Ricoh Women's British Open Storylines

Mighty Mo To Defend First Major Title

Mo Martin used one swing of her 3 wood on the 72nd hole last year to capture major glory at Royal Birkdale Golf Club at the RICOH Women’s British Open. Martin’s approach shot on the par-5 18th hit the flag stick and rolled away six feet. Her eagle putt got her to 1-under par and was in the clubhouse with a group of pursuers chasing her while she waited for over an hour at the practice facility. With the likes of Inbee Park, Suzann Pettersen and Shanshan Feng failing to close out on the final holes, Martin’s caddie notified her as she stood on the range of the final outcome and an ensuing, “is this real life?” came from Martin, quickly realizing she was a major champion.

Since her first-career win in Southport a year ago, Martin hasn’t been able to follow up her major breakthrough and was derailed by a thumb injury shortly afterward. This season, she has one top- 10 finish, T10 at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, and has missed four cuts in 18 starts. The defending champ took last week off and last outing was T22 at the Marathon Classic.

A Trip Back To Turnberry

The RICOH Women’s British Open will make its return to Trump Turnberry Resort for the year’s fourth major championship and will be the second time this event will be played on the Alisa Course. The picturesque venue has hosted the Open Championship four times and the Senior Open Championship on seven different occasions. The women first played this championship at Turnberry in 2002, the second year it was played as a major and was won by World Golf and LPGA Halls of Famer Karrie Webb. Webb won her sixth major championship here after finishing at 15-under par and two shots clear of Michelle Ellis and Paula Marti. She’ll be making her 14th appearance at this championship and has three additional top-10 finishes.

Career Grand Slam In Sights For Park

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park has played like the best player in the world this season and hopes to add her name under more records this week in Turnberry. Park has two shots at the Career Grand Slam this summer and could become just the seventh woman in history to achieve the feat. She has been vocal about how much winning this championship would mean for her career.

“I think now I think the whole world, I think knows that I really want to achieve the career Grand Slam,” Park said in a pre-tournament conference call. “That’s been my goal for the last two, three years, since I’ve won three other majors. So I mean it’s definitely one of my biggest goals in my career, for sure. And I definitely want to win the British Open before I retire.”

After winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for the third-consecutive year, Park now has six career major victories and is tied for 9th all-time with Pat Bradley, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan and Kathy Whitworth. If she wins this week at Turnberry, she’ll move into a tie for seventh on the all-time major wins list with seven victories alongside Juli Inkster and Karrie Webb and be tied for most wins among active players.

Park Moves Out IN Front In Rolex ANNIKA Major Award Race

Inbee Park passed Brittany Lincicome in the race for major excellence with her tied for third finish at the year’s last major, the U.S. Women’s Open. Park sits just four points ahead of Lincicome, who held the lead in the race through the first two majors. Park has been stellar on the big stage this year and has yet to finish worse than T11. She won her sixth major title at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June and has her eyes set on completing the Career Grand Slam in Turnberry this week.

The Rolex ANNIKA Major Award was established in 2014 to recognize the player who, during a current LPGA Tour season, has the most outstanding Major Championship record. A player must win a Major Championship to be eligible for the award.Points are awarded to players who finish in the top-10 at the Tour’s five Major Championships:

1st place - 60 pts.; 2nd place - 24 pts.; 3rd place - 18 pts.; 4th place - 14 pts.; 5th place - 12 pts.; 6th place - 10 pts.; 7th place - 8 pts.; 8th place - 6 pts.; 9th place - 4 pts.; 10th place - 2 pts.