If Riviera Was the Statement, Shinnecock Will Be the Mic Drop For Women's Golf

After 12 years, the USGA and women's golf got it's statement U.S. Women's Open. Michelle Wie West in 2014 at Pinehurst was the last true blockbuster win for an American at their national open, until Nelly Korda at Riviera just two weeks ago.

RELATED: Delayed, Not Denied—Nelly Korda Finally Gets Her Hollywood Ending

It was the perfect stage with the perfect ending—and hopefully what we witnessed will be the blueprint for what a successful championship will look like—something that USGA CEO Mike Whan (who was once the commissioner of the LPGA) alluded to at his pre-championship presser ahead of this week's men's US Open at Shinnecock Hills.

"I'm hoping that two weeks ago answered that question for every fan, more than I'll answer it, if you watched the women play Riviera and what happened there over the weekend and the Sunday finish," said Whan. "Riviera was a huge stage for the women's game, and we were super proud of it. Whether you watched it or didn't watch it, didn't matter. It was an amazing experience. If you believe what you saw at Riv make sense, I can only imagine what the next ten years is going to be."

Well in 10 years time, the women will play at Shinnecock, and one can only hope that we don't have to wait a decade for that same magic to be repeated.

"I think we will not know the impact of Riviera for another decade. I've just got to believe, like I as a little boy watched Jack Nicklaus win at Baltusrol in 1980. Tom Watson winning at Pebble Beach in 1982. We were little boys that wanted to win the U.S. Open," said USGA Chief Championships Officer John Bodenhamer.

"There were thousands, if not tens of thousands of little girls who watched Nelly Korda lift that trophy, and ten years from now we're going to see them playing and winning, and we're going to see more Nelly Kordas. Isn't that cool? Not just in the United States, but all around the world...The women deserve to win at Riviera, at Shinnecock. They just do. I am proud that the USGA has allowed us to go down that journey, and we're going to make it great."

Riviera showed us what the U.S. Women's Open can be when the biggest stars in the game are given one of golf's grandest stages and a moment worthy of the spotlight. And to Whan's point, hopefully the next decade won't simply be about taking the championship to iconic courses—it will be about the generation of girls who watched Korda win in L.A. and decided they wanted to be next.