NOW PLAYING: AIG Women’s Open

Lottie Woad (Photo by Florida State Athletics)

Lottie Woad and Julia Lopez Ramirez are the five amateurs in the field of the AIG Women’s Open on the Old Course in St. Andrews. Ela Anacona, Louise Rydqvist and Chun-Wei Wu are the amateurs in the field alongside Woad and Lopez Ramirez.

For only the third time in the history of the Old Course since the opening of the Major in 1976, 144 golfers will be present on the course.

Woad and Lopez Ramirez are currently tied for first place with Rachel Kuehn in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com women’s rankings.

You can see the start times for Thursday and Friday HERE.

Amateurs in the field

Lottie Woad: Woad is one of the best amateurs in the world and was just awarded the Mark H. McCormack Award as the world’s leading female amateur golfer. She won the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur and finished alone in second place at the NCAA Championships at Florida State. She also won a medal at the Ladies British Amateur but was eliminated in the final of 16.

Julia Lopez Ramirez: Lopez Ramirez won the SEC Women’s Championships and recently reached the round of 16 of the Ladies British Amateur. She won the 2023 European Ladies Amateur.

Ela Anacona: Anacona won the 2023 Women’s Latin America Amateur and finished eighth at the 2024 South American Women’s Amateur.

Chun-Wei Wu: Wei Wu has been in the field since winning the 2024 Women’s Asia-Pacific Amateur and finished tied for 11th at the Australian Women’s Amateur. She also made the last 64 of the U.S. Girls Junior.

Louise Rydqvist: Rydqvist is the youngest amateur in the field. A few weeks ago, she won the 2024 European Ladies Amateur to secure her spot. She also made it to the semifinals of the 2024 Ladies British Amateur and finished in sole second place behind Lopez-Ramirez at the SEC Women’s Championships.

Former champions

A dozen former AIG Women’s Open winners will be in contention for this rare opportunity to compete on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Karrie Webb, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and three-time winner of the AIG Women’s Open in 1995, 1997 and 2002, leads an impressive list of major winners set to tee off at the Home of Golf this week. Also in contention are Jiyai Shin (2008, 2012), Catriona Matthew (2009), Stacy Lewis (2013), Ariya Jutanugarn (2016), In-Kyung Kim (2017), Georgia Hall (2018), Hinako Shibuno (2019), Sophia Popov (2020), Anna Nordqvist (2021), Ashleigh Buhai (2022) and defending champion Lilia Vu.

The old course

One of the biggest moments in the history of this year’s AIG Women’s Open is undoubtedly the return of the championship to St Andrews and the Old Course. This is only the third time in the history of this major it has been played at the home of golf. In 2007, Lorena Ochoa made history when she became the first woman to win the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews by an impressive four-shot margin. In 2013, Stacy Lewis added her name to Ochoa’s name as only the second woman to win at the famous venue. This year, the best women golfers in Fife, Scotland will compete on the Old Course, which plays to a par 72 over 6,784 yards and has just a single par 5 and par 3 on each nine-hole stretch.

TV program

Thursday, August 22: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (US)
Friday, August 23: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. (US)
Saturday, August 24: 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. (US); 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday, August 25: 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. (US); 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. (NBC)

The LPGA contributed to this report