Since opening Winchester Golf Academy in 2015 I have been on a mission to get more women and girls into golf. Over the past decade, I’ve had the privilege of introducing hundreds of women to the game, taking them from complete beginners to accomplished club golfers.

Watching their confidence grow is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. But I’ve also noticed something else. Women are some of the most considerate playing partners you could wish for.

They encourage one another, celebrate each other's good shots and often think about the group before themselves. While those qualities are lovely, they can come at a cost. In trying to be courteous, many women unknowingly develop habits that hurt their own performance and in some cases even slow the game down. Here are 5 of the most common examples I see on the course.

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Rushing Because You Don’t Want To Hold Anyone Up

Rushing is by far one of the most common traits I see, especially with women newer to the game. It’s not that women don’t know how to play at a good pace, it’s that many seem to feel their own shot isn’t as important as everyone else’s.

They rush their shots to stay out of the way of 'real' golfers, cutting their routines short and losing focus. As a result, they end up hitting far worse shots than they are capable of.

The irony is that everyone in the group has an equal right to their turn. Your shot deserves the exact same time and attention as anyone else’s. Taking a few extra seconds to pick a target, settle in, and commit isn’t selfish, it’s respecting your own game. You are not an inconvenience, and your shot matters just as much as theirs.

I’m Just Happy To Be Here

It’s a phrase I hear all the time. “Don’t worry about me. I’m only here for fun. I don’t mind what I score.” Of course it’s lovely to be grateful to be healthy and out in the fresh air, but enjoying yourself and wanting to play well aren’t mutually exclusive.

As a coach, I’ve noticed many women almost apologise for being competitive, as though admitting they want to play well somehow makes them less friendly or less likeable. They’ll brush off a good score with, “I just got lucky” or “I probably won’t repeat that.” But there is a difference between being humble and making yourself smaller.

Sometimes I wonder if this goes beyond golf. Many women grow up being praised for being modest, considerate or not making a fuss. While those are wonderful qualities, they can also make it feel uncomfortable to openly celebrate success or embrace your competitive side.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to do well and setting goals, trying to progress is part of what makes golf fun. So the next time you catch yourself saying a phrase that diminishes your success or ambitions, remember there is nothing wrong with caring about your own score and you owe it to yourself to get out there and try your best.

Giving Too Many Putts Or Picking Up Too Quickly

Women’s golf is wonderfully social, and one of the ways we often show kindness is by conceding short putts. “That’s good” or “You’d never miss that,” are phrases heard on courses every day. While it keeps the game friendly and flowing it can rob you of valuable practice.

Trust me when I say those two and three foot putts are always the knee tremblers when they count. Every putt you hole is another opportunity to build confidence and trust in your putting. If you never finish them in casual rounds, don’t be surprised if you struggle when they really count.

Think of it like parking a car: you don’t become confident squeezing into tight spaces just because someone tells you that you can. If that were the case, my sister would be a parallel parking pro by now… but alas!

Confidence comes from doing - over and over again. So the next time someone offers to give you a putt, but you see a good chance to practice, speak up. Say, 'I’d love to have a go at this one.' Your future self will thank you.

The other side of the coin to this scenario is that in match play many women feel uncomfortable making an opponent hole a short putt. Conceding it can feel the kinder thing to do, but often kindness is confused with removing challenge.

Imagine a darts player telling their opponent they don’t need to throw the winning double because they’d probably get it anyway, it would be unthinkable! Golf is no different. Asking someone to hole out a testing putt isn’t mean, it’s respecting the integrity of the game.

If your opponent takes it badly because you’ve asked them to putt and they go on to miss it, you were right to ask! Now you have rattled them and are more likely to win, which is all part of the rich psychological tapestry of match play, ahhh how I love it!

Waiting Until It’s Your Turn Before Preparing

One of the biggest misconceptions is golfers thinking it’s polite to wait until it’s their turn to start preparing. They’ll stand watching everyone else, then only begin choosing a club, reading the putt or working out a yardage once all eyes are on them.

Ironically, what feels like good manners is often the opposite. It’s a sure fire way to slow down the pace of play and can leave everyone waiting while you decide what to do. It’s a bit like standing in a queue at a coffee shop, getting to the front and only then starting to read the menu, we all know how annoying that person is and we have all felt flustered when we’ve been that person!

Golf is no different. If you and your playing partners have agreed to play ready golf, being ready when it’s your turn is one of the most considerate things you can do. Good ready golf isn’t selfish or impolite, and it isn’t about hurrying, it’s about quietly preparing while others are playing, without distracting them. So when it comes to your turn, you’ve made your decisions and can simply step in and commit.

Apologising For Everything

When I played for the Cheshire Ladies county team there was one word that we all banned each other from saying: Sorry. Unless you’d genuinely done something wrong, it simply wasn’t allowed. Not because apologies weren’t important, but because we realised how often we were using the word when we hadn’t done anything wrong.

Now that I'm older, wiser and an experienced coach, I still notice how often women are prone to apologising on the golf course. “Sorry, I just need another look at this putt.” “Sorry, could you move your trolley?” “Sorry, I think I’m in your way?” “Sorry I’m playing terribly today.” “Sorry I’m holding everyone up.”

Before long, the apologies become so automatic that they stop being about what we’ve done and start becoming about who we are. It’s as though we are saying, “Sorry for taking up space. Sorry for taking my turn. Sorry for being here.”

Of course, there are times when an apology is the right thing to do, but as we identified as a county team, the word “sorry” can slip out all too easily. Every unnecessary apology sends a subtle message not just to the people around us, but most damagingly to ourselves, reinforcing the idea that preparing for our shot, making a mistake, or simply taking up space on the golf course is something that needs to be excused.

Over time, that mindset can chip away at our confidence and sense of belonging. But you do belong, you’ve paid your fees, you have your clubs, you follow the rules, so take up space, and play your game without apology!

When you look at these habits individually, they can seem like small acts of courtesy. But when you step back, a pattern begins to emerge. Many women are taught from a young age to be agreeable, not make a fuss and make life easier for those around them. While those qualities have their place, they can also lead us to prioritise everyone else’s enjoyment over our own.

On the golf course, that might mean rushing our shots, downplaying our ability, or apologising for the odd inevitable bad shot, which is part of golf. This is where people pleasing quietly creeps in.

There is a difference between being considerate and constantly putting yourself last. If everyone else’s enjoyment always comes before your own, sooner or later you become the least important person on the course and your performance will reflect that.

The message I try to instil in every woman I coach is this is your golf and it deserves the same time, attention and care as everyone else’s, be that out on the course, when having a lesson or asking for equipment advice. Your game matters, your enjoyment matters. Be courteous, but never at the expense of yourself. Take your time and compete without apology. Take your space and play the game as though you belong, because you do.

Golf is a game loved by so many women, played by so many women, yet does this game that has for so long been designed for men actually put these women at risk?

In The Line Of Fire

Women are often hit by golf balls, not because they’re in the wrong place, but because people don’t realise how much shorter women hit on average to men.

Yes, women tee off from the forward tees, but that doesn’t mean they reach where the guys hit in from. Often they’re still within reach, and I hear more and more women being driven through by groups behind. They’re not slow; they just need to hit two shots to get to where the longest hitter in the clubhouse bombs it to.

The Physics Of Impact

Women being hit by balls will result in greater damage and longer recovery times. Women have 30% less neck strength and girth than men, so a ball to the head is felt more violently.

A study by the University of Utah revealed that female athletes are far more susceptible to concussion, down to thinner skulls and smaller neck muscles. The physical damage a golf ball can do is simply far higher if you’re a woman.

The Etiquette Breakdown

This physical reality increases the urgency to shout loudly when a ball heads towards another group. Yet most women I’ve spoken to who have been hit in the last year felt the call was late or non-existent. Were the guys who hit the balls embarrassed about calling to a group of women, or is the safety etiquette of golf being forgotten?

Women who suddenly need to shout “Fore!” often struggle to project their voices unless professionally trained as actors or singers! Women have shorter vocal cords than men, yielding a higher pitch. Being able to properly blast the word “Fore!” is hugely important. If you can practice shouting fore, do it as a fun activity for your women’s comps or meet-ups. It’s essential you throw that word down the fairway as early as possible - you could save a life.

Beyond The Fairway

Ready Golf can see your playing partners head on up the hole while you’re still hitting your ball. Please make sure you know you’re not at risk and don’t assume you’ll miss them.

The danger of being hit isn’t restricted to the course. The driving range offers its own hazards, and I’ve been hit by a ball bouncing off a wall from a few bays over more than once while coaching.

Playing Solo

The joys and benefits of playing golf alone are undeniable. The headspace, ability to focus on your game, and simple peace and quiet are unbeatable on a summer’s evening. But if your course is remote, bordered with woodland, and easily accessed, a quick 9-hole loop carries distinct risks.

Only last year, a woman shared an account on Reddit about being approached in broad daylight by a man and chased off the course all the way back to her car. Back in 2018, 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena, an Iowa State women’s golf team member, was killed on the course while practicing alone. A golf course is often a remote area of land that leaves a lone golfer isolated and vulnerable. A solo male golfer simply doesn't carry the same fears or face the same level of threat.

A Call for Change

Unless the golf course is completely fenced in, you can be a long way from the pro shop with little or no mobile signal. Many female golfers feel vulnerable to unmonitored trespassers. Personal alarm brands like She’s Birdie are often recommended for women playing alone in the States, but how well does that work when you’re over a mile away from the nearest pair of ears?

It makes me wonder if we do enough in pro shops to warn women of these hazards and help them feel safer. As a golf coach, I even think about my own safety when giving playing lessons on remote parts of the course. Our buggies are tracked, but there are still times when safety measures fall short.

Isn’t it time to step out of the dark ages and provide women with a truly safe and equal environment to enjoy this game?

Anna Nordqvist has announced her 12-woman side for the Solheim Cup, with a mix of experience and youth making it into the team event.

Taking place in the Netherlands' Bernardus Golf, the team is headlined by the likes of Charley Hull, Lottie Woad and AIG Women's Open runner-up Esther Henseleit.

Along with the trio, Woad, Julia Lopez Ramirez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes are the rookies in the team, as Europe look to win back the Solheim Cup after losing it in 2024.

Although notable names made it on Nordqvist's team, some big name players failed to qualify or earn a captain's pick.

From former Solheim Cup players to potential rookies, we take a look at which notable players are missing out on the September event.

Chiara Tamburlini

The player who will feel hardest done by is Tamburlini, who narrowly missed out on an automatic spot via the European Solheim Cup points list by 0.9 points.

Tamburlini arrived at the AIG Women's Open with a slender 1.1-point advantage over Helen Briem but, after missing the cut, it was out of the Swiss player's hands.

Esther Henseleit, who needed to finish second or better to overtake Tamburlini, then holed a 40-footer at the 72nd hole to force a playoff, which meant she overtook her fellow European into the second place spot.

Having not been selected as a captain's pick, it means Tamburlini narrowly misses out.

Madelene Sagstrom

A four-time Solheim Cup player, featuring in 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024, Sagstrom won't be at the team event this year due to the fact she is expecting her first child in September.

While pregnant, Sagstrom has played some tournaments, including the US Women's Open and the Dow Championship in June.

However, with the baby due the month of the Solheim Cup, the Swede won't be present in the Netherlands.

Georgia Hall

Like Sagstrom, Hall's reasoning for not being included in the European Solheim Cup team is down to pregnancy, with the Major winner announcing the birth of her first child in February.

Returning to the Ladies European Tour in May, finishing T28th, the Englishwoman has played a handful of events since, but her form is yet to return, highlighted by missed cuts at the Women's Scottish Open and AIG Women's Open.

A five-time Solheim Cup player, Hall has played in every edition since 2017 and holds a record of 10 wins, 9 losses and 2 ties.

Emily Kristine Pedersen

Pedersen has struggled for form since her last Solheim Cup appearance in 2024, with the Dane missing out on the CME Group Tour Championship last year.

The reason for the drop in form stems from a broken wrist, which was diagnosed at the beginning of February.

Since returning to action, Pedersen has made just one cut in six starts, appearing over the weekend at the Kroger Queen City Championship in May.

A four-time Solheim Cup player, she holds a record of 7 wins, 9 losses and 1 tie.

Dewi Weber

Dewi Weber may have produced some great results in 2026, but the Dutch player won't be at the Solheim Cup in her home country of the Netherlands.

Although she is ranked higher than some on the current European Solheim Cup team, Weber isn't a member of the Ladies European Tour, meaning she couldn't qualify.

Racking up two top 10s on the LPGA Tour this year, including a T3rd at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, the 30-year-old will have to wait a little longer to gain her first Solheim Cup player experience.

Albane Valenzuela

Valenzuela played in the 2024 Solheim Cup but, following poor form in 2026, the Swiss player won't be present in the side two years on.

Making just three cuts in nine starts on the LPGA Tour this season, the highlight result came at the Blue Bay LPGA, where she finished T33rd.

In her debut Solheim Cup, the 28-year-old produced a record of 0 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.

Ingrid Lindblad

After an incredible amateur career and claiming victory in her debut professional season, Lindblad was predicted to push on and challenge for a Solheim Cup place.

In the third start of her LPGA Tour rookie season, she won the 2025 JM Eagle LA Championship but, since then, problems off the tee have seen her form slump.

Making eight cuts in 13 starts this season, the Swedish star still has time on her side as misses out on a spot on Nordqvist's team in 2026.

Helen Briem

Like Tamburlini, Briem had a chance to automatically qualify for the Solheim Cup via the points list, but a missed cut ended her chances of making the side.

Winning on the Ladies European Tour in May, the German's form on the LPGA Tour hasn't matched her results, with five cuts made in 11 starts.

Like others on this list, Briem has age on her side, with the 22-year-old only securing her LPGA Tour playing rights at the end of 2025.

When I watch professional golf, especially Majors, there's a natural feeling of inspiration, of wishing my game could be more like that. Those drives that carry most of the hole. Those crisp irons into the green. Those wedge shots that zip.

And I know as a mere mortal, I'll never close the gap between my game and theirs. That's why I don't try to. Instead, I look for patterns. The things that, if we applied them to our game, could move us closer to our score goals.

That's why I'm not looking at how I can replicate their swings. I'm looking for how I can replicate their thinking.

Take Your Medicine

I had already noticed this theme over the weekend but the play-off is where it landed hardest. Two extra holes, both played down the 18th. Both of them with a player in trouble.

The first being Shiho Kuwaki, who pulled her drive into deep grass short of a bunker. A major championship so close she could almost touch it. And no shot at the green. She took her medicine, got herself back in play and then stuck her shot in to about three feet. And holed it. Par saved, play-off extended.

Next it was Esther Henseleit who found the trouble, after her tee shot clattered off a marshal's "that'll hurt tomorrow" shin and finished in a gorse bush. She followed the same process. Get back in play. Wedge to about 12 feet and a putt to give herself a chance.She missed it, but that’s not the point that stayed with me. It’s that she gave herself a chance. After finding the trouble, she didn’t panic. She chose the shot that put her in a position to possibly save par. And that's the key – to give ourselves chances.

As golfers, we know the feeling. We find ourselves in trouble, we know we should play it safe but that little voice tells us to take it on. So we do, before we hear the clatter of that branch and get that sinking feeling that we just made the wrong choice. And the bigger number that follows wasn't caused by the trouble-finding tee shot. It was caused by our decision to hit-and-hope it, rather than take our medicine.

Here's what I keep coming back to about that play-off. In the biggest moments of their careers, neither player tried to make up for the “bad” shot with the next one. Even when it was all on the line. I've been working on this myself recently – my recovery thinking. And last week, I carded my first ever round without a double bogey.

And the funny thing is, when I look back on that round, the thing I’m most proud of isn’t the pars I made, it’s the bogeys I saved from becoming worse. Because now I know that even without my best golf, I can finish a few shots off my personal best by focusing on my recovery thinking.

So it might just be that the shot that saves your round isn't the spectacular one. It's the boring one that gives your next shot a chance.

Position Over Power

Royal Lytham & St Annes might have the most bunkers I've seen at a Major in a long time. With 167 of them lining the fairways and hugging the greens, it’s hard to imagine not finding the sand at some point.

It was the fairway bunkers that looked the most punishing, with lips high enough to make any chance of going for the green unlikely. That’s why I found it inspiring to see World No 1 Nelly Korda play for position off the tee on those par 4s. Instead of always reaching for driver, Nelly took an iron. One of the longest and best-swinging players in the women’s game, choosing to take the trouble out of play.

Here's what struck me about that. I would back Korda to find a fairway more often than not but she still chose not to take driver just because she could. She knew that being long is no use if that’s where the trouble is.

How often do we play for length over position? Pulling driver because we think we should, when actually it's the club that brings that fairway bunker into play? We've all done it. Taken driver, almost on auto-pilot, found the sand, then had to wedge it out. When a wood off the tee would have left us a slightly longer second but from a safe place and a much better chance of a par.

The question isn't whether we can hit driver. It's what driver buys us on that hole. So when it comes to a tee shot that often leaves me scuttling into the sand, I’ll be thinking more like Korda. And laying back, knowing that’s giving my second shot a better chance of being off the short stuff.

It's Not Your ceiling. It’s Your Floor

This is the one I've been thinking about most deeply. When it comes to winning Majors for a pro or playing to - or below - our handicap, for us amateurs, it’s easy to think we need to play our best every round.

But there’s a pattern that’s become clear in my own golf recently that this weekend’s Major confirmed for me. It’s not about how good your best rounds are. It’s about how good your bad rounds are.

Furue shot 65 on Saturday, the second-lowest round of the championship. And she finished tied 53rd because on Sunday she shot 82. That’s a 17 shot gap between her best (ceiling) and her floor (worst).

Jeeno Thitikul shot 64 on the opening day, the lowest ever score in an AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham. And she shared fourth place because her following rounds went 73, 72, 73. A 9 shot gap. The two lowest rounds of the championship produced a tie for fourth and a tie for 53rd.

Now look at it from the other end. Of the 11 players who finished under par, not one of them shot worse than 74 over the four rounds. Charley Hull went 69, 71, 71, 72 – a 3 shot gap – and she finished tied sixth. Kuwaki's four rounds ran from 66 to 73. A 7 shot gap. The ceiling didn't separate them. The floor did.

I think this is the most useful thing us amateurs can take from watching the pros and those who finished highest on the leaderboard. Because I believe it’s the opposite of how we think about our golf.

When we play, we put pressure on ourselves to play our best. To come in with more than 36 points. To finally break that score goal. We want the round that finally clicks and proves what we know we’re capable of. And that’s what we measure ourselves against – our best.

But I've come to realise that closing the gap to our score goals isn't about hoping for our best golf. It's about making our bad rounds better. That’s what boosts our confidence - scoring well, even without our best game.

Follow Jess’ golf journey on Instagram.

Anna Nordqvist's 2026 European Solheim Cup team is now complete after the Swede named Leona Maguire, Julia Lopez Ramirez, Nastasia Nadaud and Mimi Rhodes as her captain's picks.

They will join a strong and experienced line-up at The Netherlands' Bernardus Golf headlined by the likes of Charley Hull, Lottie Woad and AIG Women's Open runner-up Esther Henseleit.

Hull and Henseleit qualified from the LET Solheim Cup Points list, with Woad, Maja Stark, Celine Boutier, Carlota Ciganda, Linn Grant and Nanna Koerstz Madsen clinching their spots via the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

In total, Nordqvist's side features four rookies, with Woad, Lopez Ramirez, Nadaud and Rhodes all set to make their debuts next month.

Anna Nordqvist's Solheim Cup captain's picks:

Leona Maguire

Maguire will play in her fourth consecutive Solheim Cup and has become a stalwart for Europe after going unbeaten in her 2021 debut at Inverness Club.

Julia Lopez Ramirez

The former World No.1 amateur will make her Solheim Cup debut, as she becomes the second Spaniard on the team for Bernardus Golf. Lopez Ramirez adds length to the Europeans, as she currently ranks 2nd in Driving Distance on the LPGA Tour.

Nastasia Nadaud

The LPGA rookie joins Celine Boutier as the second Frenchwoman on Nordqvist's side. Nadaud, at just 21, adds youth to the team as another European rookie.

Mimi Rhodes

The Englishwoman makes her Solheim Cup debut after a blistering start to her professional career with three Ladies European Tour victories in 2025. Rhodes has good team form, having secured the crucial half point for GB&I at Sunningdale in the 2024 Curtis Cup.

Solheim Cup 2026: Key details

The 2026 Solheim Cup heads to The Netherlands and Bernardus Golf, where Europe will look to win the trophy back after losing at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club last time out.

• Dates: September 11-13, 2026
• Venue: Bernardus Golf, The Netherlands
• Captains: Anna Nordqvist (Europe), Angela Stanford (USA)
• Holders: USA
• 2024: USA 15.5 - 12.5 Europe, Robert Trent Jones Golf Club

When is the USA's Solheim Cup team confirmed?

Following the CPKC Women’s Open, Aug 20-23, the top seven in the USA's Solheim Cup points list and the next two highest-ranked players in the world rankings will automatically qualify.

American captain Angela Stanford will make her picks on Monday August 24.

The final round of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes was proving a tight affair.

At the start of play, Yealimi Noh appeared to be closing in on her maiden Major title, beginning with a three-shot lead.

However, she gradually lost her grip on proceedings as the afternoon wore on, with several players still harboring realistic hopes of victory with just a handful of holes remaining.

That brought the possibility of a playoff to determine the winner firmly into the equation, but what is the format if two or more players share the lead after 72 holes?

If there’s not an outright winner in regulation, a sudden-death playoff will take place.

That will mean each player co-leading heads back to the 18th tee box, with the same hole played over and over until a winner is found.

Sudden-death is a format that has already been needed for a women’s Major this year, when Haeran Ryu defeated Brooke Henderson with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff at the Amundi Evian Championship.

Since becoming a Major in 2001, the AIG Women’s Open has only needed one playoff to determine a winner.

That came four years ago, when Ashleigh Buhai beat In Gee Chun on the third extra hole at Muirfield.

However, the tournament has been around significantly longer, with the first edition taking place in 1976.

The following year, Vivien Saunders and Mary Everard finished tied after 72 holes, with Saunders winning on countback after her closing 76 bettered Everard's 79.

There have been two other playoffs in the event’s history, in 1988, when Corinne Dibnah beat Sally Little, and 1990, when Helen Alfredsson beat Jane Hill.

To say plenty was riding on the outcome of the AIG Women’s Open would be an understatement, with not only the distinction of a Major title alongside the winner’s name, but a host of other perks that come with taking the title.

They include an AIG Women’s Open exemption until the age of 60 and places in the other four Majors for the next five years.

There was life-changing money on the line, too, with this year’s winner Shiho Kuwaki earning a record $1.5m, before various factors reduce how much she really gets to keep. One of those is the money the Kuwaki will pay to her caddie, Toru Oda, from the $1.5m.

It is widely accepted that tournament winners generally give their caddies 10% of their prize money. Oda is expected to receive $150,000 for his role in helping Kuwaki win at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

That’s an increase from a year ago, when Miya Yamashita won $1,462,500, giving her caddie John Bennett around $146,250. In 2024, Lydia Ko won $1,350,000, of which around $135,000 would have been paid to her caddie Paul Cormack.

That $150,000 is not likely to be the full amount Oda will earn either, with players negotiating separate terms with their caddie.

For example, most caddies are either paid an annual salary or given a weekly base rate, although that information is generally kept between them.

The caddies of players finishing further down the leaderboard are also expected to be well compensated for their work.

Caddies of players finishing in the other positions in the top 10 of the AIG Women’s Open leaderboard are expected to receive around 7% of the prize money, with around 5% going to the caddies of other players in the field.

The final round of the AIG Women's Open had a tighter finish than seemed likely at the start of the day.

After 54 holes, Yealimi Noh led by three, but her relatively strong grip on proceedings gradually loosened as the afternoon wore on at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

That left the door ajar for several players, including Esther Henseleit and Shiho Kuwaki, and after finishing her round earlier, it was the latter who headed back to the clubhouse to see if she'd done enough after shooting 70.

Still, Noh and Henseleit had a chance to force a playoff, with both heading down the 18th needing a birdie.

Both players left themselves long birdie putts to force extra holes, and one of them, Henseleit, defied the odds to do just that and keep her chances of victory alive.

Kuwaki and Henseleit headed to the 18th tee box for the sudden-death playoff, and it was Kuwaki who edged out her opponent on the second extra hole.

That brings an array of perks for the LPGA of Japan Tour professional, including huge prize money, but how much did she win? Thanks to her victory, Kuwaki wins $1.5m of the record $10m prize money.

For comparison, a year ago, Miyu Yamashita won $1,462,500 for her AIG Women's Open victory.

While there will be understandable disappointment for Henseleit after running her opponent so close, she still ends the week significantly better off than she started it, with prize money of $994,669.

Below is what each player who made the cut won at the AIG Women's Open.

AIG WOMEN'S OPEN PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN

Yealimi Noh enjoyed an excellent amateur career and, turning professional in 2019, she has gone on to claim an LPGA Tour win and a Solheim Cup appearance.

An equipment-free agent, the American has a mix of clubs in the bag, including TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist and L.A.B Golf.

In the driver department, she uses a TaylorMade Qi4D, which is set at 9° and possesses a Graphite Design Tour AD FI 6 S shaft.

The Callaway Quantum Ti 3-wood is the next weapon of choice for Noh, with the 25-year-old using it in a 15° loft and a Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 S shaft.

Instead of another fairway wood, Noh has a Titleist GT2 hybrid in play, which is set at 18° and has a Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Hybrid 80 HY shaft.

Moving to the irons, where you'll find a mixed set of Titleist T200 and Titleist T100. The former features in a 4-iron and 5-iron, while the T100 is in a 6-iron to 9-iron.

Ranked among the best Titleist irons on the market, the shaft of choice is the KBS Tour Lite 95, with a similar configuration also featuring in her wedges.

Speaking of her scoring section, Noh uses Titleist Vokey SM11s in a 48°, 54° and 58° configuration. They also have KBS shafts, specifically KBS Tour Lite S.

The final club in the bag is a L.A.B Golf Mezz 1 Max putter, which Noh uses in a broom handle set-up, something that was present for her Founders Cup win in 2025.

Rounding out her what's in the bag with her golf ball, Noh has the Titleist Pro V1 in play, one of the best golf balls money can buy.

Yealimi Noh WITB: Full Specs

After 54 holes of the AIG Women's Open, Yealimi Noh leads by three in pursuit of her maiden Major title.

The American carded a 69 on Saturday, to put daylight between her and five others at the top of the leaderboard.

As a result, she's in the final group to tee it up on Sunday at Royal Lytham & St Annes, where she will play alongside one of the players in pursuit, Esther Henseleit. The duo begin at 9.35am EDT (2.35pm BST).

Jeeno Thitikul has long been touted as a future Major winner, and she remains firmly in the hunt in her last opportunity of 2026. She's grouped with Lucy Li on Sunday, with the pair getting started at 9.25am EDT (2.25pm BST).

That leaves two more on four under, Haeran Ryu, who is looking for her third consecutive Major title, and Shiho Kuwaki. They get underway at 9.15am EDT (2.15pm BST).

Local fans will be cheering on Englishwoman Lottie Woad on Sunday. She is four back of Noh on three under and grouped with Ayaka Furue, who is on two under. They begin at 9.05am EDT (2.05pm BST).

Another group featuring two world-class players features 2024 winner Lydia Ko and another English star, Charley Hull. They have a tee time of 8.45am EDT (1.45pm BST).

Here are all the tee times for the final round of the AIG Women's Open.

AIG Women's Open Tee Times: Final round

All times BST (EDT)

• 3.45am (8.45am): Casandra Alexander, Mi Hyang Lee
• 3.55am (8.55am): Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Aunchisa Utama
• 4.05am (9.05am): Aki Iwai, Julia Lopez Ramirez
• 4.15am (9.15am): Arpichaya Yubol, Anna Nordqvist
• 4.25am (9.25am): Auston Kim, Nasa Hataoka
• 4.35am (9.35am): Amanda Doherty, Jinyoung Ko
• 4.45am (9.45am): Alison Lee, Kajsa Arwefjall
• 5.00am (10.00am): Minji Kang, Alice Hewson
• 5.10am (10.10am): Maja Stark, Patty Tavatanakit
• 5.20am (10.20am): Amelia Garvey, Cara Gainer
• 5.30am (10.30am): Yana Wilson, Rose Zhang
• 5.40am (10.40am): Ariya Jutanugarn, Yuna Araki
• 5.50am (10.50am): Annabell Fuller, Yunseo Yang (a)
• 6.00am (11.00am): Hyojoo Kim, Nastasia Nadaud
• 6.15am (11.15am): Manon De Roey, Lindy Duncan
• 6.25am (11.25am): Jenny Shin, Amy Yang
• 6.35am (11.35am): Sara Kouskova, Pia Babnik
• 6.45am (11.45am): Paula Martin Sampedro (a), Mao Saigo
• 6.55am (11.55am): Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson
• 7.05am (12.05pm): Dewi Weber, Sei Young Kim
• 7.15am (12.15pm): Chizzy Iwai, Yuka Saso
• 7.30am (12.30pm): Celine Boutier, Mimi Rhodes
• 7.40am (12.40pm): Alexandra Forsterling, Jing Yan
• 7.50am (12.50pm): Lauren Coughlin, Robyn Choi
• 8.00am (1.00pm): Nelly Korda, Rio Takeda
• 8.10am (1.10pm): Shannon Tan, Wei Ling Hsu
• 8.20am (1.20pm): Carla Tejedo Mulet, Jinhee Im
• 8.30am (1.30pm): Ashleigh Buhai, Soo Bin Joo
• 8.45am (1.45pm): Lydia Ko, Charley Hull
• 8.55am (1.55pm): Chanettee Wannasaen, Minami Katsu
• 9.05am (2.05pm): Ayaka Furue, Lottie Woad
• 9.15am (2.15pm): Haeran Ryu, Shiho Kuwaki
• 9.25am (2.25pm): Jeeno Thitikul, Lucy Li
• 9.35am (2.35pm): Esther Henseleit, Yealimi Noh

Lucy Li has been known to golf fans for many years, having qualified for the 2014 US Women’s Open when she was just 11, becoming the youngest player to achieve it in the tournament’s history.

Fast-forward 12 years, and after 54 holes of the 2026 AIG Women’s Open, she was making her name at a Major again, tied for second on the leaderboard, three shots behind leader Yealimi Noh.

Li’s enviable position on the leaderboard with just 18 holes to play perhaps isn’t too surprising, because despite still only being 23, she has plenty of experience of big events and is in her seventh year as a pro.

Along the way, she has won twice, while she has had strong finishes at other Majors, including T12 at the 2025 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

During her professional career, Li has worked with caddies including Bryan Bush and John Pavelko. However, for the Royal Lytham & St Annes edition of the AIG Women's Open, her caddie was someone with solid experience of the tournament – Paul Drummond.

Drummond was born in Scotland, close to two-time host venue of the AIG Women’s Open, Carnoustie. Indeed, it was during the 2021 edition of the AIG Women's Open at Carnoustie that he caddied for LPGA Tour legend Lexi Thompson.

Drummond worked as a club caddie at Carnoustie for 16 years, and that knowledge of the course clearly helped, as Thompson was T4 after three rounds and firmly in contention for her second Major title, before finishing in a tie for 20th.

Following his spell helping Thompson, Drummond turned to DP World Tour player Dan Bradbury. After that, he returned to the LPGA Tour scene, assisting Nicole Broch Estrup and Olivia Cowan before linking up with LI, setting the wheels in motion for their shot at AIG Women's Open glory.

It’s inevitable that, with a Major title and a shot at making history on the line, much of the focus at the AIG Women’s Open is on the top of the leaderboard. There are plenty of fascinating stories developing among those in contention, too.

They include whether Haeran Ryu can win her third consecutive Major, or whether players such as Jeeno Thitikul, Lottie Woad and Charley Hull will claim their first.

However, away from the spotlight at Royal Lytham & St Annes, other stories of heartache and triumph are unfolding.

Among the shocks were the likes of Major winner Ruoning Yin and defending champion Miyu Yamashita missing the cut, but for one player, confirming her place in the last two rounds was a big moment.

Sara Kouskova is making just her second AIG Women’s Open appearance, having qualified via the 2025 LET Order of Merit.

After opening with a six-over 77, the Czech player was staring down the barrel of her second consecutive missed cut at the Major.

Her prospects looked even bleaker after a second-hole bogey on Friday, before she responded with two birdies to leave her five over at the 18th.

Even then, she needed another push to scramble above the cut line, and she found the extra she needed, rolling in a birdie putt at the last for a 69 - eight shots better than her opening round - to secure her place for the weekend.

The moment the putt dropped, it was obvious what it meant to her, with Kouskova throwing her arms in the air in celebration before embracing playing partner Annabell Fuller.

The significance of the putt wasn’t lost on those watching, either, with cheers and warm applause greeting her crucial birdie.

The two-time LET winner received more congratulations as she left the 18th, where she wiped tears of joy from her eyes as she headed towards the recorder’s hut.

Kouskova held her own in the third round, too, finishing even for the day to stay on four over with 18 holes to play.

However, regardless of where she finishes on the leaderboard, the emotional reaction to Kouskova making the weekend serves as a reminder that, for some players, simply earning the chance to walk down the 18th fairway on Sunday is an achievement in itself.

The final Major of 2026 is set-up to be an exciting finish, with Haeran Ryu leading at the halfway stage on seven-under-par.

Having claimed the last two Major championships - KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship - the South Korean is searching for a hattrick at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Carding rounds of 66 and 69, Ryu is one clear of Shiho Kuwaki at six-under, while Jeeno Thitikul and Yealimi Noh, who are searching for their first taste of Major success, are both five-under.

In terms of the top 10, Soo Bin Joo is solo fifth at three-under, while eight players share sixth spot at two-under.

Among them are home heroes Charley Hull and Lottie Woad, as well as Lauren Coughlin and amateur Paula Martin Sampedro.

On what promises to be an exciting Moving Day, the final pairing of Ryu and Kuwaki head out at 2.40pm (local time), while Noh and Thitikul tee off at 2.30pm.

Pairings that will draw attention are Hull and Coughlin at 2.00pm, while Woad and Major winner Celine Boutier at 1.35pm will gain some following.

In terms of the marquee group, though, that would be Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko at 1.15pm, with the duo alongside each other for a third straight day.

Both multiple-time Major winners are one-under-par and will look to make charges up the leaderboard on Saturday.

AIG Women's Open Tee Times: Round Three

All times BST; For Eastern Time -5hrs

• 8.50am: Pia Babnik, Sara Kouskova
• 9.00am: Manon de Roey, Cara Gainer
• 9.10am: Nastasia Nadaud, Ayaka Furue
• 9.20am: Hyojoo Kim, Yunseo Yang (a)
• 9.30am: Alison Lee, Amelia Garvey
• 9.40am: Carla Tejedo Mulet, Patty Tavatanakit
• 9.50am: Maja Stark, Casandra Alexander
• 10.05am: Annabell Fuller, Alexandra Forsterling
• 10.15am: Yuka Saso, Amy Yang
• 10.25am: Jin Young Ko, Wei Ling Hsu
• 10.35am: Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Mi Hyang Lee
• 10.45am: Ashleigh Buhai, Chizzy Iwai
• 10.55am: Arpichaya Yubol, Jenny Shin
• 11.05am: Lindy Duncan, Aki Iwai
• 11.20am: Yuna Araki, Sei Young Kim
• 11.30am: Amanda Doherty, Alice Hewson
• 11.40am: Dewi Weber, Brooke Henderson
• 11.50am: Hannah Green, Nasa Hataoka
• 12.00pm: Ariya Jutanugarn, Rose Zhang
• 12.10pm: Minji Kang, Shannon Tan
• 12.20pm: Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mao Saigo
• 12.35pm: Auston Kim, Anna Nordqvist
• 12.45pm: Esther Henseleit, Rio Takeda
• 12.55pm: Aunchisa Utama, Yana Wilson
• 1.05pm: Kajsa Arwefjall, Mimi Rhodes
• 1.15pm: Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko
• 1.25pm: Robyn Choi, Jinhee Im
• 1.35pm: Celine Boutier, Lottie Woad
• 1.50pm: Minami Katsu, Chanettee Wannasaen
• 2.00pm: Charley Hull, Lauren Coughlin
• 2.10pm: Paula Martin Sampedro (a), Lucy Li
• 2.20pm: Jing Yan, Soo Bin Joo
• 2.30pm: Yealimi Noh, Jeeno Thitikul
• 2.40pm: Shiho Kuwaki, Haeran Ryu

Haeran Ryu takes a one-stroke lead into the weekend at the AIG Women's Open, where the World No.3 will seek to win her third consecutive Major.

The Korean star followed up her opening 66 with a 70 on Friday to lead Japan's Shiho Kuwaki by one with 36 holes to play at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

A number of big names are in the chasing pack, including home favorites Lottie Woad and Charley Hull just five back in T6th.

However, plenty of notables fell by the wayside, with the cut coming in at four-over-par.

Here's a look at a number of big names, Major champions and Solheim Cup stalwarts who won't be around to contest for the title this weekend...

Big names to miss the 2026 AIG Women's Open cut

Andrea Lee: +5 (71-76)

Andrea Lee got off to a solid start courtesy of a level-par 71 on Thursday but a five-over-par 76 saw her agonizingly miss the cut by a single stroke. It's her first ever missed cut in the event in her seventh start.

The former Stanford star, who won the LPGA's Portland Classic in 2022, carded a disappointing five-over 76 in round two.

She made five bogeys and a double on Friday, with her birdie on the 18th ultimately too little, too late.

Leona Maguire: +5 (73-74)

Solheim Cup star Leona Maguire was another big name to miss out by a single stroke after 36-holes at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

The Irishwoman will rue back-to-back bogeys on 13 and 14 in round two, which ultimately sealed her fate following a 73 on Thursday and a bogey-bogey start in round two.

Maguire has now missed four cuts in the five Majors this season.

Gaby Lopez: +5 (73-74)

Lopez was two-under after six holes of the championship but she missed the cut mark by a single stroke after a 74 on Friday to follow up her first-round 73.

The Mexican made an eagle and just two birdies in her first 36-holes along with nine bogeys, including two in a row to finish on Friday.

She would have hoped for better after finishing T2nd at the US Women's Open last month, which was her best Major finish to date.

Hinako Shibuno: +5 (74-73)

The 2019 champion at Woburn misses the cut at the AIG Women's Open for the fourth consecutive year.

The Japanese star finished bogey-bogey in round one for a lacklustre birdie-free 74 and a 73 featuring three birdies and five dropped shots sends her home early.

Lilia Vu: +5 (75-72)

Lilia Vu's difficult stretch continues after two bogeys in her final three holes saw her miss another Major cut.

The former World No.1, who won the Chevron Championship and AIG Women's Open in 2023 to become World No.1, has now missed nine consecutive cuts in the Majors.

The Californian is now ranked 171st in the world and looks set to miss out on the USA's Solheim Cup team.

Jennifer Kupcho: +6 (70-78)

Jennifer Kupcho continues her poor AIG Women's Open record, making it four consecutive missed cuts for six MCs in nine starts.

The 2022 ANA Inspiration (now Chevron Championship) winner started strong with a one-under-par 70 but made three doubles in a costly 78 on Friday.

Georgia Hall: +6 (76-72)

The 2018 Lytham champion is another big name going home early.

The damage was done on Thursday for Hall, where she failed to make a birdie in a five-over-par 76. She fared much better in round two with a two-under-par front nine but a double-bogey on the 18th left her at six-over for the tournament.

Hall only returned to the professional game in May after becoming a mother for the first time, so it was a good effort from the Englishwoman who is still adapting to balancing motherhood and elite-level sport.

Megan Khang: +7 (74-75)

Khang found herself needing a strong round two after a three-over-par 74 on Thursday but she failed to make a birdie on Friday to shoot 74-75 over the first two rounds.

The US Solheim Cup star bogeyed three of the first four holes on day two and parred her way in to comfortably miss the cut.

It means she misses three of the five Major cuts this year.

Minjee Lee: +7 (75-74)

Minjee Lee was two-under-par for her first six holes of the championship but it all unravelled from there.

The Australian went on to make two doubles and post a 75 before falling further back on Friday, although a one-under-par closing nine will hopefully give her some positive momentum for the rest of the season.

The three-time Major winner has now very uncharacteristically missed three consecutive Major cuts.

Miyu Yamashita: +7 (72-77)

It was not a dream return to the AIG Women's Open for the defending champion.

Yamashita was only one-over after round one and was set to just about make the weekend before a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 18th put her outside of the cut line.

It's her first Major missed cut in two years and a big surprise considering she was T4th at the Evian Championship just last month.

Allisen Corpuz: +10 (73-79)

Corpuz misses her third consecutive AIG Women's Open cut and second Major weekend in a row after also missing the cut at the Evian.

The 2023 US Open champion finished at 10-over-par for two days after making six bogeys in her opening eight holes of round two.

Grace Kim: +10 (75-77)

The 2025 Evian Championship winner managed just one birdie in 36 holes following nine bogeys and a double in two rounds at Lytham.

The Australian comfortably misses her first AIG Women's Open cut, which is the second Major weekend in a row where she won't have a tee time.

Ruoning Yin: +10 (73-79)

Yin misses her second successive AIG Women's Open cut to make it a third consecutive season without a Major victory. The World No.8 is the highest-ranked player in the field to miss the cut.

The former World No.1, who captured the 2023 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, was out of sorts at Lytham - especially in round two.

The Chinese star made seven bogeys and a triple in her 79, which left her near the bottom of the leaderboard after 36 holes for an early exit.

Other notables to miss the 2026 AIG Women's Open cut:

• +5 Jiyai Shin
• +5 Aditi Ashok
• +5 Diksha Dagar
• +5 Pajaree Anannarukarn
• +5 Nanna Koerstz Madsen
• +6 Linn Grant
• +6 Jodi Ewart Shadoff
• +7 A Lim Kim
• +8 Perrine Delacour
• +8 Kiara Romero (a)
• +9 In Gee Chun
• +9 Carlota Ciganda
• +10 Maria Jose Marin (a)
• +10 Helen Briem
• +11 Yani Tseng
• +12 Steph Kyriacou
• +19 Ryann O'Toole
• +20 Sophia Popov

Could this finally be Charley Hull's time? After five runner-up finishes she's vowed to go for everything over the weekend at the AIG Women's Open in her quest to win her first Major.

Hull is undoubtedy one of the best female players not to win a Major despite coming so close on five occasions, and yet again she enters the weekend with high hopes of finally getting over the hump.

The 30-year-old has finished second once at the Chevron Championship, twice at the US Women's Open and twice at the AIG Women's Open - including both last year and in 2023.

And after adding a Friday 71 to her opening 69 at Royal Lytham & St Annes she ended the day on two under and in a tie for fifth place when she finished her round - four shots off the clubhouse lead at the time.

Hull's recent plan for the Majors has been to try and just make the weekend with as few mistakes as possible, and then go for broke in the final two rounds.

That's certainly been the case in her last two near misses, both at this year's US Women's Open and last year's AIG Women's Open.

She played the second half of those tournaments in 13 and nine shots fewer respectively than the opening two rounds, but came up short by just a combined three shots.

Hull is well in touch again heading into the weekend, and she's not going to be holding anything back at Royal Lytham in her quest for glory.

"Just to go at everything," she said to Sky Sports about her gameplan. "I've just got to carry on with my good swing thoughts, the nerves should go away by then and I can just go for everything."

And that includes off the tee despite Lytham being riddled with bunkers all around the course - but attack may be the best form of defence according to Hull.

"Even off the tee, if you're not hitting driver and trying to take the bunkers out of play you can still find them. So you might as well hit driver and find a bunker 50 yards further down there and be closer to the green, make the hole a bit shorter."

Charley Hull's near misses in Majors

It does seem like it's coming. Hull's finished second in two of her last five Majors, with another top 10 in there too - and finishes of T2-20-2-T22 in her last four Women's Opens suggest this could be her week.

In her previous second places she's only once started the final round top of the leaderboard, and that resulted in her worst return - so maybe this week she'd be better off just tucked in behind and come flying home.

2026 US Women's Open

Hull started the final round three behind Nelly Korda, shot two better than the American but came up just one shot short. The margins were wafer thin, with just a couple of late putts missing while Korda's nervy effort on the last horseshoed around the cup but dropped.

That was the difference in an agonising result.

2025 AIG Women's Open

It was more frustration last year at Royal Porthcawl as Hull was three off the lead on Saturday night but could only get within two strokes of Miyu Yamashita.

2023 AIG Women's Open

Her best chance going into Sunday, Hull was tied at the top of the leaderboard at Walton Heath alongside Lilia Vu, but while she shot 67 Hull carded a bitterly disappointing 73 to fade away.

2023 US Women's Open

A stunning Sunday at Pebble Beach as Hull came storming through with a 66 in the final round. She started seven off the lead and six off eventual champion Allisen Corpuz - who managed to keep three strokes ahead thanks to a 69.

2016 Chevron Championship

Just two shots off Lexi Thompson's lead heading into Sunday, Hull shot 69 to overhaul the American, but sadly so did Lydia Ko to pip her by just a shot.

Charley Hull's major runner-up spots

Any good omens for Lytham?

These things in golf always tend to have a story behind them, so looking for omens is never a bad thing - even beyond Hull going close so many times.

Firstly, her big mate Georgia Hall won the Women's Open here at Lytham in 2018, so it'd be hugely apt if Hull would follow her buddy and claim her maiden Major on the same course.

And secondly, there's been plenty of pictures of Hull playing in the Pro-Am at Lytham in 2006 as a baby aged just 10!

So that would create a wonderful full circle moment if 20 years later she could lift the big prize at the some place she showcased her immense talent even as a kid.

Hull and her supporters will be hoping the stars can indeed align and she can land the Major victory her talent has long suggested would be a foregone conclusion.

Shiho Kuwaki is proving herself to be one of the brightest young golfers from Japan and is right in contention at the 2026 AIG Women's Open.

Find out more about here life and career so far via the following facts.

Shiho Kuwaki Facts

1. Kuwaki was born in Okayama City on 29 January, 2003.

2. She began playing golf at the age of four.

3. Kuwaki won two prestigious amateur titles while in high school. Firstly, she won the China Women's Amateur Golf Championship in her third year of junior high school (approximately 14 years old). She then claimed The One' Junior Golf Tournament in her third year of high school (approximately 17 years old).

4. She loves karaoke and her favorite song is "366 Days" by HY.

5. Kuwaki attended Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts in her home prefecture of Okayama.

6. Kuwaki turned professional in June 2021 and joined the LPGA Tour of Japan.

7. Not long after turning pro, she won the JLPTGA Rookies Championship Kaga Electronics Cup.

8. She is known for her distinct fashion sense, which is made by her fashion sponsor Loudmouth Golf.

9. Kuwaki has won six professional titles in her career, with three arriving in 2024 on the JLPGA Tour. The last of those in 2024 was the Japan LPGA Tour Championship Ricoh Cup - a Major on that circuit. Due to her success at the JLPGA Tour Major, Kuwaki was presented with 120kg of Okayama-produced rice and 2kg of Okayama Wagyu beef by JA Group Okayama.

10. In January 2025, she was selected as a designated training player by the Japanese Olympic team alongside the likes of Miyu Yamashita, Yuka Saso and the Iwai sisters.

11. Kuwaki has played in four of the five Majors and enjoyed her best finish in all of them in the same year - 2026. US Women's Open (T14th), KPMG Women's PGA Championship (T24th), Evian Championship (T41st), and AIG Women's Open (Made Cut).

12. According to Kuwaki's JLPGA profile, her blood type is A.

13. In May 2026, Kuwaki recorded an albatross at the Bridgestone Ladies Open on her way to finishing fourth.

14. Prior to the AIG Women's Open, she had earned almost $2.6 million on the JLPGA Tour in her career.

15. Kuwaki is yet to make a hole-in-one as a professional.

16. Her lowest round as a professional is an eight-under 64. Kuwaki has done that three times - most recently at the 2026 Ai Miyazato Suntory Ladies Open, which she won.

SHIHO KUWAKI BIO

I’m absolutely certain that a large percentage of the men I play golf with are using golf clubs that are too heavy for them. I see the same bad shots, the powerless push fade that boomerangs to the right, the destructive pull straight left. Ball flights that don’t seem to get enough height or flight.

Golfer after golfer that’s fighting against a heavy steel shaft that just doesn’t square up through the hitting area with any real power. It’s those macho male egos getting in the way. The ‘I’m strong enough to hit them’ attitude. What a total nonsense this is!

These golfers are destroying their chances of playing well, or at least consistently well. They are using clubs that are effectively scorecard wreckers. Equipment that they bought because it was stamped with Regular, Stiff, or even worse, Extra Stiff on the shaft.

Some will have bought steel-shafted clubs decades ago when it suited them at the time, some still using them knowingly in denial of any loss of ability, others acquired clubs as second-hand purchases off a mate but never really thought about the suitability to their own, unique swing.

The most common scenario I see are the retired golfers in their sixties or seventies who have been playing with the same equipment for a decade or more. With the greatest respect, your strength and athleticism just isn’t what it used to be with each decade that you age. There’s a natural biological depreciation as you get older.

My dad will probably hate me for saying this, but he’s one of the culprits. He’s eighty next year and still playing with a set of irons more suited to an 18-year-old that he bought well over a decade ago. ‘What’s the point of upgrading at my age, he’ll say ?’ He only plays recreational golf now, rarely enters competitions, and just likes to have a knock with a few regular friends and family.

The point is, he just can’t hit them properly any more. He’s fighting a set of shafts that are way too heavy and stiff. He would be far more suited to lightweight graphite clubs nowadays. If he made the switch I have absolutely no doubt that his shot dispersion would tighten, he’d find more fairways, boost his power and get more enjoyment from the game. Yet he stubbornly refuses to change from using clubs whose place really ought to be in the garage or the garden shed and he’s not alone, I see it all the time.

To be honest, in his mind there’s probably a stigma attached to using graphite-shafted clubs, as when they were first introduced they were highly marketed to women. It was around that time that mum and I both took up the game. The big sell of graphite shafted clubs was how lightweight they were compared to steel, which was a saviour for the stereotypical woman’s slower swing speed.

Of course that’s now all changed and graphite usage is widespread across the board in men’s and women’s clubs because of the advancements in nano-technology within the shaft, nevertheless I’m certain that dad (and many others from his era) still recalls graphite's first widespread introduction predominantly into women’s clubs and undoubtedly feels the association is still there.

In fact, this shift isn't just happening at club level, it has reached the very top of the professional game. PGA Tour stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar, Jason Day, and Rickie Fowler have graphite shafts in their irons.

Golf Monthly’s equipment writer, Joe Ferguson, sums up the transition well: “I personally believe steel shafts will be a relic of the past before too long, much like hickory before it. Composite technology has come so far that manufacturers can now replicate the stability and weight of steel while offering far precise profiles. That's before you even touch on the feel and shock-absorption benefits.”

Yet even golfers who embrace new gear often fall into another trap. The golfer who is obsessed with how their equipment can help them play better, even by the smallest margin. The gear nerds like my friend Guy who is a great single-figure golfer and changes his equipment all the time, because the latest driver or putter might just give him the edge. Yet he never goes and gets properly custom-fitted for the right shaft. He buys based on what he reads and what’s recommended on forums and online articles - he goes on trend and assumption.

When it comes to the shaft of the golf club there’s simply no real way of knowing what you should be using unless you get an expert involved. A custom-fit is a must. Anything less and you’re guessing. There’s simply no substitute for this essential advice.

Custom-fitting doesn’t have to cost you the earth, in fact most of the major manufacturers offer the service complimentary (or at low cost) because they know that when the golfers who come through their doors see the remarkable improvement in their shot results, they will want to make a purchase.

There are literally hundreds of specialist shafts on the market, from low budget options right through to premium offerings costing as much as £500 per shaft. They come in a variety of weights, with differing kick points, tip profiles and flexes, along with a rainbow of colours. In many ways, being a custom-fitter is like having a degree in ‘shaft science’ linked to swing mechanics. These fitters really are experts.

So come on guys, isn’t it about time you ditched the ego and adopted the modern approach to helping you play better golf? Don’t be ashamed of making the shaft switch. Ditch those heavy steel shafts and be proud to carry a new set of lightweight clubs, with properly fitted shafts. I promise you’ll hit them so effortlessly that your playing partners will wonder whether you’ve been working out at the gym!

Charley Hull is never one to back down on the golf course, and she's not doing it off the course either as she told critics of her caddie prank to "lighten up" at the AIG Women's Open.

Hull revealed before the Women's Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes that she pranked caddie Adam Woodward with a fake scratchcard - making him believe he'd won £100,000 ($135,000) and filming the entire thing.

The 30-year-old has come in for some criticism for the prank, with plenty of talk on social media and with Dame Laura Davies calling it "extremely cruel" on the TV broadcast.

Hull, though, refused to apologise for her prank, and in typical Hull style said: "If people don't like it they can lump it."

Hull, who shot 70 in her opening round at Royal Lytham as she chases her maiden Major title, says she hasn't seen any online comments.

"I don't have any social media on my phone," she said, while adding that she would "100 percent" do it again.

"He thought it was funny after," she said of Woodward's reaction. "He's not uptight. Like it's a joke. If people don't like it they can lump it, do you know what I mean?

"And people that have complaints about it, I would say loosen up.

"I felt bad for Adsy, but at the end of the day I've just got to have a good week, and at the end of the week I'll buy him 100 scratchcards.

"Hopefully he can earn more money than that as well this week if we play well."

Hull says that she distances herself from social media during tournaments, so hasn't heard any outside noise while she concentrates on the job at hand.

That's a sound tactic these days with social media as it is, and with far more pressing matters such as searching for that elusive Major breakthrough.

This week, though, it has the added bonus of not being aware of all the negative reaction to her pranking of her caddie - although she believes she's done nothing wrong.

"I don't really have my social media on my phone on tournament weeks," Hull added. "So I delete it and when I go home I'll add it again. I don't really like people seeing me and tagging me and stuff. I like to keep in the present moment.

"But, yeah, I think people need to lighten up if they're taking that too seriously because it was pretty funny."

Hull's response is no surprise, she's one of the biggest characters in the women's game and has always done things her own way - so some negative comments over a prank were hardly going to ruffle her feathers.

But what do you think? Was Hull's prank too much or just a joke? Let us know by joining the conversation below...

The 20th edition of the Solheim Cup is just around the corner, with the biennial battle between the best golfers in the women’s game from Europe and the US taking place in September at Bernardus Golf in the Netherlands.

For the Europeans, the opportunity to qualify automatically for the 12-player team has now come down to the final women’s Major of the year, the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

In total, eight automatic spots are up for grabs, with two via the Solheim Cup points list and the remaining six through the world rankings.

After that, anyone who misses out will be hoping to earn one of captain Anna Nordqvist's four wildcard picks, which she will reveal on Monday August 3rd.

For the Americans, there is more breathing space, with players fighting for positions until the end of the CPKC Women’s Open on August 23rd.

Once the tournament finishes, the top seven in the Solheim Cup standings will be guaranteed their places, with the next two in the world rankings not already qualified also securing their spots.

The final three places will be decided by captain Angela Stanford.

So, which big names are still facing uncertainty over their participation in the 2026 Solheim Cup?

Potential Team Europe Omissions

Leona Maguire

Leona Maguire can perhaps feel more confident than most in securing a place, although she may yet face an anxious wait for confirmation that she has done enough.

The Irishwoman was inside the world's top 40 for her third Solheim Cup appearance two years ago, but some patchy form since then means she's now 79th, with Swedish player Linn Grant in the final qualifying position via that route, in 50th.

To leapfrog Grant and qualify via either automatic route, Maguire, who is yet to win a Major and was nine off the lead after the opening round of the AIG Women's Open, would need a strong finish at the tournament.

Maguire is currently 12th on the Solheim Cup points list, 57.53 points behind second-placed Chiara Tamburlini.

To overtake the Swiss player, she would need at least a runner-up finish at Royal Lytham & St Annes, although the exact requirement would depend on the performances of others.

It would be a surprise to see Maguire miss out on a captain's pick given her Solheim Cup experience, but this time around, it looks likely she'll need one from Nordqvist.

Georgia Hall

Englishwoman Georgia Hall is a Solheim Cup regular, but she’s relying on a captain’s pick to make it six consecutive appearances in 2026.

That’s because she is making her first start of the year at the AIG Women’s Open after giving birth in February.

With too much ground to make up to make the team via each of the qualifying routes, she is relying on Nordqvist's decision.

However, she will surely have a chance considering her vast experience and overall Solheim Cup record of 10–9–2.

Emily Kristine Pedersen

Another European who has run out of opportunities to qualify automatically is Emily Kristine Pedersen.

The Dane is not playing in the AIG Women’s Open, meaning her hopes also rest with Nordqvist.

That’s not an unusual situation for Pedersen, who didn’t qualify automatically in 2023 or 2024 either, but can she be confident of being a captain's pick for the third consecutive match?

She has collected wins in each of her last three Solheim Cup appearances, which will work in her favor, but she has only played five times in 2026, and she missed the cut on four of those occasions.

Nanna Koerstz Madsen

At least for LPGA Tour winner Madsen, there was a chance of automatic qualification ahead of the AIG Women’s Open.

However, an opening round of four over suggested she would struggle to do enough to make it via either her world ranking or the Solheim Cup points list.

In the plus column for a captain’s pick is the Dane's world ranking, which, at 63rd, makes her the highest-ranked European not in an automatic qualifying place.

She also has Solheim Cup experience, having played in 2021, where she had a 1-1-1 record.

Potential Team USA Omissions

Lexi Thompson

It was inevitable that Thompson would eventually begin falling down the world rankings once she scaled back her professional commitments.

Because of that, she will likely need a captain’s pick to compete in her eighth consecutive Solheim Cup.

Even with just four appearances in 2026 so far, that will surely be a temptation for Stanford, with Thompson having amassed 13.5 Solheim Cup points.

Lilia Vu

After winning two Majors in 2023, Lilia Vu stormed to the top of the world rankings, making her an automatic qualifier for the Solheim Cup that year and again in 2024.

However, by the time she made her second appearance at the match, her career had already suffered a setback with a lay-off due to a back injury.

Despite maintaining her position in the world’s top 10 until halfway through 2025, she has since struggled to find anything close to her best form, meaning she is now 171st in the world rankings.

With an automatic qualifying berth nowhere in sight and still in a run of poor form, she is surely in danger of being overlooked for a captain’s pick.

Megan Khang

Unlike Vu, Khang still has a realistic chance of forcing her way into the automatic qualifying picture, sitting 11th in the Solheim Cup standings.

However, several US players stand between her and her other route to automatic qualification, her world ranking, meaning it’s a big few weeks for Khang, who has played in the Solheim Cup four times.

With a 7-3-3 overall record, it seems likely she would be one of Stanford’s captain’s picks, but she’ll be keen not to leave anything to chance in the coming weeks.

Rose Zhang

After making a flying start to her professional career, Rose Zhang made her first two Solheim Cup appearances in 2023 and 2024, emerging with an impressive 4-2-1 overall record.

Life on the LPGA Tour has not been as easy for her in recent months, though, with a world ranking currently outside the top 70 and 14th in the Solheim Cup standings.

She has time to pull things round with some good performances between now and the CPKC Women’s Open, but with two T9s the best to show for her efforts in 2026 so far, she might be left hoping for a captain’s pick.

Alison Lee

Alison Lee, who made Solheim Cup appearances in 2015 and 2024, is still in the running for an automatic qualifying place.

However, she’ll need to either climb 10 places in the Solheim Cup standings or boost her current world ranking of 61st.

As things stand, Lee seems set to battle it out with Lindy Duncan and Jenny Bae for a qualifying spot via her world ranking.

Recent form, including T5 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, suggests she has reason to be confident.

There are several ways to measure a golfer's standing in the game, including the highest world ranking and the number of events won.

However, achievements don’t come much bigger than winning a Major, and in the women’s game, the biggest stars have five opportunities to do that each year.

Since 2013, the Chevron Championship, US Women’s Open, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Amundi Evian Championship and AIG Women’s Open are the big five events of women’s golf.

There have been high-profile winners since the five-Major era began with the elevation of the Amundi Evian Championship. For some world-class talent, though, a Major title remains elusive.

Some are now approaching the twilight of their careers, but for others, many more opportunities remain to claim one or more of the coveted titles.

Here are 15 of the biggest names yet to win a women’s Major.

Jeeno Thitikul

Still aged just 23, the Thai star has already achieved more in the game than most players ever will.

That includes two CME Group Tour Championship titles and spells at the top of the world rankings.

Despite several close calls, though, she is yet to win a Major.

Ahead of the 2026 AIG Women's Open, the closest she had come was runner-up at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship.

With top-10s in all five women's Majors, it is surely a matter of time until Thitikul wins one, but until that day comes, it will remain an obvious omission from an otherwise glittering list of achievements.

Charley Hull

There are few players with more ability than Charley Hull, but does she win often enough given her huge talent?

Some would argue that the nine wins Hull has in her 13-year professional career are a few short of the number she should have at this stage.

However, it's not for the want of trying, particularly in Majors, where she has five runner-up finishes without a title.

The latest of those came at the 2026 US Women's Open, where Nelly Korda beat her by one.

That suggested she still has plenty of appetite to keep pushing, and if she does eventually win a Major, she will certainly have earned it.

Nasa Hataoka

Like Hull, Nasa Hataoka has come agonizingly close to winning a Major without managing it, including two runner-up finishes.

The most recent of those came in the 2021 US Women's Open, when she lost in a playoff to Yuka Saso.

A T6 at the 2026 US Women's Open aside, Hataoka's Major form hasn't been as strong in recent years, although at the age of 27, she should still have plenty of opportunities to add one of the big titles to her list of achievements.

Rose Zhang

After a record-setting amateur career, Rose Zhang arrived on the professional scene with some suggestions that she could be the women's game's equivalent of Tiger Woods.

A win in her first professional start, at the 2023 Mizuho Americas Open, only raised expectations, and she followed that up with a second LPGA Tour title at the 2024 Cognizant Founders Cup.

Her form has dipped more recently, but Zhang remains one of the most talented young players in women's golf, with plenty of years in the game to realize her huge potential with a Major title.

Angel Yin

It's not often that a Major season goes by without Angel Yin featuring in the top 10 at least once, but despite some remarkable consistency at the events, she hasn't won a title.

The two-time LPGA Tour winner couldn't have got much closer on two occasions, when she was runner-up.

The first time was at the 2019 US Women's Open, when she finished two back of Jeongeun Lee6.

Four years later, she got even closer, taking Lilia Vu to a playoff at the Chevron Championship, missing out after finding the water on the first extra hole as Vu made a birdie.

Carlota Ciganda

Carlota Ciganda is in the latter stages of her career, but the search for a maiden Major title continues.

The Spaniard, who turned professional in 2011, has come close on numerous occasions, recording top-10 finishes in all five Majors and placing third four times.

However, she is now 36, with the clock ticking on her chances of capping a memorable career with one of the biggest titles in the game.

Gaby Lopez

The Mexican is a three-time LPGA Tour winner, but she is yet to get over the line in a Major.

Lopez has four top-10 finishes in the tournaments, including T2 at this year's US Women's Open.

On that occasion, she was left stranded with Hull as Nelly Korda claimed her fourth Major title, but she will surely have found encouragement from running her so close at Riviera Country Club.

Lauren Coughlin

Another three-time LPGA Tour winner still awaiting a Major title is Lauren Coughlin.

The American has rarely brought her best form to the big events, although she still has two top-five finishes in Majors, both of which came in 2024.

The highest of those was T3 at the Chevron Championship, where she led after the first round before missing out to Nelly Korda by three.

A placing of fourth followed at the Amundi Evian Championship later in the year, but she has not really got close since.

Linn Grant

Linn Grant turned professional around the same time as another talented Swede, her friend Maja Stark, in 2021.

However, while Stark claimed her maiden Major title in the 2025 US Women's Open, Grant is still searching for her first success in one of the big events.

She has top 10s in all of them except the Chevron Championship, but three missed cuts and a T61 at the Amundi Evian Championship in 2026 suggested she needed to get back on track.

Grant's best form at Majors could return at any time, and at 27, she will surely have ample opportunities to prove her credentials.

Leona Maguire

Former World No.1 amateur Leona Maguire has built an excellent professional career, including LPGA Tour wins and starring in the Solheim Cup, but she has yet to crack the code in the Majors.

Maguire's best finish came in 2022 with T4 at the AIG Women's Open, but that's one of just four top-10s in the big events.

The most recent came in 2025, when she placed T7 at the Amundi Evian Championship, but before the AIG Women's Open, her 2026 Major season had been disappointing.

She'll be hoping to bounce back sooner rather than later, beginning at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Hye Jin Choi

Choi has 12 LPGA of Korea Tour wins, and she has demonstrated that form in the Majors, too, with seven top-10s, three of which came in 2025.

Ahead of the 2026 AIG Women's Open, the South Korean's Major season wasn't quite as productive.

Still, considering her record, she'll surely feel she can find her best form sooner rather than later as she continues striving for her maiden Major title.

Megan Khang

Another player with top-10 finishes in all five Majors is Megan Khang.

The closest the American has come to getting over the line is T3 at the 2023 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, but it is far from the only time she has been firmly in contention, only to come up short.

Overall, Khang has 11 top-10 finishes in a Major without lifting a trophy.

Khang also had to wait before winning her maiden LPGA Tour title, with victory finally coming in 2023 after 33 top 10s.

That will give her hope that, where it comes to a Major title, patience could be a virtue.

Lottie Woad

Of all the players on this list, Lottie Woad is the least experienced, with the 22-year-old only turning pro in 2025.

She soon made her mark, though, winning the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open in her first professional start.

By that point, she had already made an impression at Majors, winning low amateur honors with a T10 at the 2024 AIG Women's Open and T3 at the 2025 Amundi Evian Championship.

With four top-10 Major finishes in a little more than two years, it appears only a matter of time before she wins her maiden Major title.

Akie Awai

Akie Awai is a six-time winner on the LPGA of Japan Tour, while she also has an LPGA Tour title to her name. To add to her growing reputation, she has a solid record in Majors, too.

The Japanese star only made her Major debut in 2023, but she has placed in the top-10 three times, including third at the 2026 Amundi Evian Championship.

At the age of just 24, there is no hurry for Awai to win a Major, although the early signs indicate she will get there at some stage.

Chizzy Iwai

Like her twin sister Akie, Chizzy Iwai has multiple LPGA of Japan Tour titles and an LPGA Tour victory under her belt.

She hasn't made as big an impact as Akie in the events so far, but the 24-year-old has shown glimpses, including T4 at the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.

While we await either Iwai sister to get over the line at a Major, it seems likely that at least one of them will achieve the feat as their careers progress.

There was a huge subplot to the AIG Women's Open for European players as it offered the final chance to secure Solheim Cup places.

European captain Anna Nordqvist now knows her final eight automatic qualifiers after the conclusion of the final women's Major of the season at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The AIG Women's Open also offered the final chance for those not bagging spots to impress Solheim Cup stalwart Nordqvist enough to grab one of her four captain's picks.

And those picks will be announced on Monday, the day after the final round of the AIG Women's Open, while there's still some time to run for Team USA with Angela Stanford not naming her side until August 24 following the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada.

The 2026 Solheim Cup will take place the weel of September 7-13 at Bernardus Golf Club in the Netherlands and with double points on offer at the AIG Women's Open there was plenty to play for in Lytham.

The top two on the European Solheim Cup points list automatically qualify, with six spots filled by the top six European players on the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings.

Nordqvist will then complete her team with four captain's picks, but despite plenty of support she's decided against picking herself and being a rare playing captain.

The 39-year-old Nordqvist has played in the last nine Solheim Cups and with a 17-15-3 record only five players have won more matches in the event - and with a T7 finish at the Evian Championship, T28 at the Women's Scottish Open and T29 at the AIG Women's Open, the form is there, but she's already ruled herself out of consideration.

So who will be playing for Europe? Here's who has guaranteed their place following the AIG Women's Open...

Who has qualified automatically for the Solheim Cup?

Charley Hull finished top of the Solheim Cup points list on over 264 points, almost double the player who bagged the crucial second spot.

"I can't believe I've qualified for my eighth Solheim Cup," said Hull. "I'm very proud to represent Team Europe again in front of the home fans in the Netherlands."

Esther Henseleit was next on the points list, meaning one of the big consolations of her playoff defeat to Shiho Kuwaki at the AIG Women's Open is the luxury of knowing her Solheim Cup place is secure, without needing to rely on a captain's pick.

Before the final Major of the year, Swiss player Chiara Tamburlini held second place, but she misses out by less than a point.

To rub salt into her wounds, Tamburlini, who missed the cut at Royal Lytham & St Annes, would have clinched an automatic place had Henseleit finished worse than solo second. As a result, her hopes now rest with Nordqvist's captain's picks.

That leaves the six other automatic qualifiers, each of whom gets their via their world ranking.

Lottie Woad is the highest-ranked European, and the Englishwoman has secured her maiden Solheim Cup appearance.

The Swedish pair of Maja Stark and Linn Grant have also qualified automatically, giving each their third Solheim Cup appearance.

French star Celine Boutier has also qualified, meaning she will make her fifth appearance at the Solheim Cup.

There's also the vastly experienced Carlota Ciganda, with the Spaniard playing in the match for the eighth time, with Danish player Nanna Koertz Madsen set for her second Solheim Cup appearance after her maiden appearance came in 2021.

While Tamburlini missed out due to Henseleit's runner-up finish in the AIG Women's Open, it opened the door for Madsen, who walks through it owing to Henseleit no longer qualifying via her world ranking.

Who could get a Solheim Cup captain's pick?

Nordqvist will have the usual quandary over her four captain's picks come Monday, but Leona Maguire must be close, with a world ranking not too far beneath Madsen.

She also has Solheim Cup pedigree having gone unbeaten in 2021, 3-2-0 in 2023, although only playing two matches in 2024.

She's a fiesty competitor though and dogged matchplayer so she has to be near the top of the list for Nordqvist.

Considering how unlucky she was to miss out on automatic qualification, Tamburlini is sure to at least be in consideration as a possible rookie, and what about former World No.1 amateur Julia Lopez Ramirez for a wildcard selection?

The big-hitting Spaniard topped the LPGA Tour driving distance stats as a rookie in 2025 by averaging 285.42 yards off the tee, and is second this year, while she came through Q-School to get a full LET card to become eligible for Solheim Cup selection.

Among those with Solheim Cup pedigree, Emily Kristine Pedersen has four appearances for Europe under her belt but failed to qualify for the AIG Women's Open.

Meanwhile, Georgia Hall has been on the last five teams in the tournament and must be another name near the top of the list, despite missing the AIG Women's Open cut in her first appearance since giving birth in February.

Perhaps one clue as to Nordqvist's thinking came in an interview with Sky Sports following her final round at the AIG Women's Open.

She said: "Overall, with the picks, if you played well this year, you're probably going to get a pick. But the only way to really control it was by playing yourself in."

Yealimi Noh achieved a career breakthrough in 2025, when she beat Jin Young Ko to win the Founders Cup for her maiden LPGA Tour title.

Almost 18 months later, Noh opened the 2026 AIG Women's Open with a four-under 67 to head back to the clubhouse near the top of the leaderboard in her bid to add a Major title to her resume.

In recent years, the American has worked with caddie Tyler Ekenberg, but who is he, and how did he embark on his career?

Ekenberg hails from Minnesota, where he took up the game as a youngster.

Later, he attended the University of North Alabama, where he played on its golf team. After leaving the amateur game behind, he spent a season on the Asian Development Tour in 2015, where he achieved a best finish of eighth.

Around that time, though, Ekenberg's career took a different direction when he crossed paths with Alison Lee at the 2015 CME Group Tour Championship.

That meeting led to Ekenberg becoming Lee’s full-time caddie. However, by 2024, she had linked up with Taylor “Shota” Takada, with Ekenberg going on to work alongside Noh.

Success for the pair soon followed, not least with Noh’s Founders Cup victory, finishing four shots clear of Ko.

While another LPGA Tour victory eluded Noh between the Founders Cup and the 2026 AIG Women's Open, she recorded several top-10 finishes with Ekenberg on the bag before her opening round at Royal Lytham & St Annes put her in the early running for the biggest title of her career.

Haeran Ryu has made a big impression in her time on the LPGA Tour, which began in 2023 after she won the LPGA Tour Q Series.

That breakthrough came after a successful spell on the LPGA of Korea, which included five wins.

Ahead of the 2026 AIG Women’s Open, Ryu already had the same number of victories on the LPGA Tour, including two Major titles in the months leading up to the Royal Lytham & St Annes tournament.

The first came at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she beat fellow South Korean Ina Yoon by two at Hazeltine, before she saw off Brooke Henderson in a playoff to win the Amundi Evian Championship just two weeks later.

Ryu’s hot streak continued in the first round of the AIG Women’s Open, where she was jostling for top spot on the leaderboard in her bid for her third Major title in a little over two months.

Throughout her LPGA Tour career, the caddie who has helped her achieve those successes has been Martin Bozek.

He certainly brings plenty of experience to the role, having started life on the LPGA Tour in 2012, with one notable stint as the long-term caddie of Eun Hee Ji.

Bozek’s partnership with the 2009 US Women's Open champion led to him being named the HSBC Caddy of the Year in 2019, a title confirmed at that year's HSBC Women’s World Championship.

When he was presented with his bib commemorating the achievement, Ji praised her caddie, saying: “He’s the best. He’s just the best at everything.”

Bozek, who has also caddied for players including Danielle Kang and Dawie van der Walt on the Korn Ferry Tour, seems to have made a similar impression on Ryu.

An example of the pair's close working relationship came with the LPGA Tour's Caddie Knows Best video series. It saw Bozek holding up pre-written answers to questions about Ryu. To her delight, he didn't put a foot wrong.

Considering the rapport between the pair, combined with Bozek's experience, it's little surprise that they have achieved success together, with the partnership showing every sign of continuing to flourish.

With Ryu again contending at a Major after her fast start at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the pair had another opportunity to cement what was already one of the most successful player-caddie partnerships on the LPGA Tour.

Nelly Korda has enjoyed a fine 2026 and, heading into the AIG Women's Open, she is once again the favorite to wrap-up a third Major of the season.

Being played at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the Major is the only one on the women's calendar to be held at a links course, which has forced Korda to introduce something to her bag for the first time at the championship.

Speaking in her press conference, the World No.1 revealed a change to her reliable equipment set-up.

Talking about strategy to tackle the Lancashire layout, Korda stated: "Yeah, not many drivers off the tee. Probably max four or five.

"I have put a 4-iron into play this week, which I don't think I've ever done in a British (Open) because I've just never really hit it that good.

"I have a little bit of a lower ball flight, so always worked with my hybrid. I really like this 4-iron. I tested it out at KPMG and I'm putting it into play this week."

Korda isn't known for changing her set-up often, with the four-time Major winner using a TaylorMade Qi4D driver, TaylorMade Stealth 2 fairway woods and a Ping G425 hybrid.

Usually, her iron configuration consists of a TaylorMade P770 5-iron, P7CBs from 6-iron to pitching wedge, as well as a mix of TaylorMade and Titleist wedges.

At the AIG Women's Open, though, it seems the Ping G425 hybrid has been taken out for the 4-iron, which we believe is the same TaylorMade P770 model as her 5-iron.

One aspect that is unlikely to have changed is the shaft in the irons, as Korda uses AeroTech SteelFiber i80 CW throughout her whole set-up.

Going into the final Major of 2026, Korda is favorite, but the American hasn't had it all her way in the women's big five championships, with Haeran Ryu matching the 28-year-old.

Korda may have won the Chevron Championship and US Women's Open, but Ryu matched her with victories at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship.

The duo will battle it out for the chance to finish the season with three Major crowns, but there are still plenty of big names looking to stop them.

Miyu Yamashita is the defending champion and in good form following her Meijer LPGA Classic win in June.

Charley Hull and Lottie Woad are flying the home flag at Royal Lytham & St Annes, while Jeeno Thitikul, Hyo Joo Kim, Ruoning Yin and Sei Young Kim are also among the betting favorites.

Lottie Woad has the potential to enjoy a hall-of-fame career in golf, according to England Golf performance director Nigel Edwards.

Aged 22, Woad has already claimed three professional titles as well as landing the Augusta National Women's Amateur and Girls Amateur Championship.

Currently ranked as World No.5 despite having only turned pro in July 2025, it's impossible to call the English star one for the future anymore. She's one of the best right now.

But how far can she go? A first Major still eludes her, yet there have been four top-10s in 12 starts prior to the AIG Women's Open. For many, it's only a matter of time.

Edwards is one of those people who thinks Woad will claim a Major one day. But not just one, the England Golf performance director believes she will land multiple.

Asked what Woad's ceiling is off the back of an incredibly successful start to life as a pro, Edwards said: "What is Lottie's ceiling? Who knows? Potentially World No.1, potentially Major champion.

"I think she'll play the Solheim Cup. I think she'll play multiple Solheim Cups. And I hope she goes on and wins not just one Major, but multiple Majors as well."

What gives him so much confidence in Woad? It isn't just evidence collected over the past 12 months or so.

Edwards has been a part of Woad's golfing journey over the past six or seven years and knows exactly the type of player she really is - especially at the sharp end of tournaments.

He continued: "I think when she gets in the moment and has the opportunity to win, she doesn't back off. She's not frightened of it. And that's a great skill to have.

"And that's why she's won those tournaments I mentioned earlier. Because she's got in there and she's delivered.

"You look at the way she finished the Augusta National Women's Amateur with all those birdies in the last few holes.

"The way she challenged for a Major last year at the Evian Championship. She's not frightened of it and I think she definitely has the skill to win Majors."

In Woad's pre-AIG Women's Open press conference earlier this week, the Florida State University alumna stated her sincere desire to win the year's final Major and highlighted its importance to her as a British golfer.

Woad also went on to talk about the high standing she holds England Golf in and how it helped set her up for the opportunity to potentially clinch a Major.

Speaking last month, Edwards outlined what kind of a student Woad was during her time in the set-up and gave an insight into why she's enjoyed the kind of ascent many golf fans are now witnessing.

Edwards said: "She probably came into the national program aged 15 or 16, and most people when they go into a national program they're quite reserved or quite shy because it's a new environment.

"I think what Lottie brought to the table was an inquisitive mind. If you gave her something to work on, she would always ask you why and how am I going to do it and why am I spending all this time doing this?

"She wanted to know the reasons why she would be doing something and what would the outcome be.

"And you knew she would go away, try it, and she'd come back and say, "That didn't work. What else can we try?" Or, "It did work, right? How do we push on?" So, I think she was great in that regard.

"What really stood out was the fact that she wasn't frightened to try something new to try and get better.

"But also she wasn't frightened to come back and say that didn't work. Therefore, for a coach she would have been very challenging, but in the right way.

"She really bought into the England golf program, and to this day she still uses a lot of the coaches that were involved in the program as well as her home coach.

"Hence you're seeing somebody who is doing great on the LPGA Tour, who has won as an amateur in the pro game and then, first week as a pro, wins on the LPGA Tour in Scotland."

LOTTIE WOAD NOTABLE WINS

• 2021 Welsh Women's Open Stroke Play Championship
• 2022 Girls Amateur Championship
• 2024 Augusta National Women's Amateur
• 2025 KPMG Women's Irish Open (won as an amateur)
• 2025 ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open
• 2026 Kroger Queen City Championship

Those who listen to the Kick Point podcast will know that Annika Sorenstam is probably my favorite golfer of all time. My love affair with the game - and my ultimate desire to become a golf professional myself - truly started back in the mid-to-late 1990s.

I still vividly remember the trips to Woburn with my mum to watch the Weetabix Women’s British Open, as it was known back then. Watching Sorenstam plot her way around those tree-lined fairways with robotic precision was utterly mesmerizing. But nothing quite compared to her post-round range sessions, where every single ball flight looked like I was watching the exact same video on a continuous loop!

With the AIG Women’s Open taking place this week, I couldn't help but want to urge just a few more men to settle down and watch the world's best female players navigate the beautiful and brutal layout of Royal Lytham & St Annes.

A Missed Opportunity for the Average Golfer

Sadly, the viewing figures tell us that the vast majority of male golf fans only tune in to watch men’s professional golf, completely bypassing the women’s game. It is a genuine shame, because if you are looking to learn and improve your own game while being thoroughly entertained, chances are, the women’s tour is far more closely aligned with how you actually play golf.

Look at the statistics:

Average UK Male Amateur Driver Swing Speed: 90–95 mph

Average LPGA Tour Driver Swing Speed: 94–96 mph

Average PGA Tour Driver Swing Speed: ~117 mph

The reality is simple: if you are trying to emulate the high-flying, bomb-and-gouge shots you see on the PGA Tour, you simply don't have the physical capabilities to pull them off, and you will quickly get yourself into trouble. Watching LPGA players shows you how to score efficiently at speeds you can actually relate to.

The Strategic Game You’ve Been Asking For

In recent years, golf fans and commentators have been loudly crying out for an equipment or ball rollback. People constantly complain that modern courses are rendered obsolete by raw power and that they want to see players forced to use more clubs in their bag than just a driver and a wedge on every hole.

What many don't realize is that that style of golf is already happening every single week on the women's tour.

Watching female professionals navigate a championship course is a masterclass in course management, tempo, and tactical plotting. You get to watch full-bag artistry on display, where strategic positioning, mid-iron accuracy, and fairway wood play matter just as much as distance.

Realistic Equipment Blueprint

This logic extends directly to the equipment in your bag. Far too many club golfers spend hours lusting after the ‘TX Flex’ shafts and ultra-low-spinning driver heads found in PGA Tour bags.

In reality, looking at the equipment specs that women professionals use will be far more beneficial for your scorecard. They maximize launch efficiency, optimize spin rates, and often lean into high-lofted woods, hybrids, and forgiving irons that actually make the game easier - and more fun - to play.

Settle In This Weekend

As the action gets underway at Royal Lytham & St Annes this week, do yourself and your game a favor. Pour yourself a drink, sit back, and appreciate the finest ball-strikers on the planet. You might just learn something that transforms your next weekend round.

This Week In Golf: Our regular look at the biggest stories in professional golf, tournament previews and other key details you need to know about the days ahead.

With a busy run of events in the rear-view mirror, there are only two high-profile tournaments on the agenda this weekend.

One is the final Major of the season and the other is potentially the final-ever version of a typically low-scoring PGA Tour event.

Outside of that, plenty of other interesting stories have taken place in the world of golf, and they continue to do so.

Below is a round-up of the biggest stories in golf you need to know this week.

LIV GOLF FINALE SET TO BE CANCELLED

According to a report by Flushing It on X, LIV Golf's Team Championship is set to be cancelled with an announcement due on Wednesday.

If confirmed by LIV, it would be the second LIV event to be cancelled in 2026 after LIV Golf Lousiana.

Martin Kaymer told Today's Golfer that LIV's team finale was in jeopardy earlier this month while the Detroit News has reported there was no infrastructure in place at The Cardinal - less than a month before the event was due to occur.

LIV's backers, the Saudi PIF, were due to fund the breakaway circuit through 2026 but it appears increasingly unlikely the finances will stretch that far.

CHARLEY HULL PRANKS CADDIE

Charley Hull is searching for her first Major victory at this week's AIG Women's Open, but the Englishwoman is apparently perfectly relaxed heading into the championship.

She evidenced this by playing a pretty cruel prank on her caddie Adam Woodward earlier this week.

Read more: Charley Hull complains to LPGA commissioner - 'that hole shouldn't have been there'

Hull explained the situation in full during her pre-championship press conference on Tuesday, saying: "I went to a prank shop last night and I've got some scratch cards. So we are going into the players lounge this morning and I was like, oh, right, I got some scratch cards from the shop. He was like, oh, yeah. This one was like $100,000.

"We've got it all on record. He's like scratching it, scratching it, scratching it, and he's like, my gosh I've won. He's taken his hat off. He's taken his glasses off. He's literally running around the players lounge saying, I've won $100,000. I'm taking today off.

"His face looks so happy. He was sweating. He was trembling. He couldn't believe his luck, and we had to tell him it was fake and he nearly quit the job.

"I've got it on camera to be fair. I'll try and find it and send it to somebody. It's absolutely hilarious. This was his reaction when he thought he won 100,000 pounds. It was just hilarious. I think he's high fiving everybody. (Showing video.)

"Yeah, it's so funny. I can't believe I won 100 grand. Yeah, I felt bad. Now I have to have my back up because I don't know what he's going to do to me for payback."

SECOND PGA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES EVENT CONFIRMED

The second PGA Tour Championship Series event has been unveiled ahead of the new-look circuit's launch in 2028.

Following news that the Travelers Championship will be included in the big-money tournament list, the PGA Tour announced insurance company Sompo will take over title sponsorship of the Fortinet Championship in 2027 before running its own brand-new tournament in a different market to California from 2028.

The first Sompo Championship will occur in late July next year, with further details yet to be unveiled on the subsequent version. It has been confirmed Silverado Resort’s North Course in Napa, California will not be the new host, though.

AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

The AIG Women's Open will once again bring the curtain down on golf's Major season.

Royal Lytham & St Annes hosts the fifth women's Major in 2026, two years before it welcomes the men to England's north-west coast.

Nelly Korda is the betting favorite to win the AIG Women's Open, but she will face plenty of stiff competition from the majority of the world's best.

While the number of big names missing the year's final Major is hardly excessive, elite talent like Lexi Thompson and Madelene Sagstrom - who is expecting a baby very soon - will not be involved.

There will be a $10 million prize purse on the line this week, a number which has all but tripled since the last time Royal Lytham & St Annes hosted just eight years ago.

THE FINAL ROCKET CLASSIC?

This week's PGA Tour event is the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club - a typically low-scoring event just before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

With winning scores ranging between 18 and 26-under since 2019, the par-72 has been tweaked to become a par-70 layout for 2026, so the victorious total should be slightly closer to par.

But this week's $10 million tournament could be the last one ever as Rocket Companies is not sponsoring the event after this year and - as we touched on earlier - much change is coming the way of the PGA Tour.

So, for the possible last hurrah, a very strong field is set to contest the Rocket Classic including Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Chris Gotterup and Wyndham Clark.

PGA TOUR UNVEILS ANNOUNCER-FREE STREAM

This week's Rocket Classic will feature an announcer-free stream every day of the tournament, the PGA Tour has revealed.

Following fan feedback, the commentary-free stream will follow the marquee groups and focus more on player-caddie conversations, crowd reactions and natural course audio.

Per the PGA Tour: "Storytelling elements, enhanced graphics and real-time statistics will be delivered visually - rather than through announcers - to maintain focus on player-caddie interaction and perspective from the field of play."

"The stream will follow the day’s marquee group for the entirety of their round and will incorporate interactive elements through integrated social media and polling.

"Fans can take part in live polls, trivia and fun facts about host cities, courses and players, while player soundbites are woven into the coverage to provide added context and perspective."

LATEST TOUR ISSUE PODCAST EPISODE OUT NOW

In this week's episode, stand-in host Jonny is joined by Elliott as they discuss the latest incredible chapter in Jackson Koivun's young golf career.

We also discuss whether the 21-year-old PGA Tour winner should be included on Team USA's Presidents Cup roster before recounting a very busy weekend of golf just gone and look ahead to the AIG Women's Open as well as the final ever (?) Rocket Classic.

You can listen to the latest episode of Golf Monthly Tour Issue.

WHAT ELSE TO KNOW

• Jackson Koivun has moved up from 206th to 73rd in the OWGR following his breakthrough PGA Tour win at the 3M Open
• Padraig Harrington named as Team Europe vice-captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland
• It was revealed a golf better won over $4 million after backing Jackson Koivun to win the 3M Open
• Nelly Korda turned 28 on Tuesday while Jordan Spieth turned 33 on Monday
• Masters champions Patrick Reed and Danny Willett have been confirmed for the DP World Tour's Husqvarna British Masters at the end of August
• Ludvig Aberg has committed to the DP World Tour's Open de France in September, which is also set to include Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland
• Brooks Koepka and Jason Day withdrew from the Rocket Classic on Tuesday, putting their hopes of reaching the FedEx Cup Playoffs in doubt

A top-20 regular in Golf Monthly’s Top 100 Golf Courses UK&I Rankings, Royal Lytham & St Annes, part of ‘England’s Golf Coast’, is one of the country’s most prestigious venues.

Originally designed by the club’s first pro, George Lowe, the course has seen few changes since Harry Colt was employed to oversee some alterations in 1919.

There have, of course, been several subtle tweaks to the layout in the years since, but the routing has stood the test of time and remains one of the finest tests of golf in the British Isles.

Packed with history and home to a brilliant old clubhouse, golf fans are in for a treat this year, when the AIG Women’s Open visits the famous Fylde links for the sixth time.

Ahead of the final Major Championship of the season, and the 50th staging of the Women’s Open, here are a few interesting facts about one of the most challenging courses on the Open rota.

SIX AND COUNTING

This year marks the sixth time that Royal Lytham & St Annes will have hosted the Women’s British Open.

It was in 1998 that the best players in the world first competed for the title at Lytham - a year in which Sherri Steinhauer triumphed.

Five years later, the great Annika Sorenstam prevailed, completing the Career Grand Slam, before Steinhauer won her second Open on the famous links in 2006 (the American also victorious at Woburn in 1999).

In 2009, Scotland’s Catriona Matthew got her hands on the trophy, and then, after a nine-year break from visiting the venue, Georgia Hall of England took the title in 2018.

BOBBY’S FIRST

Was Bobby Jones the best golfer that ever lived? Quite possibly.

The three-time Champion Golfer, co-founder of the Masters, and the first player to achieve the game's single-year Grand Slam won the first of his three Claret Jugs at Royal Lytham on 25 June 1926.

The great American got the better of compatriot Al Watrous down the final stretch of holes, and his final-round 74 was good enough for a two-shot victory.

There’s a plaque on the 17th that commemorates the famous second shot of Jones in the final round.

A RYDER CUP VENUE

The Open, The Women’s Open, The Senior Open, the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup, the Amateur Championship… and the Ryder Cup. Royal Lytham has hosted them all.

On the two previous occasions the Ryder Cup came to Lytham, the United States prevailed.

Arnold Palmer made his debut in 1961 as the Americans ran out 14½-9½ winners over GB & Ireland, and the margin of victory was five points again in 1977.

HEAVILY BUNKERED

Rarely will someone leave Royal Lytham & St Annes without having visited several of its famous (maybe infamous) pot bunkers.

The official number of these traps, according to the club’s website, stands at 174 - and they pepper the fairways and surround the putting surfaces.

Bernard Darwin, a pioneering English golf writer, described Lytham as “a beast of a Course, but a just beast”.

SEVE’S PLACE

The late, great Spaniard won two of his three Open Championships at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

The first came in 1979, when he displayed his full range of short-game skills, including that chip and putt from a temporary car park, which earned him the nickname the ‘Car Park Champion’.

In 1988, because Saturday’s play was washed out, the Championship was decided in regulation play on a Monday for the first time in its history.

Seve was at his sparkling best, shooting 65 to claim his fifth and final Major.

AN OPENING PAR 3

It’s unusual for a golf course to start with a par 3, but that’s what the players face at Lytham, which requires anything from a mid iron to a wood.

Off the tips, it can play over 200 yards, so this is no gentle opener. There are several nasty bunkers to contend with, too, and the trees to the right of the tee make club selection difficult.

Tough enough for the pros, let alone your average club golfer.

A CLASSIC (HARD) FINISH

And then there’s the 18th, a classic finishing hole with two lines of bunkers across the fairway at an angle from the tee.

Standing on the tee, it’s one of the most daunting finishing holes on the Open rota, and guarantees tension and no shortage of drama right to the very end.

In 1969, Tony Jacklin held his nerve with a perfect drive down the middle, from where he nailed his approach to 15 feet and two-putted for par to win the Claret Jug.

HOME OF THE LYTHAM TROPHY

In the 1960s, with many of the leading amateur tournaments held in the south of England, the club’s members felt that the game would benefit from having an amateur strokeplay event in the North West.

The first Lytham Trophy was played at Royal Lytham in 1965, and it produced a tie between Clive Clark and M.F. Bonallack.

The tournament is held each year at the beginning of May, and because it’s the first major event in the amateur golf calendar, it attracts attention from all the national selectors.

In 2026, it was won by Lauri Rosendahl of Finland.

ROYAL NEIGHBORS

Royal Lytham is actually only 10 miles away from its illustrious royal neighbor, Royal Birkdale, which hosted the 2026 Open.

However, as anyone who has combined these two famous links courses in one golf trip (lucky you), they’re separated by a little over an hour’s drive.

Despite needing to take a 30-odd mile detour around the River Ribble estuary, they’re still considered royal neighbors - as is Royal Liverpool (Hoylake), which is approximately 50 miles away from Lytham.

Charley Hull says the pin "shouldn't have been there" at last week's Scottish Open where she was putting for birdie on the 5th hole and ended up with a quadruple-bogey nine.

The Englishwoman over-hit her putt and it ended up running off the green before she took four chip shots to get it back up onto the putting surface.

She holed a good putt to avoid making double figures - and later messaged LPGA Tour commissioner Craig Kessler to complain following the round.

"Listen, at the end of the day it's about position. I am not going to sit here and say, oh, yeah, it was me. Which is was me, but the pin shouldn't have been there," Hull said at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

"I texted the commissioner straight after the round. I was like, listen, at the end of the day I know everyone f***s up, but the pin was about a yard from a massive slope, and where it was on a downslope going towards a slope.

"I've had a 12-foot putt for birdie and walk off with a nine. Yeah, I had four chips up the slope, but I shouldn't have putted off the green. Just shows in fact that I'm human. Even the world so and so can make a nine.

"I thought it was a pretty good nine by the end of it. I holed a ten-foot putt, so, yeah, I think I even fist bumped."

Despite dropping four strokes in a single hole, the World No.7 went on to make cut and finished in a tie for 44th.

"I made a ten before on the golf course and still shot five-under par, and that was a few years ago. It was very, very windy and the golf course last week was playing quite tricky," Hull said on the tournament at Dundonald.

"But I was happy to make the cut. Actually I hit the ball pretty good tee to green that week. It was just the putt[er] was not behaving."

Hull is among the AIG Women's Open betting favorites this week to win her first Major title, and her week got off to a fun start after pranking her caddie, Adam Woodward.

"Went to a prank shop last night and I've got some scratch cards. So we are going into the players' lounge this morning and I was like, oh, right, I got some scratch cards from the shop. He was like, oh, yeah. This one was like $100,000," Hull told media.

"We've got it all on record. He's like scratching it, scratching it, scratching it, and he's like, 'my gosh I've won.' He's taken his hat off. He's taken his glasses off. He's literally running around the players lounge saying, 'I've won $100,000. I'm taking today off.' His face looks so happy. He was sweating. He was trembling. He couldn't believe his luck, and we had to tell him it was fake and he nearly quit the job.

"I've got it on camera to be fair. I'll try and find it and send it to somebody. It's absolutely hilarious. This was his reaction when he thought he won 100,000 pounds. It was just hilarious. I think he's high fiving everybody.

"Yeah, it's so funny. I can't believe I won 100 grand. Yeah, I felt bad. Now I have to have my back up because I don't know what he's going to do to me for payback."

Hull begins her AIG Women's Open quest at 1.26pm in round one alongside Major winners Hannah Green and Brooke Henderson.

After a jam-packed Major season, the AIG Women's Open concludes the year, with the world's best from the women's game making their way to Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Like The Open Championship, the first two rounds of tee times at the AIG Women's Open start at the crack of dawn and move into the middle of the afternoon, with 144 players present.

Miyu Yamashita looks to defend her title from 12 months ago, while Nelly Korda and Haeran Ryu are hoping to make it a clean sweep of Majors in 2026, with the pair claiming the first four between them.

For Korda, she secured the Chevron Championship and US Women's Open, while Ryu claimed the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship.

At the AIG Women's Open, both Korda and Ryu are paired alongside each other, with LPGA Tour Hall of Famer, Lydia Ko, the third and final player in the marquee group.

Getting underway at 8.42am on Thursday, the trio tee off at 1.26pm on Friday.

In fact, Ko, Korda and Ryu make-up a strong run of groupings, with Hyojoo Kim, Minjee Lee and Mao Saigo teeing off at 8.20am and 1.04pm on Thursday and Friday.

Behind them is home-hero Lottie Woad, Akie Iwai and Andrea Lee (8.31am and 1.15pm), before Korda's group gets underway with Hye Jin Choi, Grace Kim and Mimi Rhodes following.

Like any championship played on a links layout, the weather can play a pivotal part in the outcome and, along with the Thursday morning wave, there are notable groups in the afternoon.

Defending champion, Miyu Yamashita, tees off at 1.15pm for her first round, with the Japanese star alongside Jeeno Thitikul and Lauren Coughlin.

At 1.26pm, home-favorite Charley Hull gets her AIG Women's Open campaign underway, with the Englishwoman alongside Major winners Hannah Green and Brooke Henderson.

Following the first two rounds, a cut will be enforced with the top 65 players and ties making it through to the weekend at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Check out the full first and second round tee times below...

AIG Women's Open Tee Times: Round One

All times BST; For Eastern Time -5hrs

• 6.30am: Alice Hewson, Amanda Doherty, Chloe Williams
• 6.41am: Amelia Garvey, Leonie Harm, Smilla Tarning Soenderby
• 6.52am: Wei Ling Hsu , Aditi Ashok, Darcey Harry
• 7.03am: Anna Nordqvist, Cassie Porter, Sayaka Takahashi
• 7.14am: Minami Katsu, Yealimi Noh, Steph Kyriacou
• 7.25am: Carlota Ciganda, Karis Davidson, Maria Jose Marin (a) 
• 7.36am: Ina Yoon, Alison Lee, Yunseo Yang (a) 
• 7.47am: Jiyai Shin, Auston Kim, In Gee Chun 
• 7.58am: Linn Grant, Jinyoung Ko, Kiara Romero (a)
• 8.09am: Sei Young Kim, Rio Takeda, Yuna Araki
• 8.20am: Hyojoo Kim, Minjee Lee, Mao Saigo 
• 8.31am: Lottie Woad, Akie Iwai, Andrea Lee
• 8.42am: Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Haeran Ryu 
• 8.58am: Hye Jin Choi, Grace Kim, Mimi Rhodes
• 9.09am: Somi Lee, Esther Henseleit, Ayaka Furue
• 9.20am: Lindy Duncan, Amy Yang, Julia Lopez Ramirez
• 9.31am: Sophia Popov, Jenny Shin, Perrine Delacour
• 9.42am: Yan Liu, Shannon Tan, Yuka Saso
• 9.53am: Yani Tseng, Nastasia Nadaud, Alexandra Forsterling
• 10.04am: Arpichaya Yubol, Cara Gainer, Minji Kang
• 10.15am: I K Kim, Manon De Roey, Carolina Lopez-Chacarra 
• 10.26am: Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Anna Zanusso, Justice Bosio
• 10.37am: Sara Kouskova, Soo Bin Joo, Annabell Fuller
• 10.48am: Pia Babnik, Anna Foster, Bel Wardle
• 11.14am: Jing Yan, Agathe Laisne, Lauren Walsh
• 11.25am: Kelsey Bennett, Weiwei Zhang, Kajsa Arwefjall
• 11.36am: Erika Hara, Chiara Tamburlini, Melanie Green
• 11.47am: Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Kana Nagai, Esme Hamilton
• 11.58am: Shiho Kuwaki, Helen Briem, Lucy Li 
• 12.09pm: Anna Huang, Jenny Bae, Paula Martin Sampedro (a)
• 12.20pm: Lilia Vu, Shuri Sakuma, Rose Zhang
• 12.31pm: Ariya Jutanugarn, A Lim Kim, Casandra Alexander
• 12.42pm: Hinako Shibuno, Georgia Hall, Valentine Delon (a)
• 12.53pm: Gaby Lopez, Chisato Iwai, Celine Boutier
• 1.04pm: Ruoning Yin, Nasa Hataoka, Jennifer Kupcho
• 1.15pm: Miyu Yamashita, Jeeno Thitikul, Lauren Coughlin
• 1.26pm: Charley Hull, Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson
• 1.42pm: Maja Stark, Jinhee Im, Allisen Corpuz 
• 1.53pm: Min-sol Kim, Patty Tavatanakit, Megan Khang 
• 2.04pm: Pajaree Anannarukarn, Youmin Hwang, Leona Maguire
• 2.15pm: Ashleigh Buhai, Fuka Suga, Dewi Weber
• 2.26pm: Minsun7 Kim, Mi Hyang Lee, Nicole Broch Estrup
• 2.37pm: Chanettee Wannasaen, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Yu Liu 
• 2.48pm: Ryann O'Toole, Robyn Choi, Charlotte Naughton (a)
• 2.59pm: Nataliya Guseva, Noora Komulainen, Lauren Crump (a)
• 3.10pm: Carla Tejedo Mulet, Diksha Dagar, Yana Wilson
• 3.21pm: Daniela Darquea, Polly Mack, Gina Kim
• 3.32pm: Aunchisa Utama, Ana Pelaez Trivino, Vanessa Bouvet 

AIG Women's Open Tee Times: Round Two

• 6.30am: Jing Yan, Agathe Laisne, Lauren Walsh
• 6.41am: Kelsey Bennett, Weiwei Zhang, Kajsa Arwefjall
• 6.52am: Erika Hara, Chiara Tamburlini, Melanie Green
• 7.03am: Nanna Koerstz Madsen, Kana Nagai, Esme Hamilton
• 7.14am: Shiho Kuwaki, Helen Briem, Lucy Li 
• 7.25am: Anna Huang, Jenny Bae, Paula Martin Sampedro (a)
• 7.36am: Lilia Vu, Shuri Sakuma, Rose Zhang
• 7.47am: Ariya Jutanugarn, A Lim Kim, Casandra Alexander
• 7.58am: Hinako Shibuno, Georgia Hall, Valentine Delon (a)
• 8.09am: Gaby Lopez, Chisato Iwai, Celine Boutier
• 8.20am: Ruoning Yin, Nasa Hataoka, Jennifer Kupcho
• 8.31am: Miyu Yamashita, Jeeno Thitikul, Lauren Coughlin
• 8.42am: Charley Hull, Hannah Green, Brooke Henderson
• 8.58am: Maja Stark, Jinhee Im, Allisen Corpuz 
• 9.09am: Min-sol Kim, Patty Tavatanakit, Megan Khang 
• 9.20am: Pajaree Anannarukarn, Youmin Hwang, Leona Maguire
• 9.31am: Ashleigh Buhai, Fuka Suga, Dewi Weber
• 9.42am: Minsun7 Kim, Mi Hyang Lee, Nicole Broch Estrup
• 9.53am: Chanettee Wannasaen, Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Yu Liu 
• 10.04am: Ryann O'Toole, Robyn Choi, Charlotte Naughton (a)
• 10.15am: Nataliya Guseva, Noora Komulainen, Lauren Crump (a)
• 10.26am: Carla Tejedo Mulet, Diksha Dagar, Yana Wilson
• 10.37am: Daniela Darquea, Polly Mack, Gina Kim
• 10.48am: Aunchisa Utama, Ana Pelaez Trivino, Vanessa Bouvet 
• 11.14am: Alice Hewson, Amanda Doherty, Chloe Williams
• 11.25am: Amelia Garvey, Leonie Harm, Smilla Tarning Soenderby
• 11.36am: Wei Ling Hsu , Aditi Ashok, Darcey Harry
• 11.47am: Anna Nordqvist, Cassie Porter, Sayaka Takahashi
• 11.58am: Minami Katsu, Yealimi Noh, Steph Kyriacou
• 12.09pm: Carlota Ciganda, Karis Davidson, Maria Jose Marin (a) 
• 12.20pm: Ina Yoon, Alison Lee, Yunseo Yang (a) 
• 12.31pm: Jiyai Shin, Auston Kim, In Gee Chun 
• 12.42pm: Linn Grant, Jinyoung Ko, Kiara Romero (a)
• 12.53pm: Sei Young Kim, Rio Takeda, Yuna Araki
• 1.04pm: Hyojoo Kim, Minjee Lee, Mao Saigo 
• 1.15pm: Lottie Woad, Akie Iwai, Andrea Lee
• 1.26pm: Lydia Ko, Nelly Korda, Haeran Ryu 
• 1.42pm: Hye Jin Choi, Grace Kim, Mimi Rhodes
• 1.53pm: Somi Lee, Esther Henseleit, Ayaka Furue
• 2.04pm: Lindy Duncan, Amy Yang, Julia Lopez Ramirez
• 2.15pm: Sophia Popov, Jenny Shin, Perrine Delacour
• 2.26pm: Yan Liu, Shannon Tan, Yuka Saso
• 2.37pm: Yani Tseng, Nastasia Nadaud, Alexandra Forsterling
• 2.48pm: Arpichaya Yubol, Cara Gainer, Minji Kang
• 2.59pm: I K Kim, Manon De Roey, Carolina Lopez-Chacarra 
• 3.10pm: Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Anna Zanusso, Justice Bosio
• 3.21pm: Sara Kouskova, Soo Bin Joo, Annabell Fuller
• 3.32pm: Pia Babnik, Anna Foster, Bel Wardle

It's hard to believe that golf's Major season is almost at an end, with the AIG Women's Open playing as the conclusion to the year.

Taking place at Royal Lytham & St Annes, a star-studded field is heading to Lancashire, where some notable names have won around the historic links before.

Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros and Ernie Els are just some of the famous faces from the men's game to secure victory here, while Annika Sorenstam, Catriona Matthew and Georgia Hall also earned coveted wins.

Royal Lytham & St Annes last staged an AIG Women's Open in 2018, when Hall shot a five-under-par final round to earn a maiden Major by two strokes.

For 2026, Miyu Yamashita comes in as defending champion, having earned a two shot win over Charley Hull and Minami Katsu at Royal Porthcawl.

Looking to become the third player in AIG Women's Open history to defend the championship, Yamashita would join Sherri Steinhauer and Yani Tseng in becoming a back-to-back winner of the Major.

As expected, Nelly Korda and Haeran Ryu are the favorites, with both securing two Majors each throughout 2026.

Korda secured the Chevron Championship and the US Women's Open, while Ryu earned the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship.

Defending champion, Yamashita, is the third favorite at odds of +1200, while Jeeno Thitikul (+1400), Hyo Joo Kim (+1800) and Ruoning Yin (+1800) also rank among the favorites for the final Major of the year.

In terms of the home favorites, Charley Hull leads the contingency at +2500, while Lottie Woad is +3000.

Check out who the Golf Monthly team are backing below...

Pick One: Lottie Woad To Win @ BetMGM

The Englishwoman is enjoying a great season with one victory and five top 10s from 15 starts on the LPGA Tour.

Woad is already one of the best players yet to win a Major, despite only making her third AIG Women's Open start this week and second as a pro.

She was T10th and 8th in her first two, so her record is very impressive and I'm confident she can be in the hunt for the iconic trophy come Sunday afternoon.

Pick Two: Jiyai Shin To Win @ BetMGM

The Korean, with over 60 professional victories, is always a threat at the AIG Women's Open, having won the title twice back in 2008 and 2012.

Shin comes in good form this week, with a runner-up and five top 10s from 14 starts this year, largely in Japan, and her recent record here is fantastic with a 3rd in 2023 and a T2nd in 2024.

At 38, it may be a stretch to see her lift the title for a third time, but don't be surprised to see her inside the top 10 after 72 holes.

Pick One: A Lim Kim To Win @ BetMGM

Although Kim is yet to win, she is getting closer and closer to a victory, highlighted by numerous strong performances in 2026.

In her last four starts, she has three top 10s, including a runner-up result at last week's Women's Scottish Open.

Along with the recent form, the South Korean finished T4th at the AIG Women's Open last year and has claimed a Major before, showcasing she knows what it takes to compete.

Pick Two: Esther Henseleit To Win @ BetMGM

Like Kim, Henseleit enjoyed a great tournament at last week's Women's Scottish Open, producing a solo fourth result, her best finish of the year.

Although she missed the cut at the Amundi Evian Championship, a T15th at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship shows the German is still in form.

Finishing T37th in 2024 and T23rd in 2025, Henseleit is improving every year and, off the back of her great finish on a links course, I expect her to continue this week at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Pick One: Charley Hull To Win @ BetMGM

I was torn between Hull and Ruoning Yin but, while the Chinese pro is arguably a little more consistent, I believe Hull has a better chance of winning.

What Hull produced at the Scottish Open was far from her best, but she still managed to make the cut and I think she'll have learned a lot from the experience.

Finishing runner-up twice in the past three years at the AIG Women's Open, she is regularly inside the top 20, so links golf doesn't faze her. In a wide-open field, I'm hopeful she can finally take her opportunity and clinch a first Major.

Pick Two: Maja Stark To Win @ BetMGM

Stark has been consistently producing top 20 results all year and was T8th at the US Open, so there's enough confidence from my side to pick her.

While the Swede hasn't fared all that well at the AIG Women's Open previously, she's made three of four cuts.

Stark is also now a Major champion, so I'm hoping she can take this new-found confidence and produce a solid top 10 at Royal Lytham & St Annes

AIG Women's Open Betting Odds

• Nelly Korda (+800)
• Haeran Ryu (+1000)
• Miyu Yamashita (+1200)
• Jeeno Thitikul (+1400)
• Hyo Joo Kim (+1800)
• Ruoning Yin (+1800)
• Charley Hull (+2500)
• Sei Young Kim (+2800)
• Lydia Ko (+2800)
• Lottie Woad (+3000)
• Akie Iwai (+3000)
• A Lim Kim (+3300)
• Brooke Henderson (+4000)
• Ina Yoon (+4000)
• Gaby Lopez (+4000)
• Nasa Hataoka (+4500)
• Hye Jin Choi (+4500)

The final Major of 2026 is already upon us as the world's best female golfers take on the challenge of Royal Lytham and St Annes to contest the AIG Women's Open.

The iconic links course hosts for the first time since Georgia Hall won in 2018, and this week it's Miyu Yamashita defending the trophy after sealing her maiden Major title at Royal Porthcawl last year.

World No.1 Nelly Korda is tournament favorite after winning both the Chevron Championship and US Women's Open this season, with fellow 2026 two-time Major winner Hae Ran Ryu also tipped to contend.

Then there's a strong cast of challengers including home favorites Lottie Woad and Charley Hull along with Jeeno Thitikul, Hannah Green, Hyo Joo Kim and many others.

But what about the notable players not in the 2026 AIG Women's Open field? Here's a look at some of the big names who failed to qualify or are simply not teeing it up:

Lexi Thompson

Just a month after her incredible US Women's Open streak ended, Lexi Thompson misses her second consecutive AIG Women's Open.

The 2014 ANA Inspiration (now Chevron Championship) winner only played in one Major this year, the Chevron, after announcing her semi-retirement from pro golf in 2024.

From 12 AIG Women's Open appearances, the popular American had a solid-if-unspectacular record with six top-20s and one top-10 finish.

Madelene Sagstrom

Madelene Sagstrom played in the US Women's Open last month while seven-months pregnant, and then played again the following week at the Dow Championship where she and Maja Stark finished an impressive T9th.

The Swede is now taking time away from the professional game as she becomes a mother, missing this event for the first time since 2016.

She came close to winning in 2021 at Carnoustie, where she ended one stroke back of compatriot Anna Nordqvist in T2nd. She was also T4th in 2022.

Ingrid Lindblad

Sagstrom's fellow Swede Ingrid Lindblad misses her first Major in two years, and first since turning professional.

The former World No.1 amateur, who played this event for the first time at the age of 19 in 2019, has struggled on Tour this year with a best finish of T21st from 13 starts.

She is on a run of three missed cuts and has dropped to 91st in world, having been 40th this time last year.

She still may get a tee time, though, as she is currently first reserve for the field after missing out in a playoff at Final Qualifying.

Emily Pedersen

European Solheim Cup star Emily Pedersen broke a bone in her left wrist earlier this year so has had a tricky season.

The Dane returned to action at the Mizuho Americas Open in May but has managed a 54th-place and four missed cuts in her five starts since.

She has fallen to 240th in the world and looks set to miss out on a potential fifth appearance for Team Europe, having not played in any of the Majors this year.

Pedersen ended one-stroke shy of a playoff at Final Qualifying to miss out.

Moriya Jutanugarn

Moriya Jutanugarn misses her first AIG Women's Open since 2014.

The Thai star, and older sister of Ariya, has only played in two of the five Majors this year; the Chevron and KPMG Women's PGA Championships.

She has one top-10 from her 12 AIG Women's Open starts.

Stacey Lewis

Stacey Lewis bid farewell to the professional game last year, meaning she is not competing this week despite being eligible for the field.

The former World No.1 and 2024 winning Solheim Cup captain won this event at St Andrews in 2013, which was her second Major title after the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now Chevron Championship).

Lewis played in 16 AIG Women's Opens, with one win and three other top-eight finishes. She was T50th last year at Porthcawl in her final Major start.

Miranda Wang

Miranda Wang misses her first Major of the year and first since 2024 this week.

The 27-year-old Chinese star has fallen from 42nd to 67th in the world rankings after a run of six consecutive missed cuts.

Wang, who beat Jeeno Thitkul to win her maiden LPGA Tour title at the FM Championship in 2025, has missed her last six Major cuts after finishing T19th at the KPMG Women's PGA last year.

Other notables missing the 2026 AIG Women's Open

(World ranking)

• Hyunjo Yoo (45th)
• Kyo Rim Seo (51st)
• Yui Kawamoto (52nd)
• Shinsil Bang (58th)
• Jiwon Ko (60th)
• Ai Suzuki (62nd)
• Seung Hui Ro (64th)
• Hyunkyung Park (66th)
• Dayeon Lee (68th)
• Ye Won Lee (72nd)
• Jungmin Hong (73rd)
• Sora Kamiya (80th)
• Yujin Sung (81st)
• Chia Yen Wu (93rd)
• Miyuu Abe (97th)
• Shihyun Kim (98th)
• Sarah Schmelzel (111th)
• Alexa Pano (169th)
• Olivia Cowan (191st)
• Gabriella Ruffels (192nd)
• Nuria Iturrioz (197th)
• Gemma Dryburgh (215th)
• Emma Spitz (228th)
• Andrea Revuelta (a)

There's a particular kind of experience in golf that I don't think gets talked about enough.It's not the experience of being a beginner, who has fallen in love with a game that feels so hard. That’s expected. You're learning and everything is overwhelming at first.

It’s the experience – and pain – of the golfer who knows what good feels like, they’ve played it, they’ve seen it come to life on the course. But now they can't seem to find it.

The golfer who is carding scores above their handicap. Who’s watching shots go sideways that used to be automatic. Who’s walking off the 18th not only feeling disappointed but dejected again – and they don’t know why.

So you commit to trying harder, to getting out of “this” rut. And that’s where the spiral sets in and comes with a particular cruelty because the harder you try to stop it, the tighter it tends to grip.

I know what that feels like. As a low single-figure golfer, there isn't much margin. Every dropped shot feels like a shove backwards. Every bad round lands hard.

And the pressure that builds – not from anyone else, just from yourself, from the gap between where you are and where you think you should be – can create a nervousness before you've even reached the first tee.

When you’re in that spiral, the key is breaking the pattern, so you can find your way back to the golfer you know you are.

Having been there and learned what works and what doesn’t, here’s where I would start.

Spot The difference

Before you rush to the range to try and find your swing, dig into what's actually happening on the course.

Not to dwell in a what-went-wrong way. More like a curious detective. Think about your last round and compare the holes where you played well to the holes where it fell apart. Look for the difference between your good and the not-so-good.

This isn’t just about your scores – it’s your process, your thoughts, how you were feeling. Where was your mind on the tee? How quickly did you recover from a bad shot? Were you playing the shot in front of you or replaying the one you messed up three holes ago?

There's often a pattern to be pulled out. You're looking for what worked – not just what didn't. Because somewhere in those rounds, even the difficult ones, you hit shots that reminded you what your game is capable of.

Can/Can't Control List

This is something I’ve come to realise: you can’t get rid of nerves. I don’t think we can even control whether we feel them or not. Experience, preparation or positive thinking won’t make them disappear – and trying to not feel them is a losing battle. But the truth is, nerves aren't the problem. It's what we do with them.

Before your next round, draw a line down the middle of a page. On one side: list everything you can't control. The weather. The pace of play. Whether your opponent is having a cracker or a nightmare of a round. Whether your handicap goes up or down.On the other side: list everything you can. Your breath. Your routine. Your shot selection. Where your focus goes. How you react after a bad shot or hole.

That second list might be shorter but it's the only list that matters. Most of the anxiety spiral lives in the first list. We spend an enormous amount of energy worrying about outcomes we have no control over. And that energy gets taken away from what we can.

When the nerves arrive before a competition, they're not a warning sign. They're just a signal you care. What matters is what you do with your breath, your focus, your strategy.

Play The Hole, Not Your Expectations

This has been a big shift for me and I’ll be honest, it’s a recent one. It’s about playing the course, not yourself or the high standards you set.

When you're in a confidence spiral, there's a version of every hole playing out in your head – the hole you should be able to play. The shot you should be hitting. The par you should be making. And the moment reality diverges from that version, that expectation, it throws us.

What if you played the hole in front of you instead, with the game you have in that moment?

Not the hole your handicap suggests you “should” play. Not the way you played the hole when you birdied it. This hole, today, with the lie you've got, conditions at play and options available to you.

Bad shots happen. They happen to scratch golfers, to tour pros, to every golfer who has ever played. The question isn't whether you'll hit a bad shot – it's what you do next. And what you do next requires your mind to be on creative ideas, not beating yourself up for what just happened.

Let Go Of The Shoulds

“I should be playing better than this. I should be cutting my handicap. I shouldn't be hitting shots like that,”

Shoulds are confidence killers. They take the present moment – where your game actually is – and measure it against an imagined standard. One that you might never reach. Not because you’re not capable but because when you get close, you move the goalposts anyway.

A rough patch isn’t permanent but it is real. And it’s challenging enough to wade through without the weight of your own expectations adding to the effort.

Dropping the shoulds doesn't mean lowering your standards or your goals. It means playing with what you have that day rather than resisting it.

Start With One Thing

When your game feels like it's unravelling, the temptation is to fix everything, so you arrive at the range with a list of things to work on. But the issue isn’t your range game, it’s what shows up on the course.

You know you can swing it well but there’s something stopping it from coming out when it counts. So pick one thing – one small, specific mental game strategy you can stick to in your next round.

Maybe it's committing to your pre-shot routine on every shot. Maybe it’s easing your grip pressure or swinging with a smooth tempo. Maybe it's playing one shot at a time without thinking about your scorecard.

Small, specific, achievable. And when you do it – when you get to the 18th and realise you actually held to that one thing – you've given yourself something. A small piece of evidence that you can control something.

That's how confidence gets rebuilt. Not in one breakthrough round but stacking the small things.

And remember, your game isn't gone. It's still in there, which means you can find it again. The work right now isn't technical. It's about creating the conditions where your game can come back to you, instead of gripping so hard for it that you squeeze it further away.

Follow Jess’ golf journey on Instagram.

The final women's Major of the year comes from Royal Lytham & St Annes in Lancashire, England, with the AIG Women's Open.

Over 140 players will compete for one of the most prestigious titles in the women's game. But how did they qualify?

There are many ways to qualify for the tournament, with some players eligible via several categories and others making their way to the event thanks to just one.

The result is one of the best fields in golf, featuring recent Major winners, the highest-ranked players in the world, top amateurs and veterans.

Arguably the biggest name is Nelly Korda, who won the first two Majors in 2026, the Chevron Championship and the US Women's Open. Can she make it three and claim the AIG Women's Open title for the first time?

Hae Ran Ryu then emulated Korda with victories at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship and the Amundi Evian Championship fo his first two Majors.

The AIG Women's Open is the only one where she is yet to finish in the top 10, but given her stunning recent form, few would bet against that changing at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Another big name is Jeeno Thitikul, whose one glaring omission from a trophy-laden CV remains a Major title. Meanwhile, a player with a string of close calls at Majors is Charley Hull, who will be a crowd favorite playing in her homeland.

With other huge stars in the field including defending champion Miyu Yamashita, Lydia Ko, who won the title two years ago, and three-time Major winner Minjee Lee, the stage is set for a top-quality four days of action.

The venue is also set to be a star of the show. Royal Lytham & St Annes is more accustomed to hosting The Open, with the men's Major having been held there 11 times, with its next visit scheduled for 2028.

However, it is no stranger to the AIG Women's Open, either, having hosted five times, most recently in 2018, when Georgia Hall claimed the title.

Below, we've listed the full field as it stands for the 2026 AIG Women's Open as well as how each player qualified, based on the highest relevant exemption criteria according to the R&A (players may have qualified via multiple categories).

1. AIG Women's Open Past Winners

• Ashleigh Buhai
• Georgia Hall
• Ariya Jutanugarn 
• IK Kim
• Lydia Ko 
• Anna Nordqvist
• Sophia Popov
• Hinako Shibuno
• Jiyai Shin
• Yani Tseng
• Lilia Vu 
• Miyū Yamashita 

2. AIG Women's Open 2025 Top-10

• Weiling Hsu
• Charley Hull 
• Minami Katsu
• Megan Khang
• A Lim Kim
• Stephanie Kyriacou
• Paula Martín Sampedro 
• Rio Takeda 
• Lottie Woad 

3. Top-15 LET players in Final 2025 Order of Merit

• Casandra Alexander 
• Helen Briem 
• Nicole Broch Estrup
• Perrine Delacour
• Cara Gainer
• Amelia Garvey
• Darcey Harry
• Alice Hewson
• Anna Huang 
• Nuria Iturrioz
• Sára Kousková
• Nastasia Nadaud
• Mimi Rhodes
• Chiara Tamburlini
• Shannon Tan

4. Top-5 Non-Exempt Players In 2026 LET Order Of Merit (July 5)

• Kajsa Arwefjäll
• Pia Babnik
• Diksha Dagar
• Alexandra Försterling

5. Top 35 players in 2025 LPGA Tour Race To CME Globe

• Céline Boutier 
• Hyejin Choi 
• Carlota Ciganda 
• Lauren Coughlin 
• Lindy Duncan
• Ayaka Furue 
• Linn Grant 
• Nasa Hataoka 
• Brooke Henderson 
• Jinhee Im 
• Akie Iwai 
• Chisato Iwai 
• Auston Kim 
• Sei Young Kim
• Hyo Joo Kim
• Grace Kim 
• Nelly Korda 
• Jennifer Kupcho 
• Somi Lee
• Andrea Lee 
• Minjee Lee 
• Gaby López 
• Yealimi Noh
• Haeran Ryu  
• Mao Saigo
• Jeeno Thitikul 
• Ruoning Yin
• Angel Yin 

6. Top-25 Non-Exempt Players In 2026 LPGA Tour Race To CME Globe (July 5)

• Pajaree Anannarukarn
• Aditi Ashok
• Jenny Bae
• Robyn Choi
• Karis Davidson
• Melanie Green
• Erika Hara
• Youmin Hwang
• Soobin Joo
• Minji Kang
• Alison Lee
• Lucy Li
• Yu Liu
• Nanna Koerstz Madsen
• Leona Maguire
• Ryann O'Toole
• Cassie Porter
• Pauline Roussin
• Jenny Shin
• Patty Tavatanakit
• Lauren Walsh
• Dewi Weber
• Jing Yan
• Ina Yoon
• Arpichaya Yubol
• Rose Zhang
• Weiwei Zhang

7. Top 50 In 2025 Rolex Rankings (5 July)

• Yuna Araki
• In Gee Chun
• Esther Henseleit
• Minsol Kim
• Yan Liu

8. Non-Exempt Players From 2026 JLPGA Tour Money List

• Fuka Suga
• Sayaka Takahashi

9. Non-Exempt Players From 2025 KLPGA Tour Money List (July 5)

• Minsun Kim

10. Winners of any 2026 LET or LPGA Tour Event

• Kelsey Bennett
• Carolina Chacarra
• Hannah Green
• Esme Hamilton
• Leonie Harm
• Gina Kim
• Noora Komulainen
• Agathe Laisne
• Mihyang Lee
• Julia López Ramirez
• Smilla Tarning Sønderby
• Aunchisa Utama
• Yana Wilson
• Anna Zanusso

11. Winner of the 2025 JLPGA Money List

• Shuri Sakuma

14. KPMG Women's PGA Championship winners (2022-2026)

• Amy Yang

15. US Women's Open winners (2022-2026)

• Allisen Corpuz
• Yuka Saso
• Maja Stark

17. Two leading non-exempt players at 2026 Suntory Ladies Open

• Shiho Kuwaki
• Kana Nagai

18. Three leading non-exempt players at 2026 ISPS HANDA Women's Scottish Open

• Chanettee Wannasaen
• Daniela Darquea
• Nataliya Guseva

20. The 2025 winner of the Mark H. McCormack Medal

• Kiara Romero (a)

21. 2026 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Champion

• Yunseo Yang (a)

22. 2025 Women's Amateur Latin America Champion

• María José Marín (a)

23. 2026 Women's Amateur Champion

• Valentine Delon (a)

25. 2026 European Ladies Amateur Champion

• Charlotte Naughton

28. Final Qualifying

• Bel Wardle
• Manon De Roey
• Justice Bosio
• Lauren Crump (a)
• Annabell Fuller
• Vanessa Bouvet
• Carla Tejedo MuletAnna Foster
• Chloe Williams
• Polly Mack
• Ana Peláez Trivino
• Amanda Doherty
• Jodi Ewart Shadoff

The AIG Women's Open has established itself as one of the most important tournaments in the women's game, and it continues to go from strength to strength under The R&A's stewardship.

The governing body officially took over hosting duty in 2017 after merging with the Ladies' Golf Union, and the Major has since changed names from the Women's British Open simply to the Women's Open.

A huge part of the event's success and stature is down to its courses, and that is seen with Royal Lytham and St Annes hosting in 2026, Royal St George's in 2027 and Sunningdale in 2028.

The Women's Open does not have a specific rota like the men's Open, although it does use courses the men go to and has a strong, repeatable cast of venues.

It's unofficial rota is slightly different, though, with the AIG Women's Open mixing links and inland golf, compared to the exclusive use of links courses in the men's Open.

That's why we see the women visit places like Woburn, Sunningdale and Walton Heath, which all rank inside Golf Monthly's UK&I Top 100 Courses list.

These inland layouts near London showcase some of the country's best courses and allow for big crowds thanks to the large population and accessible transport links.

So, with a mix of the best links courses and some inland gems, the Women's Open boasts some of the UK's finest venues. But what about some of the forgotten ones?

Here's a look at some of the courses we have not seen host a Women's Open for many years...

Lindrick - 1977 and 1988

Lindrick, near Worksop, Yorkshire, twice held the Women's Open in 1977 (the tournament's second staging) and 1988.

The venue is famous for hosting the 1957 Ryder Cup, which saw Great Britain win for the first time in 24 years. The club has also welcomed the British Masters twice, the Curtis Cup and multiple elite English amateur tournaments.

Fulford - 1976

Fulford Golf Club, in York, Yorkshire, staged the first ever Women's Open in 1976.

The course is famous for Bernhard Langer's shot out of a tree during the 1981 Benson and Hedges International Open, having hosted the tournament from 1971-1989. It had many other tour events in the 20th century and has since held elite amateur tournaments. The Women's Open has never been back, though.

Foxhills - 1978

Foxhills Golf Club in Surrey hosted the third Women's Open in 1978, and it's another course to have only held the event once.

20-year-old amateur Janet Melville prevailed over the Chertsey Course, now known as the Bernhard Hunt Course. The country club has two 18-hole courses as well as a nine-hole par 3 course and was the venue for the Asian Tour's International Series England in 2024 over its Longcross Course.

Paul Casey was a junior member at the club while 2026 Open champion Ryan Fox was affiliated there in his early DP World Tour days.

Southport and Ainsdale - 1979

Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club was the venue for the fourth Women's Open in 1979.

The heathland-links course, located just across the railway from Hillside Golf Club and the neighbouring Royal Birkdale, ranks 65th in Golf Monthly's UK&I top 100.

As well as the Women's Open, it has also staged the 1933 and 1937 Ryder Cups and the 2005 Amateur Championship.

Wentworth - 1980

The USA's Debbie Massey became the first American to win the championship at Wentworth in 1980.

The iconic country club is home to the DP World Tour and has staged the BMW PGA Championship over its West Course from 1972-1974 and 1984 until the present day. It has also hosted the Ryder Cup in 1953 and the World Match Play from 1964-2007 as well as other prestigious events.

Wentworth is home to the West, East and Edinburgh Courses as well as a nine-hole par 3.

Northumberland - 1981

Massey successfully defended her crown in 1981 at Northumberland Golf Club, a historic club founded back in 1898.

The course was later redesigned by Harry Colt and James Braid, and is known for many of its holes playing inside Newcastle Racecourse, just north of the city centre.

Moor Park - 1985

Moor Park staged the 1985 Women's Open, won by USA's Betsy King. King won 34 LPGA Tour titles including six Majors, although her 1985 victory is not part of that tally as it did not have Major status back then.

Moor Park in Hertfordshire is home to the High and West Courses, which were each designed by Harry Colt. The club has hosted numerous European Tour events and other elite tournaments through the years.

It is known for its grand mansion clubhouse, and its first head professional was 1902 Open champion Sandy Herd.

St Mellion - 1987

Allison Nicholas defeated Laura Davies and Muffin Spencer-Devlin by a single stroke to win her one and only Women's Open at St Mellion in 1987, which came a decade before her US Women's Open victory at Pumpkin Ridge.

St Mellion, in Cornwall, England, is home to two layouts - the Kernow Course (formerly the Old), and the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, which opened in 1988.

It hosted the Benson and Hedges International Open seven times as well, which was won by the likes of Jose Maria Olazabal, Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros, as well as other professional and elite amateur events.

Ferndown - 1989

Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset, England, hosted the Women's Open in 1989 when the USA's Jane Geddes prevailed.

The club ranks 93rd in Golf Monthly's UK&I Top 100 list and was founded by the magazine's first editor and World Golf Hall of Famer, Harold Hilton, who won two Opens, four Amateur Championships and a US Amateur.

It's a beatiful heathland course and was also where Peter Alliss learned the game, as his father, Percy, was head professional.

Ahead of this week’s AIG Women’s Open, we caught up with 2004 champion Karen Stupples. Since lifting the trophy at Sunningdale, Englishwoman Stupples has transitioned seamlessly from a tour player to one of the most respected voices in golf broadcasting.

Now based in the US, where she serves as an on-course reporter and analyst, Stupples reflects on the financial evolution of the LPGA, the need for more shot-tracking analytics, the British talent pushing the game forward, and what it’s really like calling golf’s biggest moments from inside the ropes.

You experienced a full spectrum in your career, from the early lean years to becoming a Major champion. What are your thoughts on today’s game and the purses the players are competing for?

When it comes to the increase in purses, I 100 percent would have loved to be playing for that kind of money when I was competing! But I’m also extremely grateful for what I did play for. It gave me, my son, and my family a great life.

However, the players today have so much more at their fingertips, not just the purses, but the facilities, the golf courses, the fitness trailers, the physios. There are a lot of good things happening on tour right now, and I feel proud that, as a women’s sporting organisation, we can provide this for today's players.

Looking past the big headline numbers, is it still a financial grind for players outside the top 50?

If you look at someone finishing 80th on the money list, keeping their playing card, they might gross around $340,000. On paper, you’d think you could make a decent living on that. Obviously, you have caddie fees, percentages for coaches, flights, and hotels coming out of it.

It depends on how you manage your lifestyle, but it’s a solid baseline. There will always be players who struggle to make the numbers work, but if you’re keeping your card, you should be able to make a living.

When I played, the reality was simple: you had to make money to pay your bills and stay out there. That financial pressure drove you to keep improving. I knew, for instance, that I had to rebuild my swing if I wanted to stay on tour and be competitive.

How did you go about making those structural changes to your game?

I found a coach in America, Chip Koehlke, down at the Faldo Golf Institute in Orlando. Coming from the UK, I had a low draw, a ball flight that simply wasn't going to make me much money on American courses.

We reworked my swing, focusing heavily on getting my backswing more on plane. It took about a year, but throughout that process, I managed to play well enough to keep my card. Combined with physical training and working with a sports psychologist, Martha Cobo, it took me from being a journeyman pro to someone regularly contending in the top 20 or top 30 on the money list.

I started working with Chip in 2001, built up my consistency through 2003, and then opened 2004 with a win before winning the Women’s Open at Sunningdale later that summer.

If you had access to modern launch monitors and club technology during your prime, would it have made a dramatic difference?

Absolutely. I invested in a Garmin unit recently just to mess around with, and it completely revolutionised how I view practice. Suddenly, I knew my exact carry numbers, my spin rates, and how to maximise my launch off the driver. You can optimise equipment on a level we simply didn't have access to back then.

In my day, having a Bushnell laser was considered revolutionary because you didn't have to pace out every yardage from a sprinkler head! But for wedge distances, I still had to hit endless shots, pacing out a 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock, and 11 o’clock swing, just to calculate carry. Today, players hit a ball and the exact data pops up instantly on a screen. You can dial performance in to an incredible degree.

You’ve lived in the United States for a long time now. What do you miss most about home in the UK?

Family, first and foremost. British bacon is right up there, too! I miss pub beer gardens, the countryside, and just the general familiarity of home - supermarkets, certain smells, even the way washing detergent smells in the UK. It reminds you of growing up. I definitely don’t miss driving down tiny country lanes, small parking spaces, or tiny showers, though!

Tell us about your son, Logan. Was he ever tempted to follow in your footsteps into golf?

He’s 19 now and plays college baseball. Golf was always an option for him, he had a set of clubs and could go whenever he wanted, but he never asked to play, and I never pushed it. Golf is hard enough without feeling forced into it.

He fell in love with baseball, grew to 6-foot-2, and progressed really well as a hitter. He’s also incredibly mathematically inclined. Finding a university where he could play baseball while studying aerospace engineering was a challenge, but he ended up at Illinois Tech in Chicago. He’s building rockets, he launched his first one in his first semester, and he’s on track to finish his master’s degree in fluid dynamics alongside his bachelor's. I couldn't be prouder of him.

You were one of only a few Englishwomen to win a Major when you triumphed in 2004. What are your thoughts on the current crop of British talent?

Georgia Hall won in 2018, of course, and Charley Hull is remarkably talented. Charley has put herself in contention at Majors multiple times now and is so close to getting over the line - she’s been a little unlucky not to have won one already. A golf course that inspires her creativity is always going to be a playground for her.

Then you look at the newer wave coming through. Lottie Woad has the mental discipline and power to reach world number one, Mimi Rhodes has already shown serious winning pedigree, and players like Caley McGinty are coming through the ranks. It’s a very exciting, dynamic time for English golf.

As an on-course reporter, can you feel when a momentum shift or a collapse is about to happen before the viewers at home spot it?

Yes, because I still feel it as if it’s me playing the shot. So, when I’m out walking with a group, I feel it as though I were standing over the ball myself. If I feel a bit nervous, I know they’re feeling a bit nervous. You can see when a shot is dicey or tough. Or maybe it's a piece of cake and I’d feel very comfortable hitting a chip or a putt. I think it puts me in a good position because I can still recall the exact feeling I had when I played. It’s never left me.

How did you make the transition from player to broadcaster? Did you have a mentor starting out?

In television, you generally get thrown in at the deep end to see if you sink or swim! I did some radio for the BBC right after my son was born in 2007, which I loved. But around 2013, as my playing career was winding down, I started shadowing the Golf Channel team.

I spent time in the trucks, in the booth, and walked the course watching people like Judy Rankin and Jerry Foltz. Judy was fantastic, and Jerry was a brilliant guide on the ground. Without their advice and support early on, I wouldn't be doing what I do today. It’s a competitive industry, but having diverse female voices in golf broadcasting is crucial. We see and articulate the game through a slightly different lens, which makes the coverage richer for everyone.

Can you recall a memorable hiccup or embarrassing moment from your time covering the tour?

Oh, I’ve had a few! But my most embarrassing moment happened covering the 2017 Presidents Cup at Liberty International, following Charley Hoffman in his match against Jason Day.

Charley hit a shot down toward a fairway bunker, and because the guys hit the ball such an extraordinary distance, I was hustling down the course to walk the number off. As I approached the bunker, I looked down and realised I had just physically kicked Charley Hoffman’s ball!

The rules official asked if I knew where it originally lay, so I pointed to the absolute best lie I could possibly find. Charley just laughed his head off—he thought it was hilarious. I’m still thoroughly embarrassed about it to this day, but America won the Cup, so no harm done!

Do you prefer being out on the course or working in the booth?

I love being on-course because you're right in the heart of the action feeling that adrenaline. On the ground, you have to create a visual for the viewer purely through what you're hearing and seeing in real time. Studio and booth work allow you to delve deeper into the analytical nitty-gritty, but walking inside the ropes lets you have fun and convey the raw emotion of the tournament as it unfolds.

If you were commissioner of the LPGA, what would be your top priority for the women's game?

My immediate priority would be finding ways to get more ‘bums in seats’ at events, getting more spectators on site. These players deserve to be watched in person. Seeing women's golf live can inspire an entire generation of young boys and girls, and we need to use local TV and media to really push community awareness when a tournament comes to town.

However, the single biggest thing we could possibly implement, which requires an extraordinary amount of money, would be a comprehensive shot-tracking system like ShotLink.

Modern fans digest sports through an analytical lens. On the PGA Tour, you have indisputable facts, figures, and data for every single shot. As reporters and journalists, that data allows you to back up stories, analyse trends, and quantitatively prove just how extraordinarily talented these players are. Right now, without that data, fewer stories are written about women’s golf because reporters simply don't have the factual numbers to rely on.

Is the lack of shot-tracking technology simply down to the financial gap between women’s and men’s golf?

The LPGA is an organisation that makes the absolute most out of very little. Commissioners like Mike Whan and Craig Kessler maximise every resource. Think of it like running a household: if you have a budget, you spend money to keep the lights on and put food on the table. You don't spend it on a flashy car or a brand-new phone every year. The LPGA is a "keep the lights on, put food on the table" organisation, whereas the PGA Tour operates more like, "Let's buy a Bentley and get the newest iPhone as soon as it comes out." That's the commercial reality.

Finally, are we ever going to see you back with a peg in the ground in competitive golf?

Potentially! I’ve had thoughts about preparing for the US Senior Women’s Open in 2027. We’ll see, but the itch to play competitive golf again is definitely there.

A year on from Lottie Woad's incredible three-shot victory on her professional debut, Jenny Shin wrote another remarkable story at the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open in 2026.

The South Korean, who had struggled badly with her swing and had not won in a full decade swept all before her to claim the co-sanctioned tournament on the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour by two strokes.

And that was despite a rocky final round which finished three over. Nevertheless, Shin finished nine-under for the week to put an end to a winless drought rarely seen in pro golf.

Her reward for doing so was an immensely handsome one, too. Between 2017 and 2021, Ariya Jutanugarn, Stacy Lewis and Ryan O'Toole were among the winners as the high-quality field battled it out for the lion's share of $1.5 million.

But, since 2022, there has been a $2 million tournament purse up for grabs with $300,000 going the way of the champion, which we now know to be Shin.

While the overall payout is the joint-second-lowest of the year on the LPGA Tour, most players are not as focussed on the financial side as usual with the links test providing the perfect warm-up to next week's AIG Women's Open.

Shin, who had not claimed victor since the 2016 Volunteers of America Texas Shootout, is unlikely to care too much about the money and will simply be delighted she's been able to win at the highest level once again at 33 years old.

Below is the full prize money payout for each player and position at the 2026 ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open.

WOMEN'S SCOTTISH OPEN PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN

There was nothing surprising about Charley Hull giving herself a 15-foot birdie putt on a par-5 at the Women's Scottish Open - but it was a monumental shock when she eventually walked off with a nine.

As a devilish pin placement on the fifth hole at Dundonald Links saw her putt off the green then follow up with some serious chipping woes as the hole turned into a complete disaster for Hull.

It was a tough day out on a blustery links course in Scotland, but Hull had it tougher than most as she started the event making just one birdie all day to go along with three bogeys and that quadruple-bogey nine.

And after taking four attempted chips just to get back onto the green, she needed to hole a nice putt just to keep double figures off the card.

It was a challenging day but Hull was battling along and when she hit the green in three on the par-5 fifth hole she gave herself a chance of a first birdie of the round.

It was a tough chance given the pin was placed towards the back edge of the green, and pretty much perched on the precipice with a huge slope just beyond the flag.

Hull's putt was always on the low side with just a bit too much pace, but you wouldn't have expected what happened next, as the ball almost stopped but just kept up enough momentum to slowly trickle along before tumbling all the way down the hill off the green.

Frustrating, yes, but nothing terminal you'd think with Hull's short game, but a first attempt tried to be too cute, came up short, and rolled all the way back down to her feet.

Hull tried the same shot again with exactly the same result, so tried to reset by switching clubs, but chip number three fared no better and was soon back down in the fluffy rough.

She'd had enough by now and bashed a fourth attempt, and eighth shot overall, up onto the dancefloor and past the flag - giving her almost the same putt she had originally!

This time, though, she drained it for an eye-rubbing nine, a quadruple bogey, on a par-5 that Hull usually tastes success on with her length.

It led to a six-over round of 78 to start the Scottish Open for Hull, playing alongside Nelly Korda and Lottie Woad in a star group

Defending Scottish Open champion Woad signed for a two-over round of 74 while Korda carded an even-par 72, but Hull's nightmare nine made all the headlines.

You can watch just how it unfolded below with footage from Sky Sports Golf, but just as a warning, those with a nervous chipping disposition may want to look away...

Knowledge is a wonderful thing and it can 100% enhance our lives and our golf games. But when golfers go ‘fishing’ on YouTube for the secret move that will turn them into the best golfers ever, a red flag goes up.

Every other new pupil I meet starts the conversation with, “I always go on YouTube and I’ve tried everything.” Often we spend the lesson almost Etch A Sketching their minds to try and gather focus. Then we work on what is specifically applicable to them as golfers and human beings.

Why isn’t the cure for your slice (along with the 14million other golfers) working? YouTube doesn’t get to the root cause of a problem. Your lower back issues and poor posture haven’t been addressed.

Instead, it’s straight in with how to cure an out-to-in swing path. You’re doing all the drills and still shouting “Fore!” I’m sad to say, you’ll continue to shout and your back will likely get worse because at no point has someone told you to warm up properly to inject some athletic posture into your set up to enable your bigger muscles to get involved.

I learn so much about a pupil by talking a lot at the start of a lesson. Asking all the right questions and learning what makes them tick. Then and only then do we hatch a plan to get to root causes and ensure the golfer knows why they have an issue. We formulate a personalised action plan to get them back on track and none of this involves watching any more YouTube videos other than those specific to them.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s some brilliant content and lessons to be learnt online, but none of it is taking into account who you are and what you're physically capable of. These are the 5 most dangerous lessons that golfers glean from trawling through hours of YouTube videos.

Information Overload

Have you tried tapping your head and rubbing your stomach? Well add another 3 or 4 activities into this and then try hitting a golf ball. That is what so many golfers try to do! Adding more information to a brain that is already bleary with theory is a recipe for absolute disaster.

We need a quiet mind and minimal tension to consistently strike the golf ball. This is never going to happen if you are thinking and doing. This is why lessons are so important. Even those golfers who earwig into lessons someone else is having on the range, suffer with adding yet another move or swing thought. Often it’s something that exasperates existing swing faults and sends their golf further into despair.

No.1 rule - focus on yourself and your own problems. A lesson with a PGA pro is the only way you’re going to get your game back on track. Whether it’s an online or in-person lesson, find a coach you gel with and who is happy to work with the game you already have. People have many layers, so a coach who can peel back your golf game like peeling an onion, will achieve results with minimal brain ache.

Get The X-Factor

Attempting to create coil and torque as if you were as flexible as Nelly Korda is often a waste of effort. Golfers who mainly use their arms in the golf swing do so for good reason. They’re stiff as boards and have little or no rotational capacity (or haven’t unlocked it). The arm swing and sometimes overswing is their body’s attempt to create power. Thinking of turning more when you have back problems won’t do you any favours and it’s important that this is supervised by a qualified coach.

Unless you practice yoga every day and are as bendy as the likes of Rory McIlroy, then trying to keep your hips still and turn your upper body against them will likely cause further issues. Yet so many videos talk about the bigger the X factor the further you’ll hit it. I've had pupils who are baffled that they can’t hit the ball further when they can’t touch their toes or see over their right shoulder because of tight hamstrings and a stiff back.

Obsessed About Your Ps 

Golfers who are obsessive about their takeaway often begin to watch their arms go back and they start to sway to a point where they rarely return to a decent impact position.

An obsession with perfect positions in the golf swing often causes golfers to lose any kind of natural flow, any talent they have as sportspeople, and being overly mechanical about the swing. They become obsessed with checking each position and frustrated when they don’t get the results of flushing their irons the videos promised.

You need someone to take you through drills that will help you get into better positions without having to think too hard about it. The way we all learn varies and you’ll need fixes that suit you. The last thing you need to be doing is striding out in a monthly medal and stressing over whether your left arm is straight when you’re in P3.

So stop obsessing over whether your Ps are correct, you don’t need to regurgitate a text book out there, just relax. If you get so obsessed with takeaway and backswing, often by the time it comes to extending through the ball, there isn’t the energy or brainpower at impact, causing a player to hit at the ball rather than swinging through.

Golfers chase smash factor, a faster swing speed and those perfect numbers. You can’t have it all and often chasing these things to the extreme can have detrimental effects on your game. Get to the root cause of your problems and let your technique grow from there with the help of your coach. The great numbers will follow.

Keep Your Head Still And Down

This is something golfers often assume is the reason they aren’t playing well. A fellow golfer has no doubt told them they need to have a lesson and they’ve responded by saying, “It’s ok, I’ve checked online and I just need to keep my head down.”

Eyes on the ball for a little longer will help, but a completely still head will stop you using your bigger muscles, as many golfers haven’t got the flexibility to rotate around a point. A little lateral movement will help engage the sequence of movement we need to generate power.

The other advice of, “head down,” often sees chins tucked into golfers’ chests and locking out rotation, so arms go crazy and inconsistency rules. If you’re a golfer striving for that stack and tilt action. please go and see a pro in person. You may save your back from all sorts of pressure and realise this isn’t the route for you.

Moving Ball Position

This is a danger, as moving the ball position affects your shoulder alignment and often sees golfers who aren’t as fit or as talented as tour pros duff it. Especially after watching the Open Championship on the stunning links at Royal Birkdale, many players moved the ball back in the wind to achieve a downward strike and keep the ball flight low for crisp iron shots.

This can make golfers too steep on their downswing. It can also cause injury with thinned and fat shots. So beware the copy cat syndrome. Just because you’ve got Open fever, don’t move your ball too far back before consulting your coach first.

The flop shot is another one that’s marvelled at online. Players open the face on their lob wedges, move the ball way forward in their stances and somehow expect to just slide the club underneath.

This often results in a very poor hit and a bumper score. Don’t try and hit it like the pros, as this is risky. They practice for hours every day and have a brilliant technique. Keep it simple, ball in the middle, weight forward and a shorter swing with your most lofted wedge. Get the basics right before getting fancy.

There are so many other areas that golfers dive into within YouTube. Constantly adding more information and complication. You can learn so much that’s true, but how much is too much? Have a lesson with a pro and let them advise you of some of the best YouTubers to follow who do keep it simple and who can compliment what you’ve been working on within your lessons.

The Open Championship is always one of the highlights of the summer holidays for my son Hogan. For the past few years I’ve made our trip to the Open a fun start to his summer break by planning a mini adventure for the two of us.

This year’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale was undoubtedly one of the best we’ve been to in terms of how much enjoyment Hogan got out of the two practice days we attended. At 12-years-old he’s now of the age where he actually understands the significance of what the players are competing for, to recognise the world’s best players who he watches on TV (and their funny challenges on YouTube) and to really have an appreciation for their skills, as he’s fast becoming a really decent player himself.

Alison Root and Katie Dawkins discuss women's golf fashion 2026 including layering, budget comparisons and latest trends

Playing off a 10-handicap (and coming down) he has a keen eye for technique, which meant that when we were sat in the driving range grandstand watching the players hit balls and then following them for a few holes of their practice rounds, Hogan was able to pick up on the intricacies of shot selection, watching club choices, and bump-and-run options to navigate Birkdale's hard, bouncy links. Sharing that technical appreciation with my 12-year-old son, golfer to golfer, made this trip very special.

In years gone by the main attraction of the tournament for Hogan was always the tented village. He loved taking part in all of the fun games like the Longest Drive and Nearest the Pin contests, and of course the mega Long Putt!

Although he definitely still enjoyed the games, the highlight this time around was the big outdoor skills zone where we got to play ‘real golf’ as he described it, putting on the same style greens as the players and testing out our chipping and short game skills in competition zones.

This interactive element really made his day, I think he thought he was preparing to take part in the Open himself! Regardless of their ability level every kid was having a great time here, you could even get a free bunker lesson from a PGA pro and I know plenty of players who would benefit from that!

Although the food and drink in the tented village are always a bit pricey (a margarita pizza and a portion of chips set me back £20 and a single Mr Whippy ice cream £6) the entry ticket is so inexpensive for kids that it’s still a cheap day out, especially if you plan ahead and bring your own backpack and a picnic.

The excitement of autograph hunting is also a thrill, especially if you come away with a flag full of signatures. Hogan got his hat signed by Bryson DeChambeau, who ironically went onto be the tournament villain with his controversial two-shot penalty for trampling down the long grass and improving his lie in the deep rough.

All I can say is that DeChambeau was a delight to chat to briefly, polite and engaging, and stood for over an hour in the baking heat at the end of a long practice day, making sure that every single fan who wanted an autograph, a picture, a high five or simply a ‘hello’ wasn’t disappointed. I’ve made my judgement of his character from that.

My advice to other parents who are considering planning a trip to next year’s Open Championship is to start now. The tournament returns to The Home of Golf, St. Andrews, in 2027 and it’s going to be epic! The famous university town is packed with entertainment and fun attractions for kids. We were lucky to attend the special 150th anniversary of the Open Championship last time the tournament was in town and enjoyed the beach, the castle and R&A museum amongst other things.

There’s also a brilliant public swimming pool that does a fun inflatable splash session for kids and several well-positioned holiday parks where you can book a budget stay or go glamping in the Open village. In fact, I’d better get booking my accommodation now before you’ve all read these ideas and the best places are reserved!

I met a beginner a few months back who has got the golfing bug - she’s playing every day! I understand how easily this game can get a grip over you, especially when you are learning and have the time and the inclination to practice and improve. But I’m certain that she’s doing the wrong thing by spending so much time on the golf course. Even tour players have days off. Here are five reasons why being over-golfed won’t actually improve your scores.

Your Technique Will Suffer

If you play golf all the time you’ll leave little opportunity to work on your swing mechanics, short game technique and putting stroke. These skills can only be mastered on the driving range and taking a course of lessons from a golf professional is only productive if you then go and practice the changes in between lessons.

I meet so many women who take what I call ‘Elastoplast’ golf lessons for a quick fix, knowing full well that they are unlikely to put in the work to make the changes permanent. They simply want a quick fix to cure a bad shot tendency. They then go out on the golf course expecting a miracle!

This is so counter-productive in my opinion. Rather than playing golf in the days and weeks following a lesson, you should set time aside to hit a few baskets of balls on the golf range. Go and chip, practice your putting. Changes will then take effect. If you want to improve and get more enjoyment from playing golf, then play fewer rounds and practice more.

Alison Root and Katie Dawkins discuss women's golf fashion 2026 including layering, budget comparisons and latest trends

Physical Exhaustion

If you play too much golf you’ll be pushing your body to its physical limits and putting strain on your muscles, risking injury. Tour players only get away with this amount of golf because they have a whole support team around them in the background, from personal trainers giving them gym routines and exercises to strengthen and prevent injury, to physios who are on-hand after each round to administer sports massage.

Play too much golf and you may develop calluses on your hands and unless your golf shoes fit like a pair of slippers, you’ll probably get sore feet or blisters. The body needs time to rest and repair between rounds, so building days off into your schedule is vital.

Mental Burnout

Being golf-obsessed can be a huge drain on you emotionally, especially if you are not shooting the scores you want and getting the results you were hoping for. It can also become easy to lose focus and you might just end up in a state of mental burnout when playing golf becomes a chore.

Taking time out will allow you to press the re-set button. Doing something else away from the course will allow you to come back for your next game with a renewed vigour, focus and enthusiasm for golf.

Golf Stops Being Fun!

The luxury of getting to play golf every day sounds like a wonderful lifestyle, but it’s surprising how many women I play golf with who don’t actually seem to enjoy their golf, simply because I believe they play too often. A game of golf is no longer as much fun as it should be.

I remember having a full-time job in an office full of golf-mad journalists when I was younger and we were all so excited that after our once-a-month planning meeting we had a fun team game of golf. At the time I wasn’t getting to play much competitive golf outside of work and the anticipation of that outing made the day so much fun!

Nowadays, if I take a non-golfing holiday for a week or two, when I return I’m so excited to pick up my clubs again and get back out on the course. It’s ok to be golf obsessed, but don’t take it so far that playing golf becomes monotonous. Keep the passion for playing by taking time out from your favourite pastime, so that when you come back you’ll appreciate time on the golf course even more.

Life Imbalance

If you play too much golf it may take over to the extent that it has a detrimental effect on your social life, relationships and pastimes outside of golf. This can be particularly true for golfaholics whose partners don’t play golf. It can definitely cause friction and arguments in a relationship, which is understandable if you are allowing golf to take priority over everything else. It leaves little time for any other activities.

I’ve seen women take up golf simply because they are fed up with hardly ever seeing their husband at weekends and wonder what all the time away on the golf course is all about. The ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em attitude’ sometimes works, but can also result in marriages breaking down, so be warned!

Whether playing or watching golf, interest in the women’s game is definitely at an all-time high. Just last month, NBC reported that its presentation of the US Women’s Open delivered a massive viewing surge, averaging 1.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock. Driven by Nelly Korda’s victory, Sunday’s final round viewership was up 78% from last year, with the audience peaking at 2.2 million viewers.

But former LPGA and Solheim Cup star turned golf broadcaster and podcast host Mel Reid has strong, pragmatic views on the underlying reality of the women’s game. When I caught up with her, she was quick to point out that while the television metrics and purse sizes are soaring, there is still a massive gap to fill on the ground.

The Paradox Of Purse Sizes

When asked how the current state of the game compares to when she first earned her tour card, Reid is quick to praise the sheer talent on display, even if she acknowledges the conversation can feel a bit repetitive.

"It's amazing. The prize money is incredible," Reid says. "I think it's funny, the kind of respect that we have been craving for so many years, and now we're finally seeing it levelling out, which is good. The standard of golf - we talk about it every year, it's a bit of a broken record, but it's just insane. From a talent standpoint, the LPGA is in a really great place. We've always been a global tour, and that's more evident now than ever with Nelly rolling as World No.1, and Charley Hull and Lottie Woad playing amazing."

Yet, Reid isn't one to sugar coat the optics. For all the financial growth, walking out onto a quiet course during a multi-million-dollar event exposes a clear disconnect.

"The prize money is fantastic, but in a weird way, it looks strange when you're playing for 9 million at Chevron and no one's watching," she admits. "I see such a discrepancy between the prize money and actually the fans. To me, I'm like, how are we playing for 9 million if we have no one through the gate? It just looks odd to me.

Collaborative Solutions

It is a massive hurdle, but Reid is heavily encouraged by the forward-thinking approach of LPGA Chief Operating Officer Craig Kessler, with whom she has built an open line of communication.

"I really like Craig Kessler, I'm very impressed with him," Reid shares warmly. "He's very open. We actually talk quite a lot, and he's very open to ideas and how we can work together, which I absolutely love about him. He wants us all to uplift it together."

Reid has taken that open-door invitation seriously, actively putting radical new growth strategies right onto his desk.

"I've chatted to him and I basically said you need to get more people through the gate. I don't know how you're going to do that," she notes. "I've said for years that people should just go for free for a bit just to get people watching women's golf. And I think we could do a better job of getting the communities involved, getting local radio stations on the range, maybe... we do have to do something different, because with women's sport, we do have to be louder to get noticed. The talent is definitely there, but where are the eyes?"

Crucially, she believes the solution requires a financial pivot, even if it means a slight trim to the record-breaking purses.

"How are we going to be able to connect these amazing players with fans and get them wanting to come and watch the LPGA? I think it's a big marketing thing," Reid concludes. "That's their biggest issue now. I would love them to take some out of the prize money and put it into marketing. I really would, because these girls are playing for stupid money now, which is great. They 100% deserve the prize money, but what are we bringing in from a fan standpoint and atmosphere?

View From The Booth

As someone who now balances life inside the ropes with a growing media presence in the commentary booth, Reid sees first-hand how empty grandstands actively hurt the television product.

"It’s a challenge for us in the broadcast, too," she continues. "The greatest moments in sport are not naturally because of the shot; it's because of the reaction. The problem is we have so many great shots, but no reaction, so it's difficult for us to get energy through. We would look stupid as a broadcaster if we got really fired up for something and no one's there clapping."

Reid also targets the production style of modern broadcasts, noting that slow pacing and commercial breaks make it incredibly difficult to keep viewers engaged compared to the relentless speed of men's events.

"From a broadcast standpoint, it's very difficult to keep fans engaged. We watch a player do the whole routine, we try to tell stories... but then we watch them finish, they line it up again. Our job should be going to another player, and then seeing another player, and then seeing another player. When I work on the PGA Tour or the men's Majors, it's constant, quick, quick, quick. It's really exciting."

The Global Asset And Hurdle

Part of the issue, Reid believes, comes down to marketing strategy and the unique cultural tapestry of the LPGA. While the tour's international flavour is its greatest asset, it presents distinct marketing challenges when trying to build recognisable, outspoken stars.

"I think the players could do more with the media and showing their personalities, but the issue is that we are a global tour, so cultures are very, very different, and you have to respect that," Reid explains. "The South Korean players, for example, are amazing girls, but they get highly criticised if they don't play well, let alone if they say something that might not come across as culturally correct. They have to be very disciplined and in their own bubble. So that's our biggest asset, being a global tour, and it's also our biggest hurdle."

Revamping The Venue Strategy

Another way Reid believes the LPGA can fix the attendance issue is by being much more intentional about geographic strategy. She suggests the tour needs to stop playing in massive, saturated sports markets where they easily get drowned out by local baseball or basketball teams, and instead return to consistent, community-driven venues.

To prove her point, she looks to events that built deep roots in local communities over decades. A prime example is the former tournament at Kingsmill Resort in Virginia, which spent nearly 20 years cementing its place on the local calendar. Or the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, which has been hosted annually at Pinnacle Country Club since 2007 and hits a historic 20-year milestone of community loyalty this September.

"Having consistent venues is going to help, like Kingsmill or Arkansas - we get good crowds there because they know exactly the week it's going to be, they know exactly what course it's going to be at. At the minute, we're just a little bit sporadic," she explains. "It's difficult to get fans to an LPGA event like the Chevron in big cities like Houston because there is so much other stuff going on that they would much rather go and watch."

Ultimately, Reid emphasises that building this kind of structural continuity and prioritising tight-knit communities over over-saturated urban markets remains a vital step forward. Only by shifting focus away from sporadic, large-scale city hopping can the tour bridge the gap, establishing a permanent, passionate footprint that transforms surging television metrics into packed grandstands on the ground.

Records are always being broken in sport and, on Friday, a very rare one occurred in the golfing world.

Currently, the professional men's and women's circuits are over in Europe and, at the Genesis Scottish Open and Amundi Evian Championship, both the games World No.1's struggled on Friday.

For Scottie Scheffler, a four-year run of made cuts fell at the The Renaissance Club, while Nelly Korda's two-year run of made weekends came to an end at Evian Resort Golf Club.

Amazingly, it marks the first time that both the men's and women's World No. 1s each missed the cut in the same weekend since the Women's World Golf Rankings were introduced in 2006.

It now means that Scheffler will head to Royal Birkdale early to prepare for his Open Championship defense, while Korda will have two weeks to get her game in shape before a scheduled start at the Women's Scottish Open and then the AIG Women's Open.

For Korda, she had been bidding to secure a third Major in 2026, following her Chevron Championship and US Women's Open wins earlier this season.

Carding a three-over-par 74 first round on Thursday, though, there was work to do on Friday, as she looked to keep her two-year cut-streak intact.

Although she battled back with a two-under 69, a missed putt at the last proved to be the decisive moment, as it came up inches short of falling into the cup.

Finishing one-over-par, Korda would miss the cut for the first time in 34 starts, a streak that goes back to the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, a season where she won seven times.

In terms of the Amundi Evian Championship, Lottie Woad leads at 11-under, while notable names like Mao Saigo, Jeeno Thitikul, Miyu Yamashita, Charley Hull and Brooke Henderson sit inside the top 10.

Around 1,600km north of the women's Major venue is the Rolex Series event of the Genesis Scottish Open, where a three-way tie has ensued at The Renaissance Club.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Smith and Tom Kim are the leaders, with notable names like Matt Fitzpatrick, Min Woo Lee, Robert MacIntyre and Wyndham Clark in pursuit.

The headlines were with Scheffler, though, who missed his first cut since the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August 2022, some 72 events and 1,428 days ago.

Speaking after his second round, the American stated: "I got off to a tough start and then on the back nine I didn’t feel like I was hitting it close enough to give myself enough opportunities."

Scheffler will now head to Birkdale early and have an extended practice run on the Southport links ahead of his Claret Jug defense.

A halfway house is often perceived to be one of the true luxuries on a golf course. The joy of stopping for a hot or cold drink and a snack is a real treat. As such, many of the most prestigious venues across the UK and overseas are renowned for their halfway houses. Some, like Surrey’s Top 100 gem Sunningdale Golf Club, have a halfway house that’s famous for fabulous sausage baps, others are known for their homemade cakes.

However, when it comes to making a pit-stop halfway round in a competition I think they are a total nuisance. Having a halfway house slows play down considerably and causes a loss of momentum if you are playing well. For this reason, I refuse to stop at a halfway house when I’m marking a competition card. Even a quick detour to collect a coffee can be enough to completely ruin the flow of your game, affecting your swing tempo, timing and your concentration.

As an elite county golfer, trying to shoot a low score, I’m 100% focused on my round. A tour professional would never dream of stopping for a sit down snack and a drink during a tournament round. They carry energy bars, fruit, water and hydration drinks in their bags. So why, as amateurs, do we think that taking a break is a good idea?

My home club, Parkstone in Dorset, invested in building a wonderful new halfway house last year. It’s perfectly positioned so that you can access it after the seventh green, before or after hitting a tee shot at 13 and again after putting out on 15. It’s a fantastic addition but a speed of play killer! The only time I’ll use it is when I’m playing casual golf or during a fun competition like on Lady Captain’s Day when everyone in the field stops.

My attitude towards its interference in the flow of a round may be frowned upon by some club managers who want to encourage their members to use this ‘expensive-to-staff’ service, but I genuinely believe that stopping slows play down considerably and halts momentum, and the game is slow enough as it is!

And then there are our halfway house food choices. Golf is supposed to be an athletic sport, so why is it acceptable to eat a big greasy breakfast bap, a sausage roll or a slice of cake when you make a pitstop during a round of golf? We’d never dream of fuelling our body with such rubbish mid-way through a workout at the gym, yet some players stop for a bacon sarnie every single time they play.

I’ve also seen arguments ensue when one or two players in a group don’t want to stop (usually due to a shortage of time) and others do. It often means they end up having to let the group behind play through. All of this adds considerable time to their day and for working women, parents trying to rush to do the school run, and in other situations, many of us are already on the clock. We’re supposed to be trying to speed the game up - not slow it down!

Golfers often talk about the 'turn' as a reset moment. Walking from the 9th green to the 10th tee is a moment of genuine change in their round of golf - a brief pause to add up your front-9 score and reflect.

I was so convinced that making a halfway stop after the 9th hole harms your score on the next that I wanted to dig into the facts. With the help of the brilliant statistics and insights available from Shot Scope, we can see exactly how a halfway break impacts performance. The only caveat is that we don't know who actually stopped, but the results are still an eye-opener.

The metrics compared the average score over par on holes 8 and 9 (the end of the front nine) against holes 10 and 11 (the start of the back nine), broken down by handicap group. Perhaps most revealing was that hole 9 is the hardest of the four holes for almost everyone. Across all handicap groups, it consistently produces the highest average score over par.

But does the data support a genuine performance shift - for better or worse - at the start of the back nine?

Interestingly, the answer splits cleanly down skill level. Better players (scratch to 10 handicap) actually scored worse on holes 10 and 11, averaging fractionally more strokes over par on the start of the back nine than the end of the front. While these differences are tiny, they are incredibly consistent across all three groups of lower-handicap players.

However, for higher handicappers (15 to 30 handicap), the exact opposite was true. This group actually scored better at the start of the back nine, averaging fewer strokes over par on holes 10 and 11 compared to holes 8 and 9. While the effect is small on a per-hole basis, it is a consistent trend - every single handicap group from 15 to 30 shows a clear improvement after the turn.

The statistics make perfect sense. Stopping at the halfway house likely disrupts a low handicapper's concentration and breaks the flow of their round.

For a typical higher handicapper having a bad round and scoring poorly, stopping at a halfway house for a few minutes gives you the chance to regroup and perhaps approach the remaining holes with a fresh attitude and more positive mindset. It gives you the opportunity to take a few deep breaths and draw a line under a disastrous front nine.

We’ve all seen this happen during bad weather delays in televised tour championships when players get called off the course for safety because conditions become unplayable or dangerous. Players who were scoring badly get a chance to speak to their coach and regroup. They often come back out fighting, improve their score and make the cut.

Golf is a leisure sport. Most of us play at a recreational level for pleasure and there’s no doubt that a halfway house is a great addition to clubs as part of that service. I think a solution to slowing speed of play would be for the halfway house to have a system to take orders in advance of the stop, either via an app or an on-course order point at the start of hole 9.

This allows the server to prepare drinks and snacks for the upcoming group to simply grab and go. There’s no hanging about or time-wasting, so when it comes to slowing play and ruining the momentum of a round of golf they are not a scorecard killer.

So the moral is, if you take your golf seriously, choose to use a halfway hut wisely, as a grab and go stop or a leisurely luxury on a fun day out only.

Golf can be a dangerous sport, but it’s often the less obvious threats that cause medical emergencies on the course. Heat is a major killer. Fortunately, if you’re prepared, you can easily avoid heat exhaustion, which brings on dizziness, nausea, and muscle cramps, and the even more severe threat of heat stroke, where worst-case scenarios include unconsciousness and death.

Here are my 5 survival tips for playing golf when the temperature skyrockets…

Consider Your Tee Time

Golfers are creatures of habit. If they always play on a Monday at midday, they’re going to damn well play on a Monday at midday. But listen to the warnings on the weather forecast. If the weather man is saying the temperature and UV levels are off the charts, perhaps rethink your usual Monday routine.

Can you adapt? Are you choosing the best time of day to play golf? Can you manage an early or late tee time? The type of golf you play can also be adapted in extreme heat and there is no need to say yes to playing in everything.

The hottest day on record may not be the time for the monthly medal and I believe golf clubs have a responsibility to cancel some competition golf so members don’t even have the option.

Keep It Cool

Now you’d think common sense should prevail, but it’s incredible how many golfers do very little pre-game prep at any time, let alone in a heatwave. Preparation is everything if you want to stay hydrated and keep your core temperature down during your round.

Get set the night before, freeze some bottles of hydrating drinks In the morning, fill insulated water bottles with cold water, add a few ice cubes, and if you have decent bottles, they’ll stay icy.

Talking of staying hydrated, remember that preparation for playing golf, or in fact any activity in hot weather, begins way before you step out into the sun.

Pre-hydrate the day before and the morning of the round using electrolytes, and ensure that you continue to hydrate long into the evening after you’ve played. Try to keep alcohol consumption down, as the main goal is to stay hydrated and not have a hangover!

Lower your body temperature before you head out with a cold shower, ice plunge if your club has a spa, or simply eat a crushed ice drink. Your core will be cooler to begin with and this will help massively.

A cooling towel is an essential bit of kit in my golf bag for hot days. The material keeps you cool and you can constantly re-wet it with cold water from your water bottle. Look at cyclists or people in the building trade, they often have tricks to keep them cool when they’re outside in the sun with nowhere to hide. A roofer friend of mine swears by a wet towel round the back of his neck to keep him from overheating. This is proven to cool the body temperature and prevent melting.

A handheld fan is also a game changer, or even a fan that loops around your neck and blows air at you whilst you are putting or walking to and from a buggy.

Do Not Carry

Please don’t carry in hot weather… the less you exert yourself the better. Go for efficiency and use an electric or push trolley, or even better, book a cart. This will be your sanctuary when it is roasting. The roof will act as a sun shade and also enable you to carry an ice box full of cool hydrating goodies on board.

Flipping the windscreen down to half open will allow what breeze there is to flow into your face. You can attach fans to the sides and keep sun cream and water facial spritz at hand. Trust me, if you’re able to hire a cart then do it. You’ll then rejoice about your golf afterwards rather than moan about how much you melted.

Cover Up

The temptation to slap the sunscreen on and bare as much flesh as possible on the course is high when temperatures are on the up, but covering up with long sleeve UV protective clothing can keep you cooler.

The fabrics these days are extremely intelligent and will wick moisture away from your body, keep you at an optimum temperature and bounce the sun’s rays off. The heat of the sun can quite literally cook you, especially as it heats the ground you walk on, so the heat gets you from above and below.

Wear breathable golf shoes, light colours and a wide brim hat. Sunglasses will prevent headaches and eye strain. It goes without saying that a high factor sunscreen on any skin that is exposed is non-negotiable. Remember that golfers carry a much higher risk of developing skin cancers. According to Skincancer.org, on average it has been estimated that professional golfers receive 217 times the amount of ultraviolet

(UV) radiation needed to cause a sunburn over the course of the year. So cover up as much as you can, there is no such thing as a safe tan.

With this in mind, seek the shade. If you’re playing a tree-lined course, walk in the shade as much as possible and park your buggy or trolley in the shade. Utilise a sunshade umbrella when playing, there are some great lightweight brollies on the market. If you haven’t got one of those, then use a good old-fashioned giant golf umbrella to create a protective canopy over your head while you trundle your trolley along.

Be Efficient

Cut down the amount of your pre-game warm-up. Reduce the usual bucket of balls before playing to some stretching, chipping and putting. Artificial grass is one of the biggest causes of hotspots in towns and cities, and guess what is covering your practice area? The heat bounces off the fake grass and will literally bake you from below.

I’d advise against the range and instead find a shady spot to chip. The less you exert yourself, the longer you’ll survive out there. So conserve energy and be sensible about how you move about on the course.

No running back to get your putter from the bag after that bunker shot, take your putter with you. Be prepared and think ahead. Play Ready Golf. Leave your bag at the back of the green on the way to the next tee, all the usual stuff that helps play move along at a decent pace.

We all love playing golf, but there will be days where it will quite simply be too hot. When this happens, think about booking an air conditioned simulator or finding a cool shaded range that has full cover. Setting up a fan in a bay is ideal, this can still be great for your game. Nobody enjoys heatstroke, but follow these rules and here’s hoping you’ll avoid it.

Ready Golf has been introduced to speed up play and I am hundred percent certain that this has worked. This efficient approach to playing the game is encouraged by golf’s governing bodies and golf clubs, provided it is done in a safe, respectful manner.

But is it gently stripping away golf etiquette and skipping over manners and safety on the course? If not applied correctly I would say it’s having an adverse effect.

The ground rules for Ready Golf are:

On the tee box, whoever is ready and in the box first goes first - not the person who scored lowest or won the last hole.

On the fairway players who are ready take their shots, not players who are further away and not ready.

Players should hit their own shots before searching for playing partners balls in rough/hazards.

Ready Golf doesn’t give you an immediate entitlement to play your shot whenever you fancy it. It does not give you permission to hit your shot over your playing partners heads, or indeed fly up to the green in your buggy when you’re playing partners have not even hit their approach shots. Common sense and respect for others should prevail at all times. I just don’t think the ground rules are being explained to new golfers. There’s more emphasis on rushing around the course.

I believe you can play Ready Golf and still maintain etiquette, but I fear many new golfers are entering the game where it’s a bit of a free-for-all when it comes to who hits when. With a panicked rush to hit a shot as soon as possible, it’s easy to miss out on the enjoyment of watching a playing partner hit a personal best shot, you miss the ability to acknowledge a great shot and say well played.

By constantly being in your own bubble and playing your shot when you’re ready, you are often unaware of what the other golfers in your group are doing. Have they lost their ball? Have they taken a few extra stabs at the ball in the rough? You don’t know, you haven’t watched it.

So although ready golf is designed to speed up play, sometimes it can have the opposite effect because if you’re not paying attention to where your mate's ball went, they’re now going to spend ages searching.

Golf should be more about teamwork. Although you are playing an individual sport you’re playing together, therefore you’re in it together, you should be looking out for your teammates or playing partners and you should be aware of how they’re doing and what they’re doing.

Ready Golf as a mixed fourball is tricky. Picture this, the guys have already teed off and are striding up the hole chasing their fastest round. For women, it often feels a rush to get to the forward tees and hit their shots.

I’ve experienced men walking up the fairway before we’ve teed off on numerous occasions. They’re not actually communicating in any way or even acknowledging each other’s shots at this point.

I feel like we miss out on camaraderie and banter as the game feels a bit disjointed. Not to mention, quite frankly, it can be dangerous. In my experience women are very good at ready golf as they have to play more shots so always have to be ready.

I also believe Ready Golf needs to be applied differently depending on if you’re playing stableford, medal or matchplay. When there are rules of golf resulting in penalties for playing out of turn, applying Ready Golf without first agreeing the ground rules in a competitive round of golf can have consequences. I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments box below.

If Ready Golf is not explained correctly, we risk losing golfing manners and losing so much of the qualities of a game. One of the reasons I encourage juniors to take up this sport is because golf is one of the best games for kids to play to teach them etiquette and sportsmanship. It teaches them respect for their playing partners and good manners.

Yes, it’s a singular game as a general rule, but you are so aware of what the people you are playing with are doing that you are courteous towards them and at no point do you ignore them. I fear often with ready golf it’s easy for players to become quite isolated during a round.

So let’s lay down the ground rules shall we? If you are ready to go and your playing partner is not, give them a shout and say “I’m just gonna go and hit my shot .”

If you’ve lost your ball in the woods and your playing partner is ready to hit, tell them to play, but don’t carry on looking for your ball. Pause while they hit their shot so at least you can acknowledge where their ball has gone and then continue your search.

When you’re on the green I believe playing ready golf doesn’t necessarily speed up play and traditional honours should still apply. If you have putted up to the hole and you’re close, ask if you can knock the ball in. Don’t walk across your playing partner’s line to knock the ball in because you’re ready, they may be about to mark their ball.

If a golfer has stuffed it into the bunker and is struggling to get out, then absolutely continue to putt. But do it safely and respectfully. I do feel that when your playing partner arrives on the green and you’ve already finished the hole it rushes them.

Honours on the tee should remain if a player has had a brilliant hole previously. A birdie or personal best should warrant acknowledgement and invitation to tee off first if they’re indeed ready, if they’re not, they will turn down the invitation. Simple.

Let’s talk about safety. Yes, hitting your shot when you’re ready to play has its advantages and it has certainly sped up play, often reducing rounds to under four hours. But it’s an accident waiting to happen if not applied correctly.

I constantly hear accounts of balls landing beside or past players who are waiting on the fairway. The rush to get the ball in play off the tee causes lack of thought to the players ahead.

Though Ready Golf is a fairly recent recommendation, common sense is not always prevailing. Fairly new golfers are tending to assume it’s just the norm to hit shots over each other’s heads and I’ve seen this all too many times recently out on the golf course.

Golf is still a very dangerous sport and those almost blinkered by thinking “I’m ready, I’m just gonna play” will have a bit of tunnel vision and be focused so much on the speed of play that they forget about safety.

So unless you’re extremely confident that you can hit your golf ball over your playing partner's head when they’ve headed up the hole, I would say don’t do it.

If you're the golfer rushing ahead to speed up play, think about the effect that your actions are having on the golfer you’ve now silently challenged to miss you. The worry of potentially hitting a golfer ahead off putting for some players.

All of this misuse of ready golf can be cleared up by simply agreeing on ground rules before you tee off. Play at a good pace, be respectful and be safe. That would be my Ready Golf motto. Ready Golf is brilliant, but just constantly remind yourselves that manners and safety are still hugely important.

When you have a card in hand there is nowhere to hide. Everyone will be able to see how terrible at golf you really are! You scored 6 on that short par-3? Hmm, are you sure that was just a bad day and not a true reflection of your game? Golf is very hard, maybe you should try Pickle Ball? You should give up on the 12th now and NR…

If those spiralling, chaotic thoughts sound in any way familiar, this article is for you. As a golfer who played to a high level as an amateur and now a golf coach with over 20 years experience, I know how it feels to get the scorecard nerves and have seen over and over again how the fear of a scorecard can wreak havoc on people’s enjoyment of the game. Here are my top 5 tips for navigating scorecard nerves.

Understand And Accept

You are nervous because you care and it means something. Feeling anxious does not make you weak, it makes you human and means you are challenging yourself by doing things outside of your comfort zone.

Understanding that nerves are normal and actually good, is the first step in freeing you from thinking of them as a negative thing. So accept and embrace the nerves, it makes completing the challenge all that bit sweeter.

It’s The Hope That Kills You

Or rather in golf, it’s the expectation, and there is no other sport I’ve come across where the gap between people’s expectations of what they think they ‘should’ be able to do and ‘can’ actually do are bigger.

Golf doesn’t care if you were hitting it well at the range yesterday, it doesn’t care if you used to be really good a few years ago, golf only cares about the here and now and will quickly highlight any weak areas of your game. Remember goals are good, expectations will weigh you down. So be realistic about what you’d like to achieve.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is the process of gradually and repeatedly facing the situations, thoughts or feelings that make you anxious instead of avoiding them. Over time, your brain learns that the situation is not as dangerous as it is first believed and the anxiety about it begins to lose its power.

An example of this is often people who are scared of spiders, following the steps of first being in the same room as one, to then being closer, to then building up to holding one. Just as someone with a fear of spiders might gradually learn to hold one, you can learn to become comfortable with scorecards by facing the discomfort rather than avoiding it.

Like being in the same room as a spider, start slowly by setting yourself small challenges; keeping your score for 6 holes during a round. Having a friend mark your card for 9. Entering more 9-hole competitions. You will undoubtedly experience some bad scores that make you feel uncomfortable, but you will also start to feel less anxious about it because you have experienced the nerves, done it anyway and realised it is just another part of the game.

Stay On Task

There’s a reason why the best golfers in the world have set pre-shot routines. A routine gives your mind something to focus on and acts as an anchor when nerves start to build.

Think of your attention like a torch, wherever you point and shine the light is where your attention goes, so shine it on what you are trying to do. That’s not to say you won’t still have nerves but bringing your attention back to the task in hand keeps the mind busy and gives you less time to let doubts creep in. Being able to focus is a skill and one of the most powerful tools to have when playing golf under pressure.

There Is The Possibility…

Scorecard golf might not be for you. For many golfers, keeping score and competing is what golf is all about, it is certainly the traditional image of the game. But golf has changed, nowadays there are more ways than ever to enjoy the game and not all of them revolve around scorecards and competition.

Playing socially with friends, driving range and simulator golf, or just being outside and hitting balls are all ways golf is enjoyed. So if keeping score consistently causes stress, takes away your enjoyment and is not something you want to overcome, that is absolutely more than okay and good that you know that about yourself. Find the version of the game that makes you happy and keeps you coming back.

Parting Thoughts

The scorecard is often treated as a judgment of our ability, but in reality it’s simply a record of one day’s golf. The problem isn’t usually the numbers on the card, it's the stories we attach to them. We worry about what a bad score says about us, what others might think, or whether we’ve lived up to our own expectations. It is also always worth remembering that other people care very little about your golf and far more about their own!

So the more we can separate our self worth from our score, the more freedom we give ourselves to enjoy the game. Golf will always contain uncertainty, mistakes and the occasional disaster hole. That’s the nature of the game and what makes it so challenging.

The most important point with all of this is to remember you are meant to be playing for fun, this is where you are spending your precious leisure time. If the pursuit of scorecard golf makes you nervous in an excited way, embrace the tips above, but if it doesn’t light your candle, find and embrace the golf that does.

It’s official: women’s golf is experiencing an unprecedented global surge. According to the National Golf Foundation, the United States has seen a staggering 45% rise in the number of female golfers since 2020. This momentum is mirrored across the Atlantic; England Golf reported that in 2025, female players submitted over 151,000 additional scores, a 14% increase that underscores a growing community.

However, does this surge in numbers mean there is now a clear pathway from a beginner to full club membership and regular, committed play? In all honesty, I’m not so sure.

Bridging the Gap

From my experience, only a few golf courses manage the beginner-to-member transition really well. For most clubs, the standard offering is a short course of lessons and a six-week academy membership. While this provides off-peak access to the course, the majority of club competitions remain stubbornly mid-week.

Equally challenging is the cultural barrier: new golfers often aren’t deemed "real" golfers by the existing membership unless they are playing 18 holes every time they go out. I long for a world where women can learn the game, inevitably get hooked, and then be offered flexible, diverse ways to pursue their golfing journey.

I asked a group of women in both the US and the UK about their experiences, and the feedback was mixed. Are you a woman who got into golf, excited by the prospect of a lifetime sport, only to be disappointed by a complete lack of a next step?

One woman shared a brutally honest perspective:

"The answer is no; beginners are not really welcome at all, though the club would deny this. It launches occasional, half-hearted attempts at recruiting new women members, but success is generally limited to existing golfers who are medium-to-low handicappers.

“We are a century behind the times equality-wise. Any woman who pushes for change is punished with banishment from cliques and sidelined for committee roles. The 'backbench' traditional men are bad enough, but I'm ashamed to note that the worst enemies of beginners at my club are often the existing women members themselves."

Without a clear pathway, I frequently find myself unable to answer the desperate questions from women in my group lessons: “What next? How do I actually go and play golf on a course? I haven’t got all day, I’ve got three hours maximum. How do I make this work?”

It’s been embarrassing at times to simply say, "Unfortunately, you can’t do it here. Why not pop down the road to the nine-hole course that does it really well, or stick to the par-3 course?" It often feels like the traditional sport is not set up for women unless they are retired and have hours of leisure time.

The Financial Case for Flex-Memberships

Some clubs might look at this problem and wonder, “Is it worth it? What’s it going to do for our revenue? We have a waiting list, so why should we alter things for groups who only want to play nine holes?”

I’ll tell you why: New women golfers spend money. Working women buy lunches, look for venues to hold meetings, host parties, and organise social gatherings. Furthermore, women usually manage the family diary; get them involved, and they will bring their children, the future members of your club. A short-form academy membership utilising off-peak times injects reliable revenue into quieter slots in the club diary.

Here is the framework that forward-thinking facilities are already using brilliantly:

An Active Beginner Community: Group coaching blended seamlessly with on-course lessons.

A Dedicated 9-Hole Membership: A tier that differentiates itself from full membership purely by format and time, not status.

Accessible Competitive Formats: Nine-hole competitions, knockouts, and small team events that foster camaraderie in a social playing environment.

Clubs Doing It Brilliantly

Jo Shorrocks, a board member at Bigbury Golf Club in Devon, notes: "We’ve been really successful in getting women into golf, which is why England Golf chose us as a pilot club for their 'Women’s Growth Initiative.' This is largely due to an open-minded Board, enthusiastic volunteers, and a progressive Pro who understands that women are a different, highly valuable proposition."

Bigbury’s highly successful two-year pathway works like this:

Year 1 (Get Into Golf): An off-peak membership offered at a fraction of the full cost. Women can play after 1:00 PM on any day of the week, playing as many holes as they feel comfortable with once the Pro deems them course-ready. 75% of their beginners took up this option.

Year 2 (Integration Membership): Still off-peak and heavily discounted, but introducing structured social events, on-course competitions, and handicap support. Almost all Year 1 members progressed to Year 2 - in fact, one of those beginners is playing in the 36-hole Club Championship today!

Innovative thinking is saving the game elsewhere, too. At Bishops Stortford Golf Club in Hertfordshire, Barbara Tucker won the "Women’s Initiative" award at the 2024 Women in Golf Awards. The Blue Course scheme she created in 2014 boasted shorter tees, group lessons, free facility use, and a buddy system. Today, the majority of the club's ladies' committee started their journeys through that very scheme.

Meanwhile, at Highpost Golf Club in Salisbury, Debbie Rock began her journey through a "Women Into Golf" (WIG) program. She just finished her year as the first female Club Captain in the club’s 104-year history. Compare that to a less supportive club experience shared by another golfer:

"Our club runs a 'Get Into Golf' for six weeks, followed by members taking newbies out for four holes a few times. But there’s nothing to progress on afterward. It’s hard to play with other beginners because no one knows what they’re doing, and if you don’t own clubs yet, you literally can't play."

Proven Frameworks To Adopt

A modern 9-hole section must be trusted and respected. Alternatively, clubs can offer a flexible credit system where points are deducted depending on when and how many holes are played, a system Goodwood in West Sussex has used with massive success.

Goodwood’s Copse facility features six short par-3 holes, making it the ultimate playground for beginners to master their short game before seamlessly transitioning to a quick nine holes from the forward tees on The Park course.

Flagged by several US golfers, Operation 36 is a structured, six-level programme designed to take a beginner from their very first round to the formal tees. Golfers start playing nine holes from just 25 yards out from the green. Once they can shoot a 36 or better from that distance, they move back to the next yardage marker.

This model tackles a massive industry problem: 70% of beginners who try golf ultimately quit because they feel lost and discouraged. Frameworks like Operation 36 give pros a reliable revenue stream and facilities a structured way to retain players. As LPGA & PGA Coach Maggie Simons puts it: "Operation 36 is the backbone of my programming. It gives golfers a clear roadmap to improvement, no matter their goals."

Finding The Tribe

Whether it’s the 'Ladies Masters Scheme' I utilised back in the early 2000s at Hamptworth Golf & Country Club in Wiltshire, or the incredibly popular 'Happy Hour' Tuesday evening league at Hillcrest Country Club in Indianapolis (which regularly sees over 40 women participating in clinics and social play), success always comes down to community and connection.

Whatever a club decides to do, the most important thing is that a clear, visible pathway exists. If you are a member of a club that doesn't actively encourage beginners, start asking why. If you are a beginner, don’t wait around for the perfect invitation. Book a playing lesson, tee up from the fairway with a friend, and ask your club what they can offer.

If your local club doesn't give you the answer you're looking for, leverage the digital communities available to us today. Platforms like Women Who Golf, Skratch Women, the Women’s Golf Lounge, and the UK Women’s Golf Community are the perfect places to find your tribe, get nomadic playing opportunities and safely fall in love with this fantastic sport.