By Carey Van Lue

Tue, Aug 8

 

AIG Women’s Open

Walton Heath Golf Club | Surrey, England | August 10-13, 2023

Tuesday Pre-Tournament Notes

August 8, 2023

SOCIAL MEDIA: #DRIVEON

Tournament – @AIGWomensOpen (Twitter, Instagram)

 

LPGA Tour – @LPGA and @LPGAMedia (Twitter), @lpga_tour (Instagram)

 

TV/STREAMING TIMES

(all times EDT)

 

Thursday, August 10

Round 1

6:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. – USA/International

 

Friday, August 11

Round 2

6:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. – USA/International

 

Saturday, August 12

Round 3

7:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. – USA/International

 

Sunday, August 13

Final Round

7:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. – USA/International/NBC Digital

12:00- 2:00 p.m. – NBC/Peacock/International

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2023 AIG WOMEN’S OPEN

• This is the 48^th playing of the AIG Women’s Open
  • The event was established in 1976 and designated as a major on the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour in 2001
  • Prior to 2001, the tournament was a co-sanctioned LPGA Tour/LET event from 1994-2000
• AIG became the title sponsor of the event in 2019 and, in 2020, announced an extension of its title sponsorship through 2025 along with a championship rebranding to the AIG Women’s Open
• This is the first time that Walton Heath Golf Club will host the AIG Women’s Open
  • The golf club was founded in 1904 and has two courses, the Old Course and the New Course
    • Both Heathland courses were designed by Herbert Fowler and known for the purple heather that grows throughout the grounds
  • The AIG Women’s Open will be played mostly on the Old Course at Walton Heath, except for holes 12 and 13 which will be played on the New Course’s No. 12 and 13
  • Walton Heath has many associations with royalty and celebrity, with King Edward VIII having been the club’s first captain in 1935
    • Other notable members were United Kingdom Prime Ministers David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Bonar Law and Arthur Balfour
    • The club has had just four club professionals in its history, its first being five-time British Open champion James Braid
  • Walton Heath has hosted a number of other championships including the 1981 Ryder Cup, the European Open from 1978-91 and the 2011 Senior Open Championship
• Six Europeans have won the AIG Women’s Open since it was designated as a major – Annika Sorenstam in 2003 (Royal Lytham and St Annes), Karen Stupples in 2004 (Sunningdale), Catriona Matthew in 2009 (Royal Lytham and St Annes), Georgia Hall in 2018 (Royal Lytham and St Annes), Sophia Popov in 2020 (Royal Troon) and Anna Nordqvist in 2021 (Carnoustie)
• There are ten past champions in the field including Ashleigh Buhai (2022), Nordquvist (2021), Hinako Shibuno (2019), Hall (2018), In Kyung Kim (2017), Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), Stacy Lewis (2013), Matthew (2009), Jiyai Shin (2008, 2012) and Laura Davies (1986)
• There are ten amateurs from ten different countries playing in the AIG Women’s Open
• There are 29 countries represented this week in the 144-player field

Rolex Annika Major Award Projections

The Rolex ANNIKA Major Award recognizes the player who, during a current LPGA Tour season, has the most outstanding record in all five major championships. Points will be awarded at all five major championships to competitors who finish among the top-10 and ties. In order to earn the award by year’s end, a player must win at least one of the five majors titles.

 

There are only 21 players with a statistical chance to win the award heading into the final major of the year. Allisen Corpuz leads by 14 points and has the most chances to win. Corpuz, Celine Boutier, Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin and Yuka Saso can outright win with a win at the AIG Women’s Open.

 

Boutier must finish fourth or better to have a chance. She can win in the following scenarios:

• Win
• Second and have Allisen Corpuz finish sixth or worse and Lilia Vu, Ruoning Yin, Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang and Brooke Henderson do not win
• Third and have Allisen Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Lilia Vu and Ruoning Yin finish third or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Angel Yin, Nelly Korda, Carlota Ciganda and Xiyu Lin do not win
• Fourth and have Allisen Corpuz finish 15th or worse and have Lilia Vu and Ruoning Yin finish fourth or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Angel Yin, Nelly Korda, Celine Borge, Carlota Ciganda, Xiyu Lin, Gaby Lopez, Stephanie Meadow, Anna Nordqvist, Atthaya Thitikul and Ayaka Furue do not win

 

Vu must finish third or better to have a chance. She can win in the following scenarios:

• Win
• Second and have Allisen Corpuz finish sixth or worse and have Celine Boutier and Ruoning Yin finish third or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson and Angel Yin do not win
• Third and have Allisen Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Celine Boutier and Ruoning Yin finish fourth or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Angel Yin, Nelly Korda, Celine Borge, Carlota Ciganda, Xiyu Lin, Gaby Lopez and Anna Nordqvist do not win

 

Yin must finish third or better to have a chance. She can win in the following scenarios:

• Win
• Second and have Allisen Corpuz finish sixth or worse and have Celine Boutier finish third or worse and have Lilia Vu finish second or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson and Angel Yin do not win
• Third and have Allisen Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Celine Boutier finish fourth or worse and have Lilia Vu finish third or worse and Yuka Saso, Nasa Hataoka, A Lim Kim, Megan Khang, Brooke Henderson, Charley Hull, Jiyai Shin, Angel Yin, Nelly Korda, Carlota Ciganda and Xiyu Lin do not win

 

The following players have a chance to earn the Rolex Annika Major Award with a win and if the following conditions are met:

• Saso must win for an outright win
• Nasa Hataoka must win and have Corpuz finish fourth or worse
• A Lim Kim must win and have Corpuz finish fourth or worse
• Megan Khang must win and have Corpuz finish fifth or worse
• Brooke Henderson must win and have Corpuz finish sixth or worse
• Charley Hull must win and have Corpuz finish sixth or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish third or worse
• Jiyai Shin must win and have Corpuz finish sixth or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish third or worse
• Angel Yin must win and have Corpuz finish sixth or worse and have Boutier finish third or worse
• Nelly Korda must win and have Corpuz finish seventh or worse and have Boutier Vu and Yin finish third or worse
• Celine Borge must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier and Yin finish fourth or worse and have Vu finish third or worse
• Carlota Ciganda must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish third or worse
• Xiyu Lin must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish third or worse
• Gaby Lopez must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier and Yin finish fourth or worse and have Vu finish third or worse
• Stephanie Meadow must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish fourth or worse
• Anna Nordqvist must win and have Corpuz finish ninth or worse and have Boutier and Yin finish fourth or worse and have Vu finish third or worse
• Atthaya Thitikul must win and have Corpuz finish 10th or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish fourth or worse
• Ayaka Furue must win and have Corpuz finish 11th or worse and have Boutier, Vu and Yin finish fourth or worse

 

Previous Winners

2014	Michelle Wie West	United States
2015	Inbee Park	Republic of Korea
2016	Lydia Ko	New Zealand
2017	So Yeon Ryu	Republic of Korea
2018	Ariya Jutanugarn	Thailand
2019	Jin Young Ko	Republic of Korea
2021	Patty Tavatanakit	Thailand
2022	Minjee Lee	Australia

Note: The award was not given in 2020 due to the cancellation of one of the Major Championships due to COVID-19

 

2023 Statistical Leaders

Official Money: Allisen Corpuz, $2,660,374

Scoring Average: Hyo Joo Kim, 69.617

Birdies: Nasa Hataoka, 217

Eagles: Jennifer Kupcho, 9

Holes in One: In Gee Chun, 2

Greens in Regulation: Hyo Joo Kim, 74.4%

Average Driving Distance: Xiaowen Yin, 278.940

 

2023 Award Leaders

Rolex Player of the Year
1	Celine Boutier	133 points
2	Ruoning Yin	106 points
3	Allisen Corpuz	95 points

 

Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year
1	Hae Ran Ryu	535 points
2	Grace Kim	460 points
3	Rose Zhang	324 points

 

Rolex ANNIKA Major Award
1	Allisen Corpuz	74 points
T2	Lilia Vu	60 points
T2	Ruoning Yin	60 points
T2	Celine Boutier	60 points

 

#AonRiskReward Challenge
1	Hye-Jin Choi	-0.923
2	Stephanie Kyriacou	-0.917
3	Hae Ran Ryu	-0.885

 

Race to the CME Globe
1	Celine Boutier	2,316.850 points
2	Ruoning Yin	1,740.450 points
3	Jin Young Ko	1,555.390 points

 

AON Risk Reward Challenge: No. 16, par 5

Being Walton Heath’s last par-5, players on the 16^th hole should look to take advantage of this scoring opportunity late in their round. Those who hit the fairway with their drive on the 16th are expected to go for the green more than half of the time (51%) in calm conditions. That number is almost cut in half (28%) for players who find the rough and the dangerous heather. The expected benefit for finding the fairway off the tee will be about two-tenths of a shot. Favoring the right side of the hole with the tee shot is the better decision when deciding whether to go for the green, as layers must avoid the cave-like bunker shot right of the green, the deepest hazard on the entire course.

 

Heading into the final major of the year and the 20th event of the LPGA Tour season, Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi (-0.923) is on top of the leaderboard followed closely behind by Stephanie Kyriacou (-0.917).

 

Race to CME Globe Update:

The 2023 Race to the CME Globe is beginning to come to an end as the LPGA Tour enters the last major of the year. With the last 600 point prize on the line this week, the winner of the AIG Women’s Open could make big moves on the points list. With three victories on the year, including back-to-back wins coming into this week, Celine Boutier (2,316.850) leads the race by 576.4 points. Two-time 2023 champions and major winners Ruoning Yin (1,740.450) and Jin Young Ko (1,555.390) are the closest chasers behind Boutier, with Japan’s Ayaka Furue (1,531.825) claiming the fourth spot thanks to seven top-10 finishes and 15 cuts made in 16 official events this season. Rounding out the top five is major-champion Hyo Joo Kim thanks to her second place finish at last week’s FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf.

 

The Race to the CME Globe is a season-long points competition with LPGA Tour Members accumulating points in every official LPGA event to qualify for the season-ending tournament, the CME Group Tour Championship. The player who wins the CME Group Tour Championship is named the “Race to the CME Globe Champion.” The top 60 points earners and ties earn a spot into the season finale with the entire field competing for a $7 million purse highlighted by a $2 million winner’s check, which ties the largest single prize in the history of women’s golf.

 

CME Group Cares Challenge – Score 1 for St. Jude Update:

The 11^th hole-in-one of the 2023 LPGA Tour season was made by Sweden’s Maja Stark during the final round of the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf. The LPGA Tour winner scored the first ace of her LPGA Tour career with her pitching wedge, hitting the shot 142 yards on the sixth hole.

 

“Well, the pin wasn’t very gettable, but I was kind of mad from my double-bogey on 4. I just thought, screw it and I’ll go for it. I wasn’t sure that the club was going to reach but apparently it was perfect,” Stark said of the ace. “I wasn’t sure that it went in but my caddie just yelled so then I realized that it did. Yeah, a great feeling.”

 

The CME Group Cares Challenge is a season-long charitable giving program that turns aces into donations. CME Group donates $20,000 for each hole-in-one made on the LPGA Tour in 2023, with a minimum guaranteed donation of $500,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which is leading the way in how the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and life-threatening diseases. There have been 11 hole-in-one’s made this season, bringing the donation total to $220,000.

 

2023 Wins by Country (19 tournaments, 10 countries)

6 – United States (Allisen Corpuz, Cheyenne Knight, Elizabeth Szokol, Lilia Vu (2), Rose Zhang)

2 – Australia (Hannah Green, Grace Kim)

3 – France (Celine Boutier (3))

2 – People’s Republic of China (Ruoning Yin (2))

2 – Republic of Korea (Jin Young Ko (2))

1 – Canada (Brooke Henderson)

1 – Ireland (Leona Maguire)

1 – South Africa (Ashleigh Buhai)

1 – Sweden (Linn Grant)

1 – Thailand (Pajaree Anannarukarn)

 

2023 Wins by Player (19 tournaments, 15 players)

2 – Jin Young Ko (HSBC Women’s World Championship, Cognizant Founders Cup)

2 – Lilia Vu (Honda LPGA Thailand, The Chevron Championship)

2 – Ruoning Yin (DIO Implant LA Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship)

3 – Celine Boutier (LPGA Drive On Championship, Amundi Evian Championship)

1 – Pajaree Anannarukarn (LPGA Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards)

1 – Ashleigh Buhai (ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer)

1 – Allisen Corpuz (U.S. Women’s Open)

1 – Linn Grant (Dana Open)

1 – Hannah Green (JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro)

1 – Brooke Henderson (Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions)

1 – Cheyenne Knight (Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational)

1 – Grace Kim (LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei)

1 – Leona Maguire (Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give)

1 – Elizabeth Szokol (Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational)

1 – Rose Zhang (Mizuho Americas Open)

 

Average Age of 2023 Winners: 25.65

Youngest Winner: Rose Zhang (20 years, 11 days)

Oldest Winner: Ashleigh Buhai (34 years, 1 month

 

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS