The last major tournament in women’s professional golf this season, the AIG Women’s Open, will be played on Thursday at the Old Course at St. Andrews Links in Scotland.

The best female golfers in the world not only have to contend with the Hell Bunker and the famous Road Hole, but may also have to contend with strong winds and rain on the Old Course.

It is the first time in more than a decade that the AIG Women’s Open will be held in the “Home of Golf”.

“Yeah, it definitely feels different,” said defending champion Lilia Vu. “We’re in St. Andrews, the place where everyone wants to play. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. There’s a bit of pressure, but I think I know it’s going to be a struggle for everyone, not just me.”

Here’s what you can see at the last major in women’s golf:

AIG Women’s Open

When: Thursday-Sunday

Where: Old Course, St Andrews, Scotland

Defending champion: Lilia Vu

Wallet: 9 million US dollars

Who to keep an eye on

Nelly Korda: The world number one won six times in seven starts this season but has cooled off a bit of late. She missed the cut at the US Women’s Open, Meijer LPGA Classic and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and finished tied for 26th at the Amundi Evian Championship. Her best finish at the Women’s Open is a tied ninth in 2019.

Lydia Ko: Ko earned her place in the LPGA Hall of Fame by winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Ko is a 20-time winner on the LPGA Tour and has five top-25 finishes in 12 Women’s Open starts, including a tied third place finish in 2015.

Hannah Green: The Australian golfer won two tournaments this spring, the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the JM Eagle LA Championship. The 2019 Women’s PGA Championship winner has never finished in the top 15 at the Women’s Open.

Ally Ewing: Ewing’s consistent performance this season has helped her earn a spot on the US Solheim Cup team for the fourth time. Her six top-10 finishes this season include a tied for 10th at the Amundi Evian Championship, a fifth-place finish at the Women’s PGA Championship and a third-place finish at the US Women’s Open.

Minjee Lee: The two-time major winner feels at home on links courses. In her last six appearances at the Women’s Open, she reached the top 10 four times.

Lauren Coughlin: Coughlin has been the hottest golfer in the world lately, picking up her first two LPGA victories at the CPKC Women’s Open in Calgary on July 28 and the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open on August 18. She ranks third on tour in greens in regulation (73.4%).

Return to St. Andrews

This is only the third time that the AIG Women’s Open has been played on the Old Course. Lorena Ochoa won the inaugural tournament at the Home of Golf in 2007 by four strokes, winning from start to finish, and current US Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis won by two strokes in 2013.

“Obviously it’s the home of golf,” said Englishman Charley Hull. “It would be a special win. Something you dream about as a baby. So, yes, it would be very special.”

Hull played the back nine holes on Monday morning and admitted he had goosebumps as he walked down holes 17 and 18.

Defending champion Lilia Vu played the Old Course for the first time on Monday. She played with Korda and two other golfers. They stopped to take a photo on the iconic Swilcan Bridge between the first and 18th fairways, where Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus and others have stopped to pay their respects to the course.

“It was definitely surreal,” Vu said. “You just never get over that feeling that other former players are here and so much golf was played here. So, yeah, it’s a surreal feeling and I’m trying to take it all in while also focusing on playing the tournament.”

The Old Course will be about 6,784 yards long this week. Weather could play a role, as the forecast calls for temperatures in the low 60s and winds of 26 miles per hour for Thursday’s opening round. There’s a good chance of rain Friday morning.

Vu’s defense

Vu’s reward for her second major championship win at the 2023 AIG Women’s Open was a cat. She named it Walton, after Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, where she finished 14 under par to beat Hull by a whopping six strokes.

“I don’t want to sound cliche, but I got a cat,” Vu said. “That was my attempt to bribe my dad last year. We did another bribe to get another cat if I do another major, so I hope I can do that. Hopefully I can get another cat and maybe name it something different.”

Andrews sounds good.

Vu finished tied for 25th in the Scottish Open at Dundonald Links last week. She battled illness after the Paris Olympics, where she finished tied for 36th at 5 over par. She won the Meijer LPGA Classic and tied for second in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June.

She wants to get back to that form in St. Andrews.

“I feel like I keep falling back into old patterns and I don’t know how I used to win tournaments,” Vu said. “I think I felt that a little bit at the Olympics this year, I just didn’t play well and I almost thought, ‘How did I get here and earn this spot?’ But I’m doing my best here. I got sick at the Olympics. So I was sick all last week. It was pretty hard to recover, this cold and the rain, but I love it here.”

Solheim Cup Clock

The entry lists for the upcoming Solheim Cup, which will be held from September 13 to 15 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia, have been finalized after the final round on Sunday on the Old Course.

Five players – Korda (2,649), Vu (2,067.5), Coughlin (1,676), Ewing (1,607) and Allisen Corpuz (1,493) – have already qualified for the U.S. team on points. Two other golfers will be added to the team on points, as will the top two golfers in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings who did not otherwise qualify for the team. Lewis will also cast three captain’s votes.

Megan Khang (1,391.5), Andrea Lee (1,197.5), Rose Zhang (1,092.5), Alison Lee (1,034) and Sarah Schmelzel (1,024) complete the top 10. Solheim Cup veteran Lexi Thompson, who is retiring from the LPGA Tour after this season, is in 14th place with 708.5 points.

Zhang (No. 9) and Lee (No. 25) would be the highest-ranked players in the Rolex World Rankings. The next two players are Angel Yin (No. 34) and Thompson (No. 43).

This will be Coughlin’s first Solheim Cup. She grew up in the state and attended the University of Virginia.

“There’s probably no better player on the LPGA Tour right now than Lauren Coughlin,” Lewis said. “It’s been great to see her win two of the last three events and play the way she’s played all year. She popped up on our radar late last year and it’s great to see her game continue to improve in 2024.”

The top two players in the Solheim Cup European team points rankings will qualify automatically, as will the top six players in the world rankings who have not yet qualified. European team captain Suzann Pettersen will make four captain nominations.

The Englishwoman Hull (202.25) and the German Esther Henseleit (179.82) are the first placed in the Solheim Cup. The Swedes Linn Grant (139.55) and Maja Stark (132.63) as well as the German Alexandra Forsterling (132) complete the top five.

France’s Céline Boutier (No. 8), Stark (No. 24), Grant (No. 26), Ireland’s Leona Maguire (No. 32), Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (No. 33) and Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom (No. 35) would be the six best players in the world rankings who are not already on the team.