ST ANDREWS, Scotland — The AIG Women’s Open is on the docket this week for the world’s top talent as the 2024 major championship season concludes at the Old Course at St Andrews. The event returns to the Home of Golf for the first time since 2013, and that year’s champion, U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis, is in this year’s field, as are all 16 of this season’s LPGA Tour winners. All 10 of the top 10 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings are also set to compete and will be duking it out for a share of a $9.5 million purse that was officially raised on Wednesday before play begins on Thursday in Scotland.
Take a look at just some of the featured groups this week at the AIG Women’s Open, using data provided byKPMG Performance Insights:
Thursday, 7:44 a.m. – Minjee Lee/Lexi Thompson/Gemma Dryburgh
Minjee Lee is playing in her 11th AIG Women’s Open this week at St Andrews and will be looking to improve upon her career-best finish of solo third that came in 2020 at Royal Troon Golf Club. The Australian has earned five other top-15 finishes in this major championship, most recently tying for fourth at Muirfield in 2022. This is the 28-year-old’s 15th start of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, and in her 14 previous events, she has earned five top-15 results, the most notable of which was a tie for ninth that came at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally at Lancaster Country Club. She tied for 12th last week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links and will be working to ride that momentum into a windy week at the Old Course. According to KPMG Performance Insights, Lee leads the LPGA Tour this season in strokes gained approach (+1.79) and is second in strokes gained tee to green (+1.89). Additionally, she ranks fourth in scoring average (71.17) across all the major championships over the last three seasons. The 10-time LPGA Tour winner is a two-time major champion, collecting her last major title at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in 2022 after winning her first major at the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship.
Lexi Thompson is making her last scheduled start in a major championship at the AIG Women’s Open, having announced earlier this year at the U.S. Women’s Open that she will be stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2024 season. But Thompson is far from mailing it in as she makes her last few competitive starts this year, hungry as ever to win her first LPGA Tour title since the 2019 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer. A victory at the Home of Golf would mean the world to the 29-year-old, who is making her 12th start in this major championship, and it would be a heck of a way to break through for her first win in five years on Tour. It isn’t something that’s entirely out of the question for Thompson, as the 11-time LPGA Tour winner has earned four top-10 finishes this year, two of which were top fives at the Ford Championship presented by KCC (T3) and the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and one of which came at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club, where Thompson finished in a tie for ninth. She has earned six top-20 results at the AIG Women’s Open, the most recent of which is a tie for 20th at Carnoustie in 2021 and the best of which is a tie for eighth that came at Woburn in 2016. Statistically, Thompson ranks 12th in greens in regulation on the LPGA Tour this season and is 14th in strokes gained putting, according to KPMG Performance Insights.
Gemma Dryburgh is one of two Scotswomen in this week’s field and will be looking to redeem herself in her home country after missing the cut last week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland. This is her fifth time competing in the AIG Women’s Open, and she has never finished better than T36, a result that came last year at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. This is her 19th event of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, and the 31-year-old has missed seven cuts and recorded four top-15 results so far this year, the best of which is a tie for ninth that she earned at the season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions back in January. Dryburgh is still looking for her first LPGA Tour title since she became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2022 TOTO Japan Classic, and there would be no better place for the Scot to lean on her local knowledge and claim victory than in St Andrews, Scotland.
Thursday, 12:26 p.m. – Celine Boutier/Lydia Ko/Ally Ewing
Celine Boutier got the honor of a lifetime a few weeks ago as she teed it up in her home country of France at the 2024 Paris Olympics, ultimately finishing in a tie for 18th at Le Golf National. The 30-year-old Frenchwoman then elected to defend her title the next week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, tying for 25th at Dundonald Links before heading over to St Andrews to tee it up in the AIG Women’s Open, the fifth and final major of the 2024 LPGA Tour season. It’s been a steady year for the six-time LPGA Tour winner, who has missed no cuts in 18 total starts this season and has racked up six top-20 results, the best of which is a solo second that came in the spring at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore. While she is still looking for her seventh career title, one that felt like it was coming quickly after Boutier won four times in 2023, her consistent form has seen her maintain a spot in the top 10 of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and rank in the top 25 in three strokes gained categories according to KPMG Performance Insights. Boutier is currently 14th in strokes gained approach (+0.83) and is 23rd in both strokes gained around the green (+0.22) and strokes gained tee to green (+0.89). This is her ninth time playing in the AIG Women’s Open, and in her eight previous starts, Boutier has missed four cuts and earned three top-20 finishes, the best of which is a solo sixth that came at Woburn Golf and Country Club in 2019.
Lydia Ko completed the medal trifecta at the Paris Olympics on August 10, winning gold at Le Golf National in France after taking silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze at Tokyo 2020. The medal also secured Ko’s place in the LPGA Hall of Fame, as it earned her the 27th point necessary for automatic qualification into one of the most prestigious halls of fame in all of sports. But Ko went right back to work the very next week at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, finishing ninth at Dundonald Links, and is hoping to carry that momentum into this week at the Old Course at St Andrews. This is her 13th career start in this major championship, and Ko has only missed two cuts in her 12 previous appearances, earning five top-20 results, the most notable of which is a tie for third that came at Turnberry in 2015 and the most recent of which is a tie for seventh that came at Muirfield in 2022. This week marks her 16th tournament of the 2024 season, and the 27-year-old has collected her 20th career LPGA Tour title at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and recorded four other top-10 finishes so far this year, including a solo second that came in the second tournament of the season at the LPGA Drive On Championship. Statistically, Ko ranks in the top 20 in three strokes gained categories, currently sitting at 11th in strokes gained total (+1.57), 12th in strokes gained around the green (+0.38) and 16th in strokes gained putting (+0.60). She is also seventh in rounds under par this season, posting 32 rounds in the red over the course of the year.
Ally Ewing is another player who has been on a hot streak in 2024, earning five straight top-10 finishes earlier in the summer at the U.S. Women’s Open (T3), the Meijer LPGA Classic forSimply Give(4), the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (T5), the Dow Championship (2) and The Amundi Evian Championship (T10). Even though she missed the cut last week at Dundonald Links, the Mississippi native has proven that she knows her way around links-style layouts over the years at the AIG Women’s Open, recording four top-25 results in her seven previous starts at the major championship, including a tie for sixth that she earned last year at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. Considering how well she has played in 2024, Ewing is unsurprisingly gaining shots in every major strokes gained category this season, ranking in the top 20 in strokes gained total (10, +1.57), strokes gained tee to green (11, +1.22) and strokes gained approach (15, +0.82), according to KPMG Performance Insights. The Rolex Rankings No. 16 is also 14th in scoring average (70.85). Even though she has stalled a bit as of late, Ewing will be hoping to get her momentum rolling again this week at the Home of Golf as she eyes her first major victory.
Thursday, 1:10 p.m. – Lilia Vu/Nelly Korda/Charley Hull
Lilia Vu is the defending champion at the AIG Women’s Open, having won the 2023 edition of the tournament at Walton Heath Golf Club last year. She trounced Englishwoman Charley Hull by a whopping six shots en route to the third of four victories she would collect last season, a victory that ultimately helped lift Vu to her first Rolex Player of the Year award at the end of the CME Group Tour Championship. The California native has had a bit of a different journey this season on the LPGA Tour, withdrawing from her title defense at The Chevron Championship in April because of a back injury and then taking a two-month hiatus to rehab that injury before returning to competition at the Meijer LPGA Classic forSimply Givein June. She won that week at Blythefield Country Club, outlasting Grace Kim and Lexi Thompson in a playoff in Belmont, Mich., and hasn’t finished any worse than T26 since, most notably tying for second at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club. Vu has one other top-10 result on her 2024 resume, tying for seventh at the Honda LPGA Thailand, where she was also the defending champion. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the Rolex Rankings No. 2 is in the top 20 in strokes gained total (8, +1.59), strokes gained putting (13, +0.73) and strokes gained around the green (19, +0.26). She is also fifth in scoring average (70.39) and 15th in rounds in the 60s (17) on the LPGA Tour this season.
Nelly Korda has been in a bit of a lull after capturing six LPGA Tour titles in seven starts earlier this season, a run that saw her win five consecutive times, including her second career major championship at The Chevron Championship, and then pick up her sixth 2024 victory after her streak was broken by a T7 showing at the Cognizant Founders Cup. The Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 missed three straight cuts following her historic stretch, two of which were at the U.S. Women’s Open and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. But the 26-year-old finally righted the ship with a T26 showing at The Amundi Evian Championship, her last competitive start on the LPGA Tour, as Korda took a mid-season break to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Korda is back in action this week at St Andrews and is ready to contend for her third major title at the AIG Women’s Open, an event in which she’ll be making her eighth appearance. The 14-time LPGA Tour winner has fared well in this major championship in the past, recording four top-15 results in her seven prior showings, the best of which is a tie for ninth that came in 2019 at Woburn Golf and Country Club. Despite her recent struggles, Korda is still highly ranked in several statistical categories this season, including strokes gained total (1, +2.29), strokes gained driving (2, +0.86), strokes gained tee to green (4, +1.67) and strokes gained around the green (10, +0.41), using data provided KPMG Performance Insights. She is also second in scoring average (69.98), second in greens in regulation (73.71%), third in rounds in the 60s (24) and fourth in putts per green in regulation (1.76).
Charley Hull tried her best to win in front of a hometown crowd at last year’s AIG Women’s Open but ultimately fell to her groupmate Lilia Vu at Walton Heath Golf Club. Her solo second result in 2023 was her career-best finish in the major championship, and Hull has earned five other top 25s at this event in her 12 previous appearances. The 28-year-old has played in 12 LPGA Tour tournaments ahead of this week at St Andrews, collecting five top-15 results, including a tie for fifth at the Dow Championship alongside her playing partner Georgia Hall and a solo fifth at last week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open. The Rolex Rankings No. 10 is currently inside the top 20 in three strokes gained categories on the LPGA Tour this season, ranking fourth in strokes gained driving (+0.73) and ranking 16th in both strokes gained total (+1.26) and strokes gained tee to green (+1.14), utilizing data provided by KPMG Performance Insights. Hull is also ninth in greens in regulation (71.79%) and 15th in average driving distance (271.68 yards). While England doesn’t have a set national open on the LPGA Tour, the AIG Women’s Open is one of the closest events that Hull will ever get to a home game, so be sure to look out for her as she battles her way to the top of the leaderboard this week at the Home of Golf.
*Off No. 10
For a full list of tee times, pleaseclick here.
