The final major women’s professional golf tournament of the season, the AIG Women’s Open, will be played at the Old Course in St. Louis. Andrews Links in Scotland on Thursday.
Along with battling the Hell Bunker and the famous Road Hole, the world’s best female golfers may have to deal with strong winds and rain on the Old Course.
It is the first time in more than a decade that the AIG Women’s Open has been played at the “Home of Golf.”
“Yeah, it feels different,” said defending champion Lilia Vu. “We’re at St. Andrews, which is like where everybody wants to play. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There’s a little bit of pressure, but I think I know it’s going to be a fight for everybody, not just me.”
Here’s what to watch for the women’s golf major:
AIG Women’s Open
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: The Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland
Defending champion: Lilia Vu
Bag: $9 million
What you can watch
Nelly Korda: The world No. 1 golfer won six of seven times earlier this season, but has cooled off a bit lately. She missed the cut at the US Women’s Open, the Meijer LPGA Classic and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and tied for 26th at the Amundi Evian Championship. Her best finish at the Women’s Open is a tie for ninth in 2019.
Lydia Ko: Ko earned his place in the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. A 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Ko has five top-25 finishes in 12 Women’s Open starts, including a tie for third in 2015.
Hannah Green: The Australian golfer picked up two victories this spring at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the JM Eagle LA Championship. The winner of the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship has never finished in the top 15 of the Women’s Open.
Ally Ewing: Ewing’s consistent play this season helped him earn a spot on the US Solheim Cup team for the fourth time. Her six top-10 finishes this season include a tie for tenth at the Amundi Evian Championship, fifth at the Women’s PGA Championship and third at the US Women’s Open.
Minjee Lee: The two-time major champion feels at home on the links courses. She has four top-10 finishes in her last six appearances at the Women’s Open.
Lauren Coughlin: Coughlin has been the hottest golfer in the world lately, capturing her first two LPGA victories at the CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary on July 28 and the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open on Aug. 18. Ranked third in official green trips (73.4). %).
Return to St. Andrews
For only the third time, the AIG Women’s Open is being played on the Old Course. Lorena Ochoa won by four strokes in a wire-to-wire victory in the first “home of golf” tournament in 2007, and current US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis won by two strokes in 2013.
“Obviously, it’s the home of golf,” said England’s Charley Hull. “It would be a special win. Something you always dreamed of as a kid. So, yeah, it would be very special.”
Hull played the back 9 on Monday morning and admitted to having goosebumps while walking down Nos. 17 and 18.
Defending champion Lilia Vu played the Old Course for the first time on Monday. He played with Korda and two other golfers. They stopped to take a picture at the iconic Swilcan Bridge between 1st and 18th streets. This is where Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and others have stood to pay their respects to the course.
“It was definitely surreal,” said Vu. “You just can’t get past that feeling of some of the past players being there and a lot of golf has been played here. So, yeah, it’s a surreal feeling, and I’m trying to soak it all in, at the same time. focus on playing the tournament.”
The Old Course will play approximately 6,784 yards this week. Weather may be a factor, with forecasters predicting high temperatures in the low 60s and 26 mph winds for Thursday’s opening round. There is a good chance of rain on Friday morning.
Vu’s defense
Vu’s prize for taking her second major championship victory at the 2023 AIG Women’s Open was a cat. He named it Walton, after Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, where he finished 14 under to beat Hull by six strokes.
“I don’t want to say simple words, but I found a cat in it,” said Vu. “That was my steal last year with my dad. We got another bribe to get another cat if I did another main, so hopefully I can do that. Hopefully, I can get another cat and maybe name something else.”
Andrews has a nice ring to it.
Vu will be out of the playoffs on the 25th of the Scottish Open held last week at Dundonald Links. He was battling illness after the Paris Olympics, where he tied for 36th place in five overs. She won the Meijer LPGA Classic and finished second in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.
Looking to return to that form in St. Andrews.
“I feel like I’m always going back to my old ways and I feel like I don’t know how I won tournaments before,” said Vu. “I think I felt like at the Olympics a little bit this year, it wasn’t playing well and I was like, ‘How did I get here and get this place,’ almost. But I’m trying my best here. I got sick because of the Olympics. So I was sick all last week It was hard to recover, this cold and rain, but I love it here.
Solheim Cup watch
Rosters for the upcoming Solheim Cup, to be played Sept. 13-15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, will be finalized after Sunday’s final round at the Old Course.
Five players — Korda (2,649), Vu (2,067.5), Coughlin (1,676), Ewing (1,607) and Allsen Corpuz (1,493) — have already qualified for the US team in points. Two other golfers will make the team in points, as will the top two golfers in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who did not otherwise qualify for the team. Lewis will also pick three for the captain.
Megan Khang (1,391.5), Andrea Lee (1,197.5), Rose Zhang (1,092.5), Alison Lee (1,034) and Sarah Schmelzel (1,024) rounded out the top 10. Solheim Cup veteran Lexi Thompson, who is retiring from the LPGA Tour after this season, is 14th in points (708.5).
Zhang (No. 9) and Lee (No. 25) will be the top-ranked players in the Rolex World Rankings. The next two players are Angel Yin (No. 34) and Thompson (No. 43).
It will be Coughlin’s first Solheim Cup. He grew up in the state and attended the University of Virginia.
“There is probably no hotter player on the LPGA Tour right now than Lauren Coughlin,” Lewis said. “Winning two of the last three events and playing the way he’s played all year, it’s been great to see him. He’s been on our radar at the end of last year, and it’s great to see his performance continue to improve. In 2024.”
The top two players on the European team points table for the Solheim Cup will automatically qualify, along with the top six players on the national team’s points table who have not already qualified. European team captain Suzann Pettersen will nominate the four selected.
England’s Hull (202.25) and Germany’s Esther Henseleit (179.82) are first in Solheim Cup points. Sweden’s Linn Grant (139.55) and Maja Stark (132.63) and Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling (132) rounded out the top five.
Celine Boutier of France (No. 8), Stark (No. 24), Grant (No. 26), Leona Maguire of Ireland (No. 32), Carlota Ciganda of Spain (No. 33) and Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden (No. 35 ) were the top six players in the world rankings who were not in the team.
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