The U.S. Women’s Open tees off tomorrow morning in Houston with the world’s best looking to end 2020 on a high note… and with a cool $1 million winners check in their pocket.

This is the first LPGA major to ever be played in December, and because of the shortened days, the first two rounds will be played on two different courses, Cypress Creek and Jackrabbit. The final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday will be played exclusively on the Cypress Creek course, which was originally slated to host the entirety of the major.

The TV schedule is as follows (all times ET):

• Thursday: 12:30-6:00pm, Golf Channel

• Friday:  3:00-6:00pm, Golf Channel

• Saturday: 11:00am-1:00pm, Golf Channel; 2:30-6:00pm, NBC

• Sunday: 11:00am-2:00pm, Golf Channel; 2:00pm-5:00pm, NBC

The field is stacked, but here’s 5 golfers we’ll be keeping our eyes on:

 

KO JIN-YOUNG

World Ranking: 1st

Recent Wins: ANA Championship (2019), Evian Championship (2019)

After a dominant 2019, Jin-young found herself in South Korea unable to join the tour (due to COVID-19) to defend her Rolex World Ranking and many other tournament wins. The South Korean international is now back on the tour, and while she hasn’t participated in any majors this year, she looked sharp during her only stateside tune up in the Volunteer of America Classic last week, taking fifth.

South Korea's Ko Jin-young has won her first major at the ANA Inspiration.

In full: https://t.co/Jg1eOXOMqT#Golf #InspirationStartsHere pic.twitter.com/V95n0E7bGO

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 8, 2019

KIM SEI-YOUNG

World Ranking: 2nd

Recent Wins: KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (2020), Pelican Women’s Championship (2020)

The 27-year old from South Korea is on a hot streak, winning her last two starts earlier this year. Heading into 2020, Sei-young was the most successful women’s golfer without a major win. She got the monkey off her back in decisive fashion, winning by 5 strokes at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in October. 

"I think motivation is critical to athletes. If you don't have that motivation, you won't have the will and the thought to go forward, so I think motivation is really important.

Inspired by BTS and the tradition of Tiger Woods: Meet first-time major winner Kim Sei-Young. pic.twitter.com/onpr0WtEOw

— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) December 7, 2020

DANIELLE KANG

World Ranking: 4

Recent Wins: LPGA Drive On Championship (2020), Marathon LPGA Classic (2020)

The second highest ranked American (behind Nelly Korda) is the only other golfer on the tour besides Kim Sei-young with two title wins this season. She’s been competitive in every tournament she’s played this year; however, both her victories came early in the tour season. 

Great bunker shot by Danielle Kang, who is maintaining her lead at the LPGA's first event back. pic.twitter.com/cmAYF3Wt1J

— Travis Fulton (@travisfulton) August 1, 2020

JESSICA KORDA

World Ranking: 26

Recent Wins: Honda LPGA Thailand (2018)

The older sister of the Korda duo is still searching for her first major title. With younger sister Nelly pulling out of her last tournament in October due to back pain, Jessica may have the best shot of winning a title for the Korda family. She started strong in the first two rounds last week in Texas (69,69) giving her a share of the lead, before falling off in the final rounds. If she can find that consistency, she’s got an outside shot.

LPGA Tour stars and sisters @TheJessicaKorda and @NellyKorda are our latest cover stars. ????

The @Cisco athletes share their secrets to surviving sibling rivalry and growing up in a family of world-class athletes: https://t.co/IgktPMBhIt #sponsored pic.twitter.com/KpBJEVhhBC

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) November 23, 2020

ANGELA STANFORD

World Ranking: 46th

Recent Wins: Volunteer of America Classic (2020)

Sometimes you gotta go with the hot hand. Last week, the veteran won her 7th LPGA Tour title at the Volunteer of America Texas Shootout. In a talented field, Stanford excelled in stretches where the world’s best struggled, shooting a four-under 67 to close the tournament, with a stretch on the back nine starting on the 13th that included four birdies in five holes. Can she surprise the field again?

A win at home. ????

Texas native and TCU alum @Angela_Stanford cards a final-round 67 to win the @VOAClassic for her seventh LPGA Tour title. pic.twitter.com/Y58c8R1QYz

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 6, 2020

The PWHL is continuing to break records, as Sunday's 2025/26 Takeover Tour stop in Washington, DC, saw 17,228 fans pack into Capital One Arena to see the No. 2 New York Sirens top the No. 4 Montréal Victoire 2-1 — setting a new US women's hockey attendance record in the process.

The benchmark surpasses the previous US record set this past November, when the Seattle Torrent welcomed 16,014 fans to their inaugural home opener.

Sunday's DC crowd also sees the US mark inch closer to the overall professional women's hockey attendance record, set in April 2024 when 21,105 PWHL fans sold out Montréal's Bell Centre to watch the Victoire take on the Toronto Sceptres.

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"Washington, DC, showed up in such a big way, and the energy our fans brought into the arena turned this game into something truly special," PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer said of the first-ever PWHL game in the nation's capital. "Moments like this capture the joy of our sport and the momentum behind the league."

The third-year league is currently racing through its best-attended month on record, drawing more than 154,000 fans across the last 16 games while averaging crowds of 8,726 across all 49 games so far this season.

The Kansas City Current delivered some concerning news this week, with the NWSL club revealing that star striker Temwa Chawinga remains sidelined with an hip adductor injury while the league's 2026 preseason gets underway.

The team currently lists the reigning back-to-back NWSL MVP under a season-ending injury (SEI) designation, a category earned after Chawinga picked up the injury in mid-October, leaving the Kansas City attacker benched for the Current's quarterfinal loss to eventual 2025 NWSL champions Gotham FC.

"It's hard because of the nature of the injury," incoming Kansas City head coach Chris Armas told The Athletic last week. "With Temwa, we've got to be very careful, but she's looking great and doing lots of good work on the return to play."

Also on the Current's SEI list is standout winger Michelle Cooper, with the 23-year-old rising USWNT star suffering a foot injury in Kansas City's final regular-season match of 2025.

"It was a little bit of a tough ending here after, honestly, an amazing historic season," said Armas. "Hopefully they are back as soon as possible, but it's still unclear."

Both Chawinga and Cooper will have some time to recover before Kansas City kicks off their 2026 NWSL regular season against the Utah Royals on March 14th — with teams allowed to lift a player's SEI status any time once the season begins.

The world's top tennis stars are rolling in Melbourne, as the first round of the 2026 Australian Open wrapped early Tuesday morning with only a few ranked seeds suffering early defeats.

World No. 15 Emma Navarro was the highest-ranked US player to fall in the first round, with the 24-year-old exiting the season's first Grand Slam in a 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 loss to Poland's No. 50 Magda Linette on Sunday.

No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova also stumbled in the first round, with her Melbourne run ending in a three-set loss to Turkey's No. 112 Zeynep Sönmez on Saturday before No. 68 Peyton Stearns ousted fellow US star and 2020 Australian Open champion No. 30 Sofia Kenin in straight sets on Sunday.

Many contenders still remain in the hunt, however, as the entire WTA Top 10 cruised through their opening matchups to advance to the Slam's second round.

That said, fans will miss out on one highly anticipated showdown, as wild card entry Venus Williams's first-round loss ended the 45-year-old tennis icon's path to a second-round clash with US favorite No. 3 Coco Gauff.

How to watch the second round of the 2026 Australian Open

The 2026 Australian Open continues when the Slam's second round kicks off with a Tuesday night slate that features stars like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff, and No. 7 Jasmine Paolini.

Tuesday's action begins at 7 PM ET, with all Melbourne matches airing live across ESPN platforms.

The ongoing dominance of UConn basketball has started to break records, as the top-ranked Huskies humbled unranked Notre Dame 85-47 on Monday — keeping their perfect 2025/26 NCAA season intact.

Monday's 38-point margin of victory marked the largest in the teams' 20-year rivalry, with the win also snapping the Huskies' three-game head-to-head losing streak against the Fighting Irish.

"UConn showed why they're the best team in the country," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said postgame.

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Even more, UConn sophomore forward Sarah Strong added her own individual history to Monday's tally, becoming the third-fastest Husky to reach 1,000 career points, with the 19-year-old trailing only program legends Maya Moore and Paige Bueckers — who each did so in 55 games to Strong's 59 — in the race to reach that stat.

"I would love to see if anybody has scored 1,000 points by taking less shots than she's taking," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. "She's so efficient."

"It means a lot to me I guess, but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates," Strong said after leading the Huskies with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double on Monday night.

How to watch UConn basketball this week

UConn now returns to Big East play, with the No. 1 Huskies taking on unranked Georgetown at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on TNT.