Published: 21 Aug 2024, 15:14
Korea’s Amy Yang in action during the first round of the women’s golf tournament at the Paris Olympic Games at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, August 7. (REUTERS/YONHAP)
Fifteen Korean golfers will tee off at the 2024 AIG Women’s Open in Fife, Scotland on Thursday, competing for a chance to win the final LPGA major of the year.
A total of 144 golfers are on their way to the Old Course at St. Andrews, including Korean Shin Ji-yai, who won the tournament in 2008 and 2012, and Kim In-kyung, the tournament’s most recent Korean champion, who won in 2017.
Reigning champion Lilia Vu from the USA will also be in Scotland to defend her title.
The AIG Women’s Open, better known as the Women’s British Open, is the fifth and final major of the 2024 LPGA season. It is also the last chance for a handful of female golfers to earn points toward their ranking for the Annika Major Award, given to the player with the best record at all five major tournaments.
Also in the lineup is Amy Yang, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June – her first major title after 16 years on the tour. And she heads into the Women’s British Open after a strong run in Paris.
She was the top-ranked Korean golfer at the Paris Olympics, securing her place at the Games with her victory in the Women’s PGA Championship, where she finished fourth with a score of 282 (six under par).
Yang is ranked second in the Annika Awards, tied with world number one Nelly Korda of the United States, who had 60 points at press time on Wednesday. Japan’s Yuka Saso, who won the 2024 US Women’s Open, is in first place with 70 points.
Yang, who is ranked fourth in the Rolex Rankings ahead of the Women’s British Open, one place behind No. 3 Ko Jin-young, has two major victories in the last calendar year, winning the 2023 CME Group Tour Championship, which offers the season’s highest prize money, after an almost four-year title drought.
The 35-year-old veteran is so far the only Korean golfer to win a 2024 LPGA Tour tournament.
Ko, whose last tour win was at the Cognizant Founders’ Cup in May 2023, is the highest-ranked Korean golfer among the 144 players. She nearly won her first tournament of the season at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, finishing second while Yang finished top.
Korea’s Ko Jin-young in action on August 7 at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, France, during the first round of the women’s golf tournament at the Paris Olympic Games. (REUTERS/YONHAP)
The last time Ko won a major was in 2019, when she won both the ANA Inspiration – now The Chevron Championship – and the Evian Championship, and also received the Annika Award that season.
Ko also competed in the Paris Olympics but was denied a medal, finishing in 23rd place with a par of 288, tied with fellow Korean golfer Kim Hyo-joo. Ko is back in contention, however, after finishing tied for sixth at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open last week.
Kim will also tee off in Scotland on Thursday. Her last win was at the Ascendant LPGA benefiting the Volunteers of America in The Colony, Texas, in October 2023. She won the 2014 Evian Championship as a non-member, earning her LPGA Tour card, and made her rookie debut in 2015.
Neither of Korea’s previous women’s British Open champions, Shin and Kim In-kyung, have recorded a major LPGA victory since winning the Cup on the Old Course. Shin went on to win another LPGA title and the 2013 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open after her 2012 British Open victory, while Kim In-kyung has not won another tournament since her 2017 victory.
Korean Shin Ji-yai prepares to putt on the 13th green during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club on May 30 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (AFP/YONHAP)
Kim’s only top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour this year was with Kang Hae-ji at the Dow Championship in Midland, Michigan, in June, where they tied for third with Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
Kim will be among the first to tee off at 7 a.m. local time on Thursday. Kang will also be in the game.
Among the Korean participants taking to the course are two rookies: Im Jin-hee and Lee So-mi. Neither has won their first LPGA tournament yet. Im has two top-10 finishes so far, both in April, including a solo eighth-place finish at the Chevron Championship.
Lee has only finished in the top 10 once, but she did so recently when she finished fifth at the Portland Classic in August – but that field was missing several top golfers who were in the lead-up to the women’s Olympic golf tournament in Paris.
Also performing at St. Andrews will be Jenny Shin, Kim Sei-young, Lee Mi-hyang, Ryu Hae-ran, Kim A-lim, An Na-rin and Choi Hye-jin.
Kim Sei-young, a 12-time LPGA champion, already has one major title under her belt – the 2020 Women’s PGA Championship, one of her last victories on tour. Her most recent victory was the 2020 Pelican Women’s Championship, now called Annika.
And Kim A-lim was the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion despite playing as a non-member.
Shin, Lee Mi-hyang and Ryu all have at least one title under their belt, while An and Choi are still chasing their first.
The weekend in St Andrews will be windy, with heavy rain expected on Thursday. Rain is also expected on Friday, with sunny weather and a few showers expected over the weekend.
The Women’s British Open was last held on the Old Course in 2013, when the tournament was abandoned on the last day due to rain.
BY MARY YANG ([email protected])
