By Carey Van Lue

AIG Women’s Open

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

Wednesday Pre-Tournament Notes

August 9, 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

NEWS FROM THE AIG WOMEN’S OPEN

• AIG has reaffirmed its commitment to women’s golf by extending its partnership with The R&A as title sponsor of the AIG Women’s Open through 2030
• The 2023 AIG Women’s prize fund will increase to $9 million, a 23 percent increase from 2022
• Royal Lytham & St Annes was announced as host of the 2026 AIG Women’s Open

NOTABLE PLAYERS IN THE AIG WOMEN’S OPEN FIELD

Celine Boutier (Rolex Rankings World No. 3)

“I feel like it’s definitely a little bit tiring because it’s now been three weeks on the road. So it’s definitely starting to settle in… I mean, yeah, it’s not easy to, like, stay focused and motivated. But at the same time, it’s also the last major of the year. So I’m just trying to focus on that and trying to finish strong.” – Boutier on heading into her third week of competition following two wins

• This is Boutier’s eighth appearance in the AIGWO
  • Her best result at the event came in 2016, when she finished solo sixth
    • She shot two rounds of 66 at Woburn in 2016 to finish 276, earning both her lowest 18-hole score and 72-hole score at the event
  • She played as an amateur at the AIGWO in 2013 and 2015
    • She finished T56 in 2013 and missed the cut in 2015
• Boutier is coming off back-to-back victories at the Amundi Evian Championship and FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf
  • She is the first player since Ariya Jutanugarn in 2016 to win any major championship and the tournament after (AIG Women’s Open and CPKC Women’s Open)
    • Boutier is the 14^th player on Tour to win a major and the tournament after
  • Boutier is the first to win back-to-back tournaments on Tour since Jin Young Ko in 2021 at the Cognizant Founders Cup and BMW Ladies Championship
  • The Amundi Evian Championship was her first major victory and second professional win in her home country
    • Her six-shot win in France is the largest in a women’s major since Lydia Ko in her 2015 victory at the same championship
  • She won the Scottish Open trophy by two strokes over Hyo Joo Kim, a year after finishing runner-up at the event
• According to the KPMG Performance Insights, Boutier was 0-for-3 converting 54-hole leads and co-leads into wins in her LPGA career coming into 2023 – she’s now 3-for-3 this season after last week’s win

• The Insights also show Boutier’s putting from 10 to 20 feet away greatly varies from her win at the Amundi Evian Championship to her success in Scotland last week

• Boutier has made the cut in all four major championships this season
  • Besides her win, here best major finish this season is a T14 result at The Chevron Championship
  • She finished T30 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and T45 at the U.S. Women’s Open
  • Boutier has a chance to win the Rolex Annika Major Award with a fourth place finish or better at the AIG Women’s Open, but it dependant on the results of some other key players on the leaderboard for that award
• This week is Boutier’s 17th start of the 2023 season
  • She has three wins and three additional top-10 finishes
  • She is the first player to reach at least three victories on Tour this season
    • Her first win in 2023 came at the LPGA Drive On Championship
  • She crossed the $2 million mark in official season earnings after her win in Scotland and is the third player on Tour to do so in 2023, joining Allisen Corpuz and Ruoning Yin
  • She enters the week first in the Race to the CME Globe (2,316.850 points) and the Race to Costa del Sol
• This is Boutier’s seventh year on Tour
  • She has five career victories and 33 total top-10 finishes
  • She has made over $5.8 million on Tour ($5,802,732)

Rose Zhang (Rolex Rankings World No. 32)

“When I was out here, it definitely was different from the previous British Opens that I’ve played, Muirfield and Carnoustie, those are very traditional links-style golf courses. So when I came out here, I was well aware of the heather. The heather is beautiful but it’s terrible to be in. Not somewhere you want to be this week.” – Zhang on playing her first AIG Women’s Open as a professional at Walton Heath

• This is Zhang’s third appearance in the AIG Women’s Open
  • She played in 2021 and 2022 as an amateur
    • In 2022 she finished T28th and earned the Smyth Salver Award as the low amateur
    • She missed the cut in 2021
• This will be Zhang’s fourth major championship appearance on the LPGA Tour this season
  • She has not finished outside of the top-10 in an LPGA Tour major this year
  • She is the only player on Tour to finish in the top-ten in each of the last three majors
  • Her best finish in a major is a T8 result, which she earned at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • She finished T9 at both the U.S. Women’s Open and the Amundi Evian Championship
  • Despite her three top-10 results in majors, Zhang has no mathematical chance to win the Rolex Annika Major Award
• According to the KPMG Performance Insights, Zhang is a combined 9-under in the last three women’s major championships held, tied for the best cumulative score to par in that span with Yuka Saso

• Zhang is among the leaders in several performance metrics at the majors this season, including strokes gained on par fours and greens in regulation

• This is her sixth event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • In her professional debut, Zhang claimed her first LPGA Tour victory at the Mizuho Americas Open as a sponsor invite
    • She accepted LPGA Tour Membership immediately following her victory
    • She was the first player to win while making their professional debut since Beverly Hanson in 1951
  • Including her win, she has earned four top-10 finishes this season and has missed the cut in one event
• Prior to her professional career, she had one of the most successful amateur careers in history
  • She won back-to-back NCAA Women’s Golf Championship individual titles (2022, 2023), back-to-back ANNIKA Awards (2022, 2023) and claimed a victory at the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur
  • In her 20 starts at Stanford University, she won 12 times
  • Zhang also spent 141 weeks, the most of any player, as the number one ranked amateur in the world

Nelly Korda (Rolex Rankings World No. 1)

“I would say it’s a completely different style of golf. I would say depending on the weather and style of golf course, you have to have a lot of creativity out here. You have to hit shots you normally wouldn’t on other golf courses. Typically with golf courses in the US, it’s very tight off — and you have to hit it high into the greens, and here you actually can chase it up. I mean, here you have to hit low bullets out here so the wind doesn’t affect it. So I think British-style golf courses, you have to use a lot more creativity.” – Korda on how golf course in the Europe differ from American courses

• This is Korda’s seventh appearance at the AIG Women’s Open
  • Her best finish is a T-9 result in 2019
  • She has two additional top-15 finishes in the event in 2020 and 2021
  • She missed the cut in her first playing of the event in 2017 and has not missed the cut since
• Korda has made the cut in three of four major championships this season
  • Her best major finish in 2023 is a solo third result at The Chevron Championship
  • She missed the cut at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • She finished T64 at the U.S. Women’s Open and T9 at the Amundi Evian Championship
  • In order to win the Rolex Annika Major Award, Korda must win and have Allisen Corpuz finish seventh or worse and have Celine Boutier, Lilia Vu and Ruoning Yin finish third or worse
• This is her 12th official  event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • She has seven top-10 finishes this season and has missed the cut only twice
  • Her best finish this season is a runner-up result at the HSBC Women’s World Championship
  • The KPMG Performance Insights show that Korda’s seven top-10 finishes are tied for second-most among players on the LPGA Tour this season, but none of the top-four on that list have broken through with a win yet in 2023

• Korda is back as the world number one – her 37th week in the top spot, most for an American player in the almost 20-year history of the Rolex Rankings

• This is Korda’s seventh year on the LPGA Tour
  • She has claimed eight victories in those seven years including a major victory at the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
  • Korda was the gold medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

ON LPGA.COM

The R&A and AIG Extend AIG Women’s Open Partnership Through 2030

Walton Heath Has Always Championed Women

Five Things To Know About The AIG Women’s Open

Field Breakdown: AIG Women’s Open

Statistical Similarities Of The AIG Women’s Open Champions

How To Watch The AIG Women’s Open

Buhai Back At AIG Women’s Open For Title Defense

England’s Charley Hull Happy to Play at Home for Fifth Major of 2023 Season

International Stars Ready for the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath

SOCIAL SNAPSHOT

Featured groups at the AIG Women’s Open

MAJOR facts

23 Questions with Hannah Green

A masterclass in wood play from Irish superstar Leona Maguire

#LPGALookback with In Gee Chun

A world class field

One year until the 2024 Olympics

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS