“It’s my favorite place on earth,” —Mina Harigae

When the 78th U.S. Women’s Open Championship Presented by ProMedica tees off at iconic Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links in July, all eyes will deservedly be focused on the game’s superstars. Names such as defending champion Minjee Lee, Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Danielle Kang, Jin Young Ko, Brooke Henderson and rising Thai sensation Atthaya Thitikul should receive the bulk of the pre-championship hype.

With good reason.

But another name is going to draw plenty of attention, a local hero and former junior phenom who became the Cinderella story of the 2022 championship at Pine Needles. Northern Californian Mina Harigae’s runner-up finish not only guaranteed her a start at one of her favorite venues, but the $1.08 million second-place check was the largest of the Monterey, Calif., native’s 13-year professional career. In fact, it represented 37 percent of her career earnings ($2.9 million).

That special week in the North Carolina Sandhills capped what has been an incredible transformation for a player once considered a “can’t-miss” prospect when the now-33year-old was tearing up junior and amateur golf. Harigae, whose parents operate a sushi restaurant in Pacific Grove, burst onto the scene in 2001 as a precocious 12-year-old by capturing the first of four consecutive California Women’s Amateur titles. In 2008, she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links. She also was a two-time U.S. Girls’ Junior semifinalist (2003 and 2006) and member of the U.S. Junior

Ryder Cup (2004) and Solheim Cup (2007) teams before being selected to represent the USA in the 2008 Curtis Cup Match at St. Andrews in Scotland, a competition the Americans won handily, 13-7.

One semester at Duke University was enough to convince Harigae to turn professional, and that decision looked awfully good when she registered three Futures Tour (now Epson Tour) titles as a rookie in 2009 to top the developmental circuit’s money list. With an LPGA Tour card now in hand, the Stevenson School graduate seemed well on her way to stardom. Except the transition to the game’s biggest stage didn’t quite follow the script. Harigae struggled, producing just 10 top-10 finishes with no titles from 2010-2020.

Then COVID-19 hit in March of 2020, shutting down virtually every major sport, including the LPGA Tour. Harigae turned to the one place still operating events. The Cactus Tour, a minorleague tour conducting events around the Grand Canyon State, and particularly Greater Phoenix, became a popular destination for temporarily sidelined professionals. Now living in Mesa, Harigae jumped at the chance to compete and immediately found the success she once enjoyed as an amateur.

Harigae won four Cactus Tour events and regained some much-needed confidence. She also had met her fiancé Travis Kreiter, an assistant golf professional who worked at Superstition Mountain, where Harigae enjoyed golf privileges. Kreiter has since become her caddie and No. 1 supporter. In 2021, Harigae posted five top-10s and won $791,757 on the LPGA Tour, her best season as a professional.

That success spilled into 2022. Coming off a missed cut at the Chevron Championship in March, Harigae opened the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open with a 64 and battled Minjee Lee for four days, eventually coming up four strokes short of the title. There was, however, a silver lining. Second place guaranteed Harigae a start at Pebble Beach, a course she has revered and played an estimated 30 times.

“It’s my favorite place on earth,” she said after the championship. “I’m really looking forward to it next year.”