AR
It’s time for the final major of the season, and if you think we’ve finally hit a point of reasonable predictability, think again. There are countless stars in the AIG Women’s Open, but parity still reigns as the women play a major for the first time at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
There have been plenty of big tournaments on the 130-year-old links that sit by the Bristol Channel. Then-Stanford star Tiger Woods led an American team to Porthcawl for the 1995 Walker Cup, but it was Padraig Harrington’s Great Britain & Ireland team that prevailed. And Bernhard Langer would be a good person for tour players to consult, considering he won the Senior Open Championship twice at Porthcawl (2014, 2017), with the first victory coming by a whopping 13 shots.
The weather—namely wind—could play a role, but the current forecast looks manageable, with regular breezes not predicted to exceed 15 mph this week and temperatures in the high 60s.
The experience will be all new for many players who haven’t played the course or visited the area.
“I’ve never been to Wales,” said World No. 1 Nelly Korda. “I’ve never been to the golf course, so I am excited to check something new off the list. It’s the last major of the year. It’s always exciting to play in a major, so I’m looking forward to a good week in Wales.”
Mao Saigo (Chevron Championship), Maja Stark (U.S. Women’s Open), Minjee Lee (KPMG Women’s PGA Championship) and Grace Kim (Evian Championship) have won the first four majors of the season, but no player has won multiple times on tour this year.
With Lottie Woad’s victory Sunday in the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open in her pro debut, there have been 19 consecutive tournaments with different winners, the longest stretch to a season’s start in the 75-year history of the LPGA. Twenty players have won events, with a two-player team winning the Dow Championship.
Lydia Ko is the defending Open champion after her victory St. Andrews, but the previous four winners of the Women’s Open—Lilia Vu, Ashleigh Buhai, Anna Nordqvist and Sophia Popov—are struggling this season. Vu has missed the cut in her last five tournaments, three of which were majors; Buhai hasn’t made the weekend in three of the four majors; Nordqvist made the cut at the first two majors but missed at the Women’s PGA Championship and Evian Championship; and Popov is 1-for-7 in cuts in her most recent tour starts.
A look at our picks for the top 20 players we think have the best chance to win this major.
20. Georgia Hall
ANDY BUCHANAN
Rolex Rankings: 117; British starts: 12; Best finish: Won, 2018; ’24 Finish: T-22
The English golfer loves the British Open and my, does the British Open love her. In addition to her win at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018, she’s finished second and third. Her season, however, has been a struggle, with Hall making only five cuts in 12 starts, and her only top-10 came in February. Hall’s upside: She again showed her strength on links by finishing T-29 in Women’s Scottish last week.
19. Andrea Lee
Rolex Rankings: 28; British starts: 5; Best finish: T-7, 2020; ’24 finish: T-22
The American’s game has been trending up all season. She’s made the cut in all four majors and hasn’t finished worse than T-30, including a T-5 at Evian after leading the first round. She has two top-10s in the British and is looking for her first LPGA win since 2022.
18. Grace Kim
Rolex Rankings: 26; British starts: 2; Best finish: T-36, 2023; ’24 finish: T-37
Kim pulled off an incredible finish in the Evian, scoring an eagle to force a playoff and then going birdie-eagle over the two extra holes to beat Jeeno Thitikul. Maybe she can continue riding the wave in Europe, though she missed the cut last week in the Scottish Open and has only one other top-10 finish in 13 starts this season.
17. Maja Stark
Stuart Franklin
Rolex Rankings: 9; British starts: 3; Best finish: T-41, 2022; ’24 finish: T-71
Stark won May’s U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, becoming one of three Swedes to capture a tournament this year. She has one other top-10 this season, but has been inconsistent enough to miss five cuts, including at Evian.
16. Carlota Ciganda
Rolex Rankings: 25; British starts: 16; Best finish: T-7, 2018; 7, 2019; ’24 finish: T-37
Ciganda is having one of her best seasons on tour, with five top-10s and a win in the Meijer LPGA Classic. She’s still looking to become the first Spaniard on the women’s side to win a major, and with 12 career top-12s in majors she continues to put herself in position to do that.
15. Ayaka Furue
Rolex Rankings: 19; British starts: 4; Best finish: T-20, 2021; ’24 finish: T-37
She has three top-10s this year and five-top 10s in majors in her young career. Furue won the Evian last year but missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s PGA. She’s finished second, third and fourth in events this year, so her game is right there.
14. Akie Iwai
Atsushi Tomura
Rolex Rankings: 27; British starts: 2; Best finish: T-7, 2024; ‘24 finish: T-7
She finished T-11 in the 2023 British and added a top-10 last year. The 23-year-old Japanese star is having a fantastic rookie season with three top-10s and has made the cut in three of the four majors.
13. Charley Hull
Rolex Rankings: 20; British starts: 16; Best finish: 2, 2023; ’24 finish: T-20
The Englishwoman had to withdraw from the Evian this month after collapsing on the course due to battling a virus. She’s healthy again and played in the Scottish Open. Hull had the best chance of her career to win a major at the British when she was tied for the lead in 2023 after 54 holes, but Lilia Vu overcame her to win a second major for the year. This year, Hull has finished T-12 in two majors, the Women’s PGA and U.S. Women’s Open.
12. Mao Saigo
Rolex Rankings: 10; British starts: 3; Best finish: T-7, 2024; ’24 finish: T-7
Saigo, the tour’s rookie of the year last year, has had no sophomore slump. She won the Chevron in April and has five top-10s this season, including a T-4 at the U.S. Women’s Open. The Japanese star was T-38 at Evian but missed the cut at the Women’s PGA.
11. Hinako Shibuno
Rolex Rankings: 81; British starts: 6; Best finish: Won, 2019; ’24 finish: MC
It’s feast or famine for Shibuno in this major. She’s won it and finished third, but has also missed the cut three times. She’s gone through tough stretches and missed the cut in four consecutive events this season, but posted a top-10 at the U.S. Women’s Open. Her lone career win was at this major, so she’ll no doubt try to use those good vibes to get back on track this week.
10. Ariya Jutanugarn
Hunter Martin
Rolex Rankings: 18; British starts: 11; Best finish: Won, 2016; ’24 finish: 6
A two-time major winner, Jutanugarn has four career top-10s in the British. Her victory in ’16 at Woburn outside London came when she was just 20 years old and made her the first player from Thailand to win a major. In April, she flubbed a chip shot at the Chevron on the 72nd hole when she needed to get up and down for the win. The 12-time career winner still hasn’t notched a victory this season, but has been strong with six top-10s, including a T-8 last week.
9. Jin Young Ko
Rolex Rankings: 13; British starts: 6; Best finish: 2, 2015; ’24 finish: MC
Ko has four top-10s this year—including second-, third- and fourth-place finishes. The two-time major winner has 12 career top-10s in majors. Ko nearly won the British in 2015, leading after 54 holes, but Inbee Park stormed back to win and complete the career Grand Slam.
8. Lottie Woad
Rolex Rankings: 24; British starts: 1; Best finish: T-10, 2024; ’24 finish: T-10
Woad could haven’t done any better in her British Open prep than winining in both starts before it. The 21-year-old Florida State alum backed up her wint in the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur by capturing last week’s Women’s Scottish Open in her pro debut. She was the low amateur last year at St. Andrews and finished T-3 at this year’s Evian, which gave her the final point in the LEAP program to earn her tour card.
7. Hyo Joo Kim
Mike Mulholland
Rolex Rankings: 8 British starts: 8; Best finish: T-4, 2023; ’24 finish: T-29
The Korean standout has two top-10s and five top-25s in this event and plays well in European majors. She won the Evian in 2014 and has three top-10s in France. This year, she has four top-10s and a win at the Ford Championship.
6. Nelly Korda
Rolex Rankings: 1; British starts: 8; Best finish: T-2, 2024; ’24 finish: T-2
Korda, coming off a solo fifth in the Women’s Scottish, has been in a situation for the last month where she could lose her World No. 1 ranking to Jeeno Thitikul and that still holds true this week. A year after having six victories for the season by this juncture, Korda has surprisingly not won despite mostly playing well, posting four top-10s, including a T-2 in the U.S. Women’s Open. She hasn’t missed a cut this year, and her 13 consecutive made cuts are the most in her career.
5. Ruoning Yin
Rolex Rankings: 4; British starts: 2; Best finish: T-2, 2024; ’24 finish: T-2
Last year, Yin finished in a four-way T-2, two shots behind Ko. She’s having a strong season, with three top-10s, including T-2 in both the Chevron and U.S. Women’s Open and is looking to add another major to her Women’s PGA Championship.
4. Angel Yin
Scott Taetsch
Rolex Rankings: 6; British starts: 9; Best finish: T-6, 2023; ’24 finish: T-10
Yin has nine career top-10s in majors and two of those are in the British. This season, she’s given herself a chance to win every major, with three top-10s—U.S. Women’s Open (T-9), Women’s PGA (T-6) and Evian (T-5)—as well as a 13th in Chevron. Yin won this year’s Honda LPGA Thailand and has six top-10s. She’s as due as anyone.
3. Lydia Ko
Rolex Rankings: 3; British starts: 13; Best finish: Won, 2024; ’24 finish: Won
Ko is back at the British, where she scored an emotional win last year at St. Andrews for her third major championship, and she’ll try to join Yani Tseng (2010-11) as the only players to win back-to-back in the Women’s British Open since it became an LPGA major in 2001. Ko’s victory last year was part of a dream season of Olympic gold and the final point for the LPGA Hall of Fame. This year, she won early at the HSBC Women’s World Championship, finished T-6 in her next start and doesn’t have a top-10 finish in eight starts since.
2. Minjee Lee
Ryan Lochhead/PGA of America
Rolex Rankings: 5; British starts: 11; Best finish: 3, 2020; ’24 Finish: MC
Lee is having a fantastic season, especially in majors, including a win in the Women’s PGA. Then she finished T-3 at Evian. The Australian has five career top-10s in this major and plays well everywhere, especially overseas. With a win in the British, she’d clinch the career Grand Slam.
1. Jeeno Thitikul
Rolex Rankings: 2; British starts: 7; Best finish: T-7, 2022; ’24 finish: T-17
Thitiul, the top-10 queen, is at it again this season with eight top-10s and one win at the Mizuho Americas Open. She nearly won the Evian but missed a short putt on the 72nd hole and lost to Grace Kim in their two-hole playoff. She also finished T-4 in the Women’s PGA, so her game is right where it needs to be to get what’s missing in her young, productive career—a major.
Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media
Main Image: Supplied
