut line of 4‑over par removed a big portion of the field; Lopez now joins a concentrated group contending for a major at Riviera in Pacific Palisades, California.
Lopez’s third round pairs her with Sei Young Kim, and they will begin at 4:15 p.m. That tee time locates her squarely in the late afternoon wave, when pin placements and light can shift strategy. Her weekend will hinge on whether she can convert birdie chances without repeating the multi‑hole bogey stretches that cost shots over her first two rounds.
The single consequential question heading into the weekend is straightforward: can Lopez erase a one‑shot deficit to Alison Lee and Ruoning Yin and convert her clear run‑making ability into a sustained title push over the final 36 holes?
