RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — For the second time in just over a month, Jennifer Kupcho is partnering up.

Six weeks after getting married in mid-February, the American polished a six-under par 66 in the opening round of the Chevron Championship to sit tied for the lead with Minjee Lee entering Friday. Kupcho got there grouped alongside Solheim Cup teammate and close friend Lizette Salas, who attended her wedding in mid-February. After hugging on the 18th hole, Salas asked Kupcho to be her teammate at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s team event in July, writing the question on her scorecard.

Kupcho immediately accepted, and the friends walked arm-in-arm to the scorer’s tent.

“After that performance,” Salas said, “I’m not going to miss an opportunity to ask her.”

Kupcho’s work with her other partner, husband Jay Monahan, who caddies on the LPGA Tour, fueled her nine-birdie performance Thursday, including four consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 14th holes. During their training, they focused on making sure Kupcho takes her putter straight back and through, compared to when she used to cut across the ball, to attain more consistent results.

“I have been working on my putting a lot,” Kupcho explained. “I mean, as everyone in the world says, my putting is not my strong suit.”

She took advantage of the pure greens of the Dinah Shore course Thursday with 24 putts, matching her career-low from the first round at the 2021 ISPS Handa World Invitational and the second round of the 2019 Taiwan Swinging Skirts.

.@jenniferkupcho was consistent with the flat stick on her way to a first round 66 at the @Chevron_Golf ⛳️ pic.twitter.com/3rzHHq9SHm

— LPGA (@LPGA) March 31, 2022

“I think it’s just being comfortable on this golf course,” Kupcho said, “I get here and I just feel comfortable. I love this place. Then getting to play with Lizette, who is my good friend, it was just all comfortable and really fun.”

The golfers’ camaraderie was on display for the entire round. On the 16th hole, Salas, who averages 18 yards less off the tee than Kupcho, outdrove her by a couple of yards. Salas turned to the gallery and said, “Hey, I just outdrove her,” to laughter and applause from the fans, and she remained jovial while shooting two-over par Thursday.

When they partnered together at the Solheim Cup, Salas, known for her putting ability, trusted Kupcho with reading the greens at Inverness.

On Thursday, the greens and the scenery of the Dinah Shore course also comforted Kupcho during her opening round. The layout and looming San Jacinto mountain range remind the 24-year-old of the desert golf in Colorado, where she grew up, and in Arizona, where she lives now.

“Just to see the same kind of grass and everything like that,” Kupcho said, “it’s just a comfort for me.”

Even after she missed the cut last week at the JTBC Classic, the pressure of major championships brings out Kupcho’s best. Salas, who described Kupcho at the Solheim Cup as someone with ice water in her veins, sees her fiery approach as what drives her success.

“She was a core of our team, our duo, and we complement each other very well,” Salas said. “She’s a fierce competitor. You can just tell. She hates making bogey. She just bounces back right after. That’s just how she is.”

Kupcho’s competitiveness has fueled her at some of the most significant events in women’s golf. In 2019, Kupcho outlasted 2019 individual NCAA Champion Maria Fassi at the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Then, Kupcho blitzed up the leaderboard with a closing 66 at the 2019 Evian Championship, the fourth major on the LPGA calendar, to finish tied for second in the best major performance of her career. In Kupcho’s first Solheim Cup last summer, she went 2-0-1 in team play alongside Salas.

Now, as she sits atop the leaderboard entering Day 2 at the Chevron Championship, she’s in a position to contend to become the first American to win the event since Brittany Lincicome in 2015.

“I admire her,” Salas said. “Even though I’m a ten-year veteran, she’s someone I admire. Her game is awesome. It’s on point.”

Kent Paisley is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering golf and the LPGA. He also contributes to Golf Digest. Follow him on Twitter @KentPaisley.

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun!

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, the Sports Are Fun! crew makes some room on the couch for JWS's own social media guru, Gab Basinski. Together, the hosts then tackle a range of women's sports subjects, including how NIL deals and the NCAA transfer portal are reshaping the college basketball landscape.

"The NCAA transfer portal closed last Wednesday, which had over 1,500 players enter," opens O'Hara. "So many moves here, but just to highlight a few: Olivia Miles to TCU, Ta'Niya Latson to South Carolina, UCLA lost their entire freshman class, and Londynn Jones to USC, and finally, MiLaysia Fulwiley to LSU."

"Of all DI players, almost 30% of players were in the portal," says Basinski. "That's insane."

"I have so many questions and thoughts," O'Hara says.

In addition to all those NCAA basketball thoughts, Sports Are Fun! also dives into NWSL rivalries, the crew's growing beef with the KC Current, PWHL expansion, Caitlin Clark jersey sales, and so much more!

'Sports Are Fun!' asks if NIL is taking the fun out of NCAA basketball

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

"First of all, I think it's a cardinal sin — and that is pun intended — to transfer to a rival," O'Hara says. "Is that not a thing anymore? I could never, as a Stanford player, go to a UCLA or a USC. Absolutely not."

"When there's money involved, it's not it's not personal. It's business, baby," reasons Diaz. "We're seeing a Londynn Jones go from UCLA literally across the street to USC — that's insane to me. I feel like that's one of the craziest moves. So I guess it doesn't matter anymore?"

"To me, the thing that makes college sports so fun are the rivalries, your school pride," says O'Hara. "You are ride-or-die for your school, and it just doesn't seem like it exists anymore.

"I'd be ride or die for whatever school's paying me, to be honest," quips Basinski. "Get a bag. Because also, it's like, 'Oh they value me enough to pay this much for me to switch schools. So the school is kind of behind me, and if they're behind me this much, alright, I'll take your check and I'll go play.'"

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

Concerns over faulty NWSL officiating again took center stage this week, after Sunday's 3-3 draw between the Portland Thorns and Racing Louisville FC saw a league-record 41 fouls called — with only one card handed out in regulation.

In the chippy, physical showdown, Louisville took a 3-1 first-half lead only to see it shortened to 3-2 after referee Corbyn May awarded Portland a penalty kick just before halftime. Portland then drew level with another converted penalty, this one awarded late in second-half stoppage time.

Angered by May's controversial calls, Racing Louisville's Ary Borges garnered a post-match red card for dissent after confronting the officials on the field.

"I do think that match can't keep happening in this league. I think it's embarrassing — it alters the match, it alters the sport," said Portland's Jessie Fleming after the game, remarking on Louisville's aggressive play and the officials' lack of response.

"It's embarrassing for the league, and I think it's embarrassing for Louisville as a club, and very frustrating for us as players."

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Following the match, Borges apologized for her outburst via social media, going on to note, "I'm not much of talking about referees because they are things that are beyond our control but what happened today in the match was a shame."

"For those who had two questionable penalties and spent the whole game throwing themselves in and around the penalty box, please take a moment to reflect and not talk about my team," she continued, accusing the Thorns of contributing to the issue by over-selling fouls.

With the puck dropping on the league's second postseason next week, the PWHL unveiled the Minnesota Frost's 2024 Walter Cup championship rings on Monday.

The reveal came as part of the league's multi-year partnership announcement with Paris Jewellers Canada, a family-owned jewelry brand that the PWHL has tapped to create its championship rings for years to come.

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In order to personalize the championship jewelry, the design of the 2024 title-winning rings included input from inaugural victors Minnesota.

Fashioned from sterling silver, the rings feature an image of the Walter Cup. Surrounding the trophy are 74 diamonds, in honor of the goals scored by the team throughout their first season, as well as 18 purple amethyst stones representative of the squad's total 2023/24 wins.

The rings also bear inscriptions of the May 29th, 2024, championship game date and 3-0 winning score, the Frost's "Win One Game" motto, and each athlete's name and jersey number.

The champs received their rings in a private celebration on Sunday.

"This group will always carry the honor of being the first team in PWHL history to win the Walter Cup," said Minnesota captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.  "Now, we will forever have these special championship rings that encapsulate the journey to the top."

With the 2024/25 PWHL regular season closing on May 3rd, the Frost are locked in a battle with the Boston Fleet and Ottawa Charge for the two remaining playoff spots.

For a shot at defending their 2024 title, Minnesota must win their final two games by defeating both Ottawa and Boston this week.

Though rolling blackouts across the region suspended play at the 2025 Madrid Open on Monday, many top US talents are working their way through the clay court competition to great success.

World No. 4 Coco Gauff dispatched Switzerland's No. 42 Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 in Monday's Round of 16, exiting the court just before the arena lost power.

"I feel like, at this point, this is only a situation you can laugh at if I was on court," Gauff said after her post-match interview was cut short by a deadened mic. "Because it's probably not going to happen ever again, and we'll always remember the day the power went out at Madrid Open."

Gauff next faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals, where a win could see her swap places with the now-ousted Jessica Pegula in the WTA rankings to reclaim No. 3 — and resume her title as the highest-ranked US player.

The rest of the Round of 16 resumed early Tuesday morning, with fellow US star and world No. 5 Madison Keys taking down Croatia's No. 21 Donna Vekić 6-2, 6-3 before No. 2 Iga Świątek eked out a win against No. 13 Diana Shnaider 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

Keys and Świątek will now square off in the quarterfinals — their first meeting since Keys upset the Polish star in January's Australian Open semifinal.

How to watch the 2025 Madrid Open quarterfinals

The 2025 Madrid Open quarterfinals kick off at 4 AM ET on Wednesday. Coverage of the tournament will continue to air live on the Tennis Channel.