04 August 2021, St Andrews, Scotland: The stage is set for golf’s newest champions to make history at the season’s fifth and final Major – the 2021 AIG Women’s Open at Carnoustie, Scotland from 19-22 July.
Competing at one of golf’s greatest tests for the first time since 2011 are 144 of the world’s best female players including Rolex Women’s Golf World Rankings number one Nelly Korda, seven-time Major champion and Hall of Famer, Inbee Park, and home-favourite Georgia Hall who won the championship in 2018. However, it might be golf’s next generation of stars to look out for if history were to repeat itself in Scotland.
Buoyed by defending champion Sophia Popov’s victory at Royal Troon, which saw the 28-year-old German capture her maiden Major title in only her second championship appearance, the highest ranked LPGA and LET rookies head to the AIG Women’s Open full of hope with Ireland’s Leona Maguire, American Yealimi Noh and Thailand’s Attaya Thitikul leading the charge.
Maguire and Thitikul are no strangers to the AIG Women’s Open, having both lifted the Smyth Salver, awarded to the low amateur, in 2016 and 2018 and 2019 respectively, but are now blazing their own trail in the professional ranks.
A links specialist, Maguire is a former World Amateur Golf Ranking ® (WAGR ®) number one and has lifted numerous amateur titles including the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship, the Irish Women’s Amateur Close Championship and the Scottish Women’s Amateur Strokeplay. This season, the 26-year-old has recorded two runner-up finishes on the LPGA as well as a record-equalling final round of ten-under-par 61 at the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship.
Thailand’s latest prodigy, 18-year-old Thitikul, first emerged onto the world stage winning the 2018 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific and is now a three-time Ladies European Tour winner and currently leads the Race to Costa del Sol, having captured the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open as well as finishing inside the top-five on five occasions. America’s Yealimi Noh finished third at the 2021 Amundi Evian Championship and is 31st on the Rolex Women’s Golf World Rankings.
Seeking to become Ireland’s first female major champion, Maguire, said, “It would be a dream come true to win the AIG Women’s Open. I love links golf and I hope my previous experience in this Championship and at Carnoustie will stand me in good stead. Irish fans are some of the most passionate in the world and I am so proud to have the opportunity to bring this title home.”
Thitikul added, “I will never forget winning the Smyth Salver, it gave me a feeling that I belonged among some of the best players in the world and it helped to set me up for the next stage of my career. I am enjoying my first year on the LET and I can’t wait to compete at the AIG Women’s Open as a professional for the first time.”
DEBUTANTS TO WATCH
Looking to win on their debut and emulate Japan’s ‘Smiling Cinderella’ Hinako Shibuno, who triumphed in 2019 in her first ever Major appearance, and recently crowned Champion Golfer of the Year, Collin Morikawa, are a host of 17 debutants.
Most notably are Finland’s Matilda Castren, who has won on both the LPGA and LET this season and Slovenian 17-year-old Pia Babnik, who lifted her maiden LET title at the 2021 Jabra Ladies Open having previously won the 2019 R&A Girls’ Amateur Championship.
Spurred on by the statistic that each of the last nine major champions have been first-time major winners, Castren said, “The standard of the field is so high, it really is all to play for. I am so proud to represent my country around the world and it doesn’t get much bigger than the AIG Women’s Open. Links golf is truly the purest test, and I am excited by the idea that you need to play your best golf to win. I can’t wait to make my debut and help to shine a spotlight on golf in Finland.”
The full list of exemptions into the AIG Women’s Open and AIG Women’s Open Final Qualifying can be found at aigwomensopen.com.
The AIG Women’s Open will take place from 16-22 August 2021 at Carnoustie, with tickets now on sale via aigwomensopen.com. The Championship will follow government guidance in relation to spectator attendance.
Adult tickets will start from £25 with children aged 16 years or under before the Championship admitted free of charge. Spectators aged 24 years or under will be entitled to purchase youth (16-24 years) tickets starting from £12.50. A £5 Mastercard discount is available per transaction.
Ends.
Notes to Picture Editors:
The photographs attached may be used with editorial coverage of this news release only. Please credit The R&A.
Caption 1: Atthaya Thitikul, the 2018 and 2019 Smyth Salver winner, will compete in the 2021 AIG Women’s Open as a professional.
Caption 2: Leona Maguire, the 2016 Smyth Salver winner, will compete in the 2021 AIG Women’s Open as a professional.
Notes to Editors:
About the AIG Women’s Open
First established in 1976 and now owned by The R&A, the AIG Women’s Open is one of five Major championships in women’s golf.
Each year 144 players compete for the championship trophy with the low amateur, who plays 72 holes, awarded the Smyth Salver.
The AIG Women’s Open will be played at Carnoustie Golf Links from 16-22 August 2021. Future venues will include Muirfield (2022), Walton Heath (2023), St Andrews (2024) and Royal Porthcawl (2025).
The Championship is the showpiece for The R&A’s commitment to growing women and girls’ golf via the Women in Golf Charter. The AIG Women’s Open aims to champion the changing face of women’s golf; to inspire, engage and provoke in order to challenge perceptions that will shape the future of the sport.
About AIG
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is a leading global insurance organization. AIG member companies provide a wide range of property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement solutions, and other financial services to customers in approximately 80 countries and jurisdictions. These diverse offerings include products and services that help businesses and individuals protect their assets, manage risks and provide for retirement security. AIG common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Additional information about AIG can be found at www.aig.com | YouTube: www.youtube.com/aig | Twitter: @AIGinsurance www.twitter.com/AIGinsurance | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aig. These references with additional information about AIG have been provided as a convenience, and the information contained on such websites is not incorporated by reference into this press release.
AIG is the marketing name for the worldwide property-casualty, life and retirement, and general insurance operations of American International Group, Inc. For additional information, please visit our website at www.aig.com. All products and services are written or provided by subsidiaries or affiliates of American International Group, Inc. Products or services may not be available in all countries and jurisdictions, and coverage is subject to underwriting requirements and actual policy language. Non-insurance products and services may be provided by independent third parties. Certain property-casualty coverages may be provided by a surplus lines insurer. Surplus lines insurers do not generally participate in state guaranty funds, and insureds are therefore not protected by such funds.
About The R&A
The R&A group of companies was formed in 2004 to take on The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews’ responsibilities for governing the Rules of Golf, staging The Open, golf’s original championship, and developing the sport. The British Golf Museum in St Andrews is part of the R&A group.
Together The R&A and the USGA govern the sport of golf worldwide, operating in separate jurisdictions with a commitment to a single code for the Rules of Golf, Rules of Amateur Status and Equipment Standards. The R&A, through R&A Rules Ltd, governs the sport worldwide, outside of the United States and Mexico, on behalf of over 36 million golfers in 143 countries and with the consent of 158 organisations from amateur and professional golf.
The R&A has responsibility for running a series of world class amateur events and international matches in women’s and girls’ as well as men’s and boys’ golf. The R&A stages the AIG Women’s Open and works with the European Tour to stage the Senior Open presented by Rolex.
The R&A is committed to investing £200 million over ten years in developing golf and supports the growth of the sport internationally, including the development and management of sustainable golf facilities. For more information, visit www.randa.org.
