All good things must come to an end, and after an exciting year that has seen four first-time major champions, the LPGA Tour is preparing for its final major of the season: the AIG Women’s Open. Hosted for the very first time at Walton Heath Golf Club, the event has once again attracted the best players in the world – including all 10 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings top 10 – and promises to be a fitting climax for the major season finale.
Maiden Majors
Every major this season has seen a first-time major champion hoist their coveted trophies. Lilia Vu started the trend with her win at The Chevron Championship just four starts after becoming a Rolex First-Time Winner at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Ruoning Yin followed in Vu’s footsteps almost exactly, winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship not long after finding her first LPGA Tour victory at the DIO Implant LA Open. Next up was Allisen Corpuz, who captured her first win and first major championship all in one go at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Last, but certainly not least, is the winningest Frenchwoman in LPGA history: Celine Boutier. Though no stranger to success on the LPGA Tour, Boutier hadn’t been able to break through on a major level until two weeks ago when she became the first French player ever to win The Amundi Evian Championship. All these first-time champions have made it clear that it’s harder than ever to win on Tour and anybody in the field, from sponsor invites and nonmembers to battle-tested stars, could take home the AIG Women’s Open trophy this week.
Win Streak
While there’s plenty of talent in the field, Boutier will most certainly be the player to beat this week. After capturing her first major on home soil, she jumped right back into the winner’s circle at the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf, becoming the first player to win back-to-back events since Jin Young Ko did so in 2021. Boutier is also the first player to win both a major and the subsequent tournament since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016. The 29-year-old is the first player to reach three wins this season, having won the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain in March. Now at No. 4 in the Rolex Rankings, Boutier leads both the Race to CME Globe and the Rolex Player of the Year standings with her three wins and three additional top-10 finishes. In the last two weeks, Boutier has shot in the 60s in seven of her eight rounds played and is a cumulative 29-under. The Frenchwoman has clearly hit her stride and is riding a serious wave of momentum that will likely put her in contention again this week at Walton Heath.
Another No. 1
Over the last two seasons, the world No. 1 ranking has been passed between Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and Jin Young Ko like a hot potato with Korda holding the potato again for now. The AIG Women’s Open will be her first tournament appearance since she regained the No. 1 spot and Korda will once again need to play well to defend that title. The 25-year-old has already held the honor once this season, from April 24 to May 21, after she recorded six top-10 finishes in seven starts. Though Korda hit a rough patch over the summer, missing two consecutive cuts at the Cognizant Founders Cup and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the American only needed a 5-under T9 finish at The Amundi Evian Championship to regain the top spot. Korda has been clinical this season, recording seven total top-10 finishes – which ranks second on Tour – with her best result coming at the HSBC Women’s World Championship where she finished runner-up. This is the fifth time in her career that Korda has ascended to the top spot, an honor she has held for a total of 37 weeks.
Award Season Begins
Though the end of the LPGA Tour season is months away, the first of the season-long awards will be decided this weekend as the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award winner will be named on Sunday. Established in 2014, the award recognizes the player who has the most outstanding major championship record during a season. Points are awarded for top-10 finishes at major championships throughout the season, and to win the honor, a player must have won a major championship and lead the Tour in points. Right now, Allisen Corpuz leads the race for the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award but is still far from clinching the title. With her win at the U.S. Women’s Open and her T4 finish at The Chevron Championship, Corpuz tops the leaderboard with 74 points but all the other major winners – Vu, Yin and Boutier – are just 14 points behind Corpuz with 60 points from each of their wins, a slim margin that allows them all to challenge her for the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award. While there’s always more than enough incentive to win a major championship, the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award is just the cherry on top of what hangs in the balance this week.
Another New Venue
The LPGA Tour will make history yet again when it visits another historic venue: Walton Heath Golf Club. This week’s course will be the fourth venue this season to host a women’s major for the very first time (the Club at Carlton Woods became the new home for The Chevron Championship, Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course hosted the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Pebble Beach Golf Links held the U.S. Women’s Open). Located an hour south of the city, it will also be the first time the Tour has competed in the London area since playing at Sunningdale in 2008. Though the club has only organized amateur women’s competitions – it hosted the 1982 British Women’s Amateur among others – it has been the venue for several prestigious men’s events, including five European Opens and the 1981 Ryder Cup. With a storied history in men’s golf, Walton Heath Golf Club will begin a new one in the women’s game this week at the AIG Women’s Open.
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