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Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
The final major championship in women’s professional golf this season, the AIG Women’s Open, will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews Links in Scotland on Thursday.
Along with battling the Hell Bunker and famous Road Hole, the best women’s golfers in the world might have to contend with strong winds and rain at the Old Course.
It’s the first time in more than a decade that the AIG Women’s Open has been played at the “Home of Golf.”
“Yeah, it definitely feels different,” defending champion Lilia Vu said. “We’re at St. Andrews, which is like the place that everyone wants to play. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. There’s a little bit of pressure, but I think I know it’s going to be a battle for everyone, not just me.”
Here’s what to watch in the final major in women’s golf:
AIG Women’s Open
When: Thursday-Sunday
Where: Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland
Defending champion: Lilia Vu
Purse: $9 million
Who to watch
Nelly Korda: The world No. 1 golfer won six times in seven starts earlier this season, but has cooled off a bit lately. She missed the cut in the U.S. Women’s Open, Meijer LPGA Classic and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and tied for 26th at the Amundi Evian Championship. Her best finish in the Women’s Open is a tie for ninth in 2019.
Lydia Ko: Ko earned her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame by capturing a gold medal at the Olympics in Paris. A 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Ko has five top-25 finishes in 12 starts in the Women’s Open, 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 JM Eagle LA Championship. The 2019 Women’s PGA Championship winner has never finished in the top 15 of the Women’s Open.
Ally Ewing: Ewing’s consistent play this season has helped her earn a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team for the fourth time. Her six top-10 finishes this season include a tie for 10th at the Amundi Evian Championship, fifth at the Women’s PGA Championship and third at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Minjee Lee: The two-time major champion feels right at home on links courses. She has four top-10 finishes in her past six starts in 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. She ranks third on tour in greens in regulation (73.4%).
Return to St. Andrews
For only the third time, the AIG Women’s Open is being played at the Old Course. Lorena Ochoa won by four strokes in a wire-to-wire victory in the inaugural tournament at the “home of golf” in 2007, and current U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis won by two strokes in 2013.
“Obviously, it’s the home of golf,” England’s Charley Hull said. “It would be a special win. Something that you’ve always dreamed of as, like, a baby. So, yeah, it would be very special.”
Hull played the back nine 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. She played with Korda and two other golfers. They stopped to take a photograph on the iconic Swilcan Bridge between the first and 18th fairways. It’s where Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and others have stopped to pay respect to the course.
“It was definitely surreal,” Vu said. “You just don’t ever get over that feeling of other past players being there and so much 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 being focused on playing the tournament.”
The Old Course will play to about 6,784 yards this week. The weather might be a factor, with weather forecasts predicting high temperatures in the low 60s and winds of 26 mph in Thursday’s opening round. There’s a good chance of rain Friday morning.
Vu’s defense
Vu’s reward for capturing her second major championship victory at the 2023 AIG Women’s Open was a cat. She named it Walton, after Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, where she finished 14 under to defeat Hull by a whopping six strokes.
“I don’t want to be cliché, but I got a cat from it,” Vu said. “That was my bribe with my dad last year. We got another bribe to get another cat if I do another major, so hopefully I can do that. Hopefully, I can get another cat and maybe name it something else.”
Andrews has a nice ring to it.
Vu is coming off a tie for 25th at last week’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links. She was battling an illness after the Olympics in Paris, where she tied for 36th at 5 over. She won the Meijer LPGA Classic and tied for second at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.
She’s looking to return to that form at St. Andrews.
“I feel like I always fall back in my old ways and feel like I don’t know how I won tournaments before,” Vu said. “I think I felt that at the Olympics a little bit this year, just was not playing well and just felt like, ‘How did I get here and earn this spot,’ almost. But I’m trying my best out here. I got sick from the Olympics. So I was sick all last week. It was kind of hard to recover, this cold and rain, but I love it here.”
Solheim Cup watch
Rosters for the upcoming Solheim Cup, which will be played Sept. 13-15 at 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 Allisen Corpuz (1,493) — have already qualified for the U.S. team on points. Two more golfers will make the squad on points, as will the top two golfers in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who haven’t otherwise qualified for the team. Lewis will make three captain’s picks as well.
Megan Khang (1,391.5), Andrea Lee (1,197.5), Rose Zhang (1,092.5), Alison Lee (1,034) and Sarah Schmelzel (1,024) round 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) would be the highest-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. She grew up in the state and attended the University of Virginia.
“There’s probably no hotter player on the LPGA Tour right now than Lauren Coughlin,” Lewis said. “To win two of the last three events and play the way she has been the entire year, it’s been awesome to see. She got onto our radar at the end of last year, and it’s been great to see her play continue to get better in 2024.”
The top two players in the Solheim Cup European team points standings will automatically qualify, along with the top six players in the world rankings who are not already eligible. European team captain Suzann Pettersen will make four captain’s picks.
England’s Hull (202.25) and Germany’s Esther Henseleit (179.82) are first and second in Solheim Cup points. Sweden’s Linn Grant (139.55) and Maja Stark (132.63) and Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling (132) round out the top five.
France’s Celine Boutier (No. 8), Stark (No. 24), Grant (No. 26), Ireland’s Leona Maguire (No. 32), Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (No. 33) and Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom (No. 35) would be the top six players in the world rankings who aren’t already on the team.