Women's British Open

The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour as a major. The reigning champion is Lydia Ko, who won at the 2024 tournament.

The AIG Women's Open

Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	1976, 48 years ago
Course(s)	varies; The Old Course (2024) St. Andrews, Scotland
Par	72 (in 2024)
Length	6,881 yards (6,292 m) (2023)
Organised by	The R&A
Tour(s)	LPGA Tour (1984, 1994–) LET (1979–)
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	$9,000,000[1] €8,166,915 £7,053,622[2]
Month played	August
Tournament record score
Aggregate	269 Karrie Webb (1997) 269 Karen Stupples (2004)
To par	−19 Karrie Webb (1997) −19 Karen Stupples (2004)
Current champion
Lydia Ko
2024 Women's British Open

Since becoming an LPGA major in 2001 it has generally been played in late July or early August. The 2012 edition was scheduled for mid-September, due to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, while the 2014 event was played in mid-July, the week prior to the Open Championship.

In 2019 it was known as the AIG Women's British Open. From 2007 to 2018, it was called the Ricoh Women's British Open while the previous twenty editions (1987–2006) were sponsored by Weetabix, a breakfast cereal.^[3] In July 2020, the sponsorship agreement with AIG was extended through to 2025; as part of the deal the championship was rebranded by The R&A (which has organised the event since 2017) by removing the "British" qualifier, in line with The R&A's men's and senior men's championships, as the AIG Women's Open.^[4]

History

The practice green at Sunningdale Golf Club in 2008.

The first Women's British Open was played in 1976 when the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship was extended to include professionals. The Amateur Stroke Play Championship had been organised by the Ladies' Golf Union since 1969. In early 1976 two professionals, Vivien Saunders and Gwen Brandom, and the LGU, agreed that the event would be opened up to professionals, with Saunders and Brandom providing £200 in prize money for the professionals.^[5][6] Eventually total prize money was £500, with five professionals competing in the event.^[7] An amateur, Jenny Lee Smith, won the event with Saunders the leading professional, tying for fourth place.^[8] Saunders won the event in 1977 on "countback", having tied with Mary Everard but having the better final round, 76 to Everard's 79.^[9] Janet Melville won in 1978, with Saunders again the leading professional and taking the first prize of £1,000.^[10] Just four professionals competed.^[11]

From 1979 the event was separated from the Stroke Play Championship, which returned to being an amateur-only event. Prize money of £10,000, and a first prize of £3,000, attracted a larger number of professionals. At first, it was difficult for the organisers to get the most prestigious courses to agree to host the event, with the exception of Royal Birkdale, which hosted it twice during its early days — in 1982 and 1986. After nearly folding in 1983, the tournament was held at the best of the "second-tier" courses, including Woburn Golf and Country Club for seven straight years, 1990 through 1996, as well as in 1984 and 1999.

As its prestige continued to increase, more of the links courses that are in the rotation for The Open Championship, such as Turnberry (2002) and Royal Lytham & St Annes (1998, 2003, 2006) hosted the tournament, in addition to Royal Birkdale (2000, 2005, 2010). In 2007, the tournament took place at the Old Course at St Andrews for the first time.

Since 2010, four additional Open Championship venues became first-time hosts for the women's event: Carnoustie (2011), Royal Liverpool (2012), Royal Troon (2020, year where only women had The Open), and Muirfield (2022). The tournament has yet to be played at two Open Championship courses: Royal St. George's in southeastern England, and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Currently, Turnberry is unable to be on the Open rota because of political ramifications of former President of the United States Donald Trump.

Unlike its male counterpart, the Women's Open has not adopted a links-only policy. This greatly increases the number of potential venues, especially the number close to the major population centres of England. Following the 2017 merger of the Ladies Golf Union with The R&A, both the men's and women's Opens are operated by The R&A.

Through 1993, the tournament was an official stop only on the Ladies European Tour, with the exception of the 1984 edition, which was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour. Starting in 1994, it became a permanent LPGA Tour event, which increased both the quality of the field and the event's prestige. It has been an official LPGA major since 2001, when it replaced the du Maurier Classic, which lost its title sponsor because of sponsorship regulations. In 2005, the starting field size was increased to 150, but only the low 65 (plus ties) survive the cut after the second round. In both 2007 and 2008 the prize fund was £1.05 million. Starting in 2009, the prize fund changed from being fixed in pounds to U.S. dollars.

Tied for most victories in the Women's British Open with three each are Karrie Webb of Australia and Sherri Steinhauer of the United States. Both won the tournament twice before it became an LPGA major and once after. Yani Tseng of Taiwan and Jiyai Shin of South Korea are the only multiple winners of the championship as a major.^[12] The other multiple winner is Debbie Massey of the U.S., with consecutive wins (1980 and 1981) well before it was an LPGA co-sanctioned event.

Winners

See also: List of Women's British Open champions

Year	Dates	Champion	Venue	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse ($)	Winner's share ($)	Ref
AIG Women's Open
2024	22–25 Aug	Lydia Ko	St Andrews	281	−7	2 strokes	Nelly Korda Jiyai Shin Lilia Vu Ruoning Yin	9,000,000	1,350,000
2023	10–13 Aug	Lilia Vu	Walton Heath	274	−14	6 strokes	Charley Hull	9,000,000	1,350,000
2022	4–7 Aug	Ashleigh Buhai	Muirfield	274	−10	Playoff[lower-alpha 1]	Chun In-gee	7,300,000	1,095,000
2021	19–22 Aug	Anna Nordqvist	Carnoustie, Championship	276	−12	1 stroke	Georgia Hall Madelene Sagström Lizette Salas	5,800,000	870,000
2020	20–23 Aug	Sophia Popov	Royal Troon, Old Course	277	−7	2 strokes	Thidapa Suwannapura	4,500,000	675,000
AIG Women's British Open
2019	1–4 Aug	Hinako Shibuno	Woburn, Marquess Course	270	−18	1 stroke	Lizette Salas	4,500,000	675,000
Ricoh Women's British Open
2018	2–5 Aug	Georgia Hall	Royal Lytham & St Annes	271	−17	2 strokes	Pornanong Phatlum	3,250,000	490,000
2017	3–6 Aug	In-Kyung Kim	Kingsbarns	270	−18	2 strokes	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	3,250,000	504,821
2016	28–31 Jul	Ariya Jutanugarn	Woburn, Marquess Course	272	−16	3 strokes	Mirim Lee Mo Martin	3,000,000	412,047
2015	30 Jul – 2 Aug	Inbee Park	Turnberry	276	−12	3 strokes	Ko Jin-young	3,000,000	464,817
2014	10–13 Jul	Mo Martin	Royal Birkdale	287	−1	1 stroke	Shanshan Feng Suzann Pettersen	3,000,000	474,575
2013	1–4 Aug	Stacy Lewis	St Andrews	280	−8	2 strokes	Na Yeon Choi Hee Young Park	2,750,000	402,583
2012	13–16 Sep	Jiyai Shin	Royal Liverpool	279	−9	9 strokes	Inbee Park	2,750,000	428,650
2011	28–31 Jul	Yani Tseng	Carnoustie	272	−16	4 strokes	Brittany Lang	2,500,000	392,133
Women's British Open
2010	29 Jul – 1 Aug	Yani Tseng	Royal Birkdale	277	−11	1 stroke	Katherine Hull	2,500,000	408,714
2009	30 Jul – 2 Aug	Catriona Matthew	Royal Lytham & St Annes	285	−3	3 strokes	Karrie Webb	2,200,000	335,000
2008	31 Jul – 3 Aug	Jiyai Shin	Sunningdale	270	−18	3 strokes	Yani Tseng	2,100,000	314,464
2007	2–5 Aug	Lorena Ochoa	St Andrews	287	−5	4 strokes	Maria Hjorth Jee Young Lee	2,000,000	320,512
2006	3–6 Aug	Sherri Steinhauer	Royal Lytham & St Annes	281	−7	3 strokes	Sophie Gustafson Cristie Kerr	1,800,000	305,440
2005	28–31 July	Jeong Jang	Royal Birkdale	272	−16	4 strokes	Sophie Gustafson	1,800,000	280,208
2004	29 July – 1 Aug	Karen Stupples	Sunningdale	269	−19	5 strokes	Rachel Hetherington	1,600,000	290,880
2003	31 July – 3 Aug	Annika Sörenstam	Royal Lytham & St Annes	278	−10	1 stroke	Se Ri Pak	1,600,000	254,880
2002	8–11 Aug	Karrie Webb	Turnberry	273	−15	2 strokes	Michelle Ellis Paula Martí	1,500,000	236,383
2001	2–5 Aug	Se Ri Pak	Sunningdale	277	−11	2 strokes	Mi Hyun Kim	1,500,000	221,650
2000	17–20 Aug	Sophie Gustafson	Royal Birkdale	282	−10	2 strokes	Becky Iverson Meg Mallon Liselotte Neumann Kirsty Taylor	1,250,000	178,000
1999	12–15 Aug	Sherri Steinhauer	Woburn, Duke's Course	283	−9	1 stroke	Annika Sörenstam	1,000,000	160,000
1998	13–16 Aug	Sherri Steinhauer	Royal Lytham & St Annes	292	+4	1 stroke	Brandie Burton Sophie Gustafson	1,000,000	162,000
1997	14–17 Aug	Karrie Webb	Sunningdale	269	−19	8 strokes	Rosie Jones	900,000	129,938
1996	15–18 Aug	Emilee Klein	Woburn, Duke's Course	277	−11	7 strokes	Amy Alcott Penny Hammel	850,000	124,000
1995	17–20 Aug	Karrie Webb	Woburn, Duke's Course	278	−10	6 strokes	Annika Sörenstam Jill McGill	600,000	92,400
1994	11–14 Aug	Liselotte Neumann	Woburn, Duke's Course	280	−8	3 strokes	Annika Sörenstam	500,000	80,325
Weetabix Women's British Open
1993		Karen Lunn	Woburn, Duke's Course	275		8 strokes	Brandie Burton	£300,000	£50,000
1992		Patty Sheehan	Woburn, Duke's Course	207[lower-alpha 2]		3 strokes	Corinne Dibnah	£300,000	£50,000
1991		Penny Grice-Whittaker	Woburn, Duke's Course	284		3 strokes	Helen Alfredsson Diane Barnard	£150,000	£25,000
1990		Helen Alfredsson	Woburn, Duke's Course	288		Playoff[lower-alpha 3]	Jane Hill	£130,000	£20,000
1989		Jane Geddes	Ferndown	274		2 strokes	Florence Descampe	£120,000	£18,000	[13]
1988		Corinne Dibnah	Lindrick	295		Playoff[lower-alpha 4]	Sally Little	£100,000	£15,000
1987		Alison Nicholas	St Mellion	296		1 stroke	Laura Davies Muffin Spencer-Devlin	£100,000	£15,000	[14]
Women's British Open
1986		Laura Davies	Royal Birkdale	283		4 strokes	Peggy Conley Marta Figueras-Dotti	£60,000	£9,000	[15]
Burberry Women's British Open
1985		Betsy King	Moor Park	300		2 strokes	Marta Figueras-Dotti	£60,000	£9,000	[16]
Hitachi Women's British Open
1984		Ayako Okamoto	Woburn, Duke's Course	289	ｰ3	11 strokes	Betsy King Dale Reid	£160,000[lower-alpha 5]	£24,000	[17]
1983	Cancelled									[18]
Pretty Polly Women's British Open
1982		Marta Figueras-Dotti (a)	Royal Birkdale	296		1 stroke	Rosie Jones Jenny Lee Smith	£23,000	(£6,000)	[19]
1981		Debbie Massey	Northumberland	295		4 strokes	Belle Robertson (a)	£19,000	£5,600	[20]
1980		Debbie Massey	Wentworth	294		1 stroke	Marta Figueras-Dotti (a) Belle Robertson (a)	£15,000	£4,500	[21]
1979		Alison Sheard	Southport & Ainsdale	301		3 strokes	Mickey Walker	£10,000	£3,000	[22]
Women's British Open
1978		Janet Melville (a)	Foxhills	310		2 strokes	Wilma Aitken (a)		(£1,000)	[10]
1977		Vivien Saunders	Lindrick Golf Club	306		Countback[lower-alpha 6]	Mary Everard (a)	£500	£210	[9]
1976		Jenny Lee Smith (a)	Fulford	299		2 strokes	Mary McKenna (a)	£500	(£210)	[8]

(a) denotes amateur

Source for later tournaments:^[23]

1. Buhai won with a par at the fourth extra hole.
2. In 1992 the second day was washed-out and the event reduced to 54 holes.
3. Alfredsson won with a par at the fourth extra hole.
4. Dibnah won with a birdie at the second extra hole.
5. Tournament was co-sanctioned by the LET and LPGA Tour. Prize money for this event was in US dollars; £ values here are based on an exchange rate of $1.25–£1.
6. Saunders won the title because she had a better last round; 76 to Everard's 79.

Host courses

The Women's Open has been played at the following courses, listed in order of number of times hosted (as of 2023):

• 9 Woburn Golf Club (Duke's Course)
• 6 Royal Birkdale Golf Club
• 5 Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
• 4 Sunningdale Golf Club (Old Course)
• 3 St Andrews Links (Old Course)
• 2 Woburn Golf Club (Marquess Course), Turnberry Golf Club (Ailsa Course), Lindrick Golf Club, Carnoustie Golf Links
• 1 Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Royal Troon Golf Club (Old Course), Kingsbarns Golf Links, Fulford Golf Club, Wentworth Golf Club, Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club, Ferndown Golf Club, St. Mellion, Moor Park Golf Club, Northumberland Golf Club, Foxhills Golf Club, Muirfield, Walton Heath Golf Club

Future venues

Year	Edition	Course	Location	Dates	Previously hosted
2025[24]	49th	Royal Porthcawl Golf Club[lower-alpha 1]	Porthcawl, Bridgend, Wales	31 July – 3 August

1. Originally scheduled to host in 2021.^[25]

Smyth Salver

The Smyth Salver is awarded to the leading amateur, provided that the player completes all 72 holes, for one year. The winner also receives a silver medal. The salver was donated by Moira Smyth, a past president of the Ladies' Golf Union.^[26]

• 1979 – Sue Hedges
• 1980 – Marta Figueras-Dotti & Belle Robertson
• 1981 – Belle Robertson
• 1982 – Marta Figueras-Dotti
• 1983 – No championship
• 1984 – Mary McKenna
• 1985 – Jill Thornhill
• 1986 – Vicki Thomas
• 1987 – Joanne Furby
• 1988 – Kathryn Imrie
• 1989 – Joanne Morley
• 1990 – Sarah Bennett
• 1991 – Akiko Fukushima
• 1992 – None
• 1993 – Patricia Meunier & Joanne Morley
• 1994 – Tina Fischer
• 1995 – Lisa Dermott
• 1996 – Barbara Hackett
• 1997 – Silvia Cavalleri
• 1998 – None
• 1999 – Giulia Sergas
• 2000 – None
• 2001 – Rebecca Hudson
• 2002 – None
• 2003 – Elisa Serramia
• 2004 – Louise Stahle
• 2005 – Michelle Wie
• 2006 – Amy Yang
• 2007 – Melissa Reid
• 2008 – Anna Nordqvist
• 2009 – None
• 2010 – Caroline Hedwall
• 2011 – Danielle Kang
• 2012 – Lydia Ko
• 2013 – Georgia Hall & Lydia Ko
• 2014 – Emma Talley
• 2015 – Luna Sobrón
• 2016 – Leona Maguire
• 2017 – Sophie Lamb
• 2018 – Atthaya Thitikul
• 2019 – Atthaya Thitikul
• 2020 – None
• 2021 – Louise Duncan
• 2022 – Rose Zhang
• 2023 – Charlotte Heath
• 2024 – Lottie Woad

References

1. Hall, Mike (9 August 2023). "AIG Women's Open Purse And Prize Money 2023". Golf Monthly. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
2. "Currency converter". xe.com. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
3. "Championship History". Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
4. "Women's Open drops 'British' from title in sponsorship rebrand". BBC Sport. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
5. "Women put up own prize money". The Glasgow Herald. 1 July 1976. p. 15.
6. "Julia Greenhalgh". The Glasgow Herald. 1 September 1976. p. 15.
7. "Sandra's challenge fades". The Glasgow Herald. 3 September 1976. p. 23.
8. "Sandra's hopes dashed". The Glasgow Herald. 4 September 1976. p. 14.
9. "Vivien's title on last 18". The Glasgow Herald. 3 September 1977. p. 16.
10. "Janet in youngest British champion". The Glasgow Herald. 29 July 1978. p. 15.
11. "Cathy's 79 is fine as open scores rocket". The Glasgow Herald. 27 July 1978. p. 14.
12. "She's Back in the Picture". www.golfdigest.com. Golf Digest. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
13. "Descampe charges but Geddes is champion". The Glasgow Herald. 7 August 1989. p. 18.
14. "Nicholas breaks through at last". The Glasgow Herald. 3 August 1987. p. 10.
15. "Laura outscores foreign invaders". The Glasgow Herald. 13 October 1986. p. 10.
16. "Miss King begins a new reign". The Glasgow Herald. 7 October 1985. p. 8.
17. "Dale deserves prize for her lone battle". The Glasgow Herald. 8 October 1984. p. 17.
18. "Hitachi pull the plug". The Guardian. 12 March 1983. p. 13. Retrieved 29 September 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Professional win for a new Spanish graduate". The Glasgow Herald. 2 August 1982. p. 15.
20. "Debbie pulls away from the field". The Glasgow Herald. 3 August 1981. p. 15.
21. "Belle second with a 69". The Glasgow Herald. 28 July 1980. p. 13.
22. "Birdie finish gives Alison British title". The Glasgow Herald. 30 July 1979. p. 15.
23. "Ricoh Women's British Open Past Winners". LPGA. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
24. Stafford, Ali (19 August 2020). "AIG Women's Open: Muirfield among three new venues for the major". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
25. "Royal Porthcawl set for AIG Women's British Open debut in 2021". Today's Gofler. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
26. https://issuu.com/lgucl/docs/lguyearbook2016 LGU 2016 Yearbook

External links

• Official website
• Coverage on the LPGA official site
• Coverage on the Ladies European Tour official site