RETURN TO WOBURN
This year marks the first time the RICOH Women’s British Open will be played at Woburn as a major championship but the event has a long history at the venue. Prior to being designated as an LPGA major in 2001, the club hosted the event nine times either as an LPGA sanctioned event or Ladies European Tour event. It will be the 11th time the major is hosted in England.
Women’s British Open - Held at Woburn Golf Club
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 1999 | Sherri Steinhauer |
| 1996 | Emilee Klein |
| 1995 | Karrie Webb |
| 1994 | Liselotte Neumann |
| as a co-sanctioned LPGA non-major |
|
| 1993 | Karen Lunn |
| 1992 | Patty Sheehan |
| 1991 | Penny Grice-Whittaker |
| 1990 | Helen Alfredsson |
| 1984* | Ayako Okamoto |
| *was an LPGA-LET co-sanctioned event | as a Ladies European Tour major |
PARK OUT FOR TITLE DEFENSE
Defending champion Inbee Park will be unable to defend her title this week due to a lingering thumb injury that has plagued her all season. The seven-time major champ was last in action at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship when she officially qualified for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame. This is the first time in her career she will not defend a title at a major championship. She released the following statement last week.
“With extreme disappointment I must announce that I will be withdrawing from this year’s Ricoh Women’s British Open at Woburn. This has been an incredibly hard decision for me to make and the reason I’ve left it to the very last minute. Winning the British Open last year at Turnberry meant so much to me in more ways than you could imagine. Since the PGA I’ve been resting and rehabilitating my left thumb in the hope that I would be right to defend my title next week but it just needs a little bit more time. Therefore, I will be unable to attend this year’s British Open and now must concentrate on getting healthy and ready to compete for my country at the Olympic Games in Rio.”
KO COMES IN ON A ROLL
It seems like the wave of momentum world No. 1 Lydia Ko is currently riding has no plans of slowing down any time soon. The 19-year-old is coming off her 14th LPGA Tour victory two weeks ago at the Marathon Classic where she outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee in a four-hole playoff. It marked a tour-leading four victories this season, and she has seen resounding success in majors in 2016 already. This is her fifth appearance at the event and is coming off her career-best finish, a tie for third last season at Turnberry.
Lydia Ko Finishes At 2016 Majors:
| Event | Score | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| ANA Inspiration | 70-68-68-69=275 (-12) | Win |
| KPMG Women's PGA Championship | 71-70-70-67=278 (-6) | 2 |
| U.S. Women's Open | 73-66-70-75= 284 (-4) | 3 |
AMERICANS RIDING HIGH
With doubters asking the question, “What happened to American women’s golf?” players from the United States have been fueled to make statements every time they tee it up. In the past month the women representing the stars and stripes have put up resonating victories. Brittany Lang comes to Woburn as the newest major champion after her first major title at the U.S. Women’s Open. Lang also put herself at the top of the list as the oldest winner on Tour this year at 30-years-old.
Last week, the quartet of Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Cristie Kerr were “crowned” the best golfing nation after their come-from-behind victory at the UL International Crown outside Chicago. The Americans did not even advance to Sunday’s singles matches in the first staging of the event in 2014 and had their backs up against the wall this go around after being swept in their four-ball matches on Day 1. But singles victories by Lewis, Piller and Kerr pushed the U.S. team past the rest of the field to finish with 13 totals points for the week.
“It’s huge,” said Lewis. “I mean, this week has been unbelievable for us. To be called the best golfing nation I think is pretty satisfying, just to hear that being announced when we’re getting those trophies. These girls and we played great this week, and we never gave up. We had zero points the first day, and we still ended up with the most. It’s just a testament to them and their will to want to win this thing.”
NUMBERS TO KNOW
19-under – Tournament scoring record set by Karen Stupples in 2004 at Sunningdale
6– Past champions in the field: Mo Martin, Stacy Lewis, Yani Tseng, Catriona Matthew, Jiyai Shin and Karrie Webb
2– Only two players have two titles here (Shin in 2008 & 2012; Tseng in 2010 & 2011). Tseng is the only player to successfully defend her title here
)
)
)
)
