View photos of major champion Ashleigh Buhai throughout her professional career.
As the face of women’s golf in South Africa, Ashleigh Buhai has had a solid career, highlighted by a major win at the 2022 AIG Women’s Open.
Before earning her LPGA card in 2014, Buhai spent eight full-time seasons on the Ladies European Tour, tallying wins in 2007 (her rookie year) and in 2011. Since splitting her time between the two tours, Buhai has a total of five Ladies European Tour wins.
Since joining the LPGA for the 2015 season, Buhai has won two events, with the highlight of her LPGA career coming at the 2022 AIG Women’s Open. Outlasting Chun In-Gee, Buhai won her first major title with a par on the fourth playoff hole with a total of 10-under 274.
In June of 2023, Buhai picked up her first win in the United States at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. With three wins within the past calendar year, Buhai looks to defend her major title at Walton Heath Golf Club in Tadworth, England.
Ashleigh Buhai claimed the first-place prize of $1,095,000 at Muirfield.
It’s been a banner year for prize money in LPGA majors.
Jennifer Kupcho earned $750,000 for winning the first LPGA major of 2022, the Chevron Championship, the only major first-place prize that did not exceed $1 million this season.
Minjee Lee won the 77th U.S. Women’s Open to claim the biggest prize, banking $1.8 million for her dominating performance at Pine Needles Golf & Country Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina. Even runner-up Mina Harigae took home seven figures.
In Gee Chun, runner-up at the AIG Women’s British Open, pocketed $1,350,000 for winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
At the Amundi Evian Championship, Brooke Henderson made $1 million for winning her second career major. She won $525,000 when she won her first major six years ago.
South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai claimed the first-place prize of $1,095,000 after becoming the first woman to win a professional title at historic Muirfield. The 33-year-old has now earned $3,503,926 on the LPGA over the course of her 12-year career.
Take a look at the complete money list from the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open.
If an LPGA victory felt like a long time coming for Buhai, consider that women have waited centuries for this.
During a practice round at Muirfield, Ashleigh Buhai pulled up a YouTube video of Ernie Els’ magnificent bunker shot on the par-3 13th from his victory 20 years ago for inspiration. One day, a young South African will do the same to Buhai after she pulled off a sensational bunker save of her own on the fourth playoff hole to win the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open over three-time major winner In Gee Chun.
If an LPGA victory felt like a long time coming for Buhai – 221 starts over the span of a dozen years – consider that women have waited centuries for this opportunity.
In 2019, the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers invited its first female members in the club’s 275-year history. That only came after the R&A took the iconic course off the men’s British Open rota after a 2016 membership vote to bring women in failed to reach the two-thirds required. A re-vote in 2017 pushed it through.
Buhai became the third South African to win a British Open at Muirfield, joining her heroes Els and Gary Player, who won in 1959. While this marked the first women’s professional event ever held at Muirfield, the men have staged 16 British Opens at the historic club, dating back to 1892.
Buhai joins a storied list of Muirfield champions that includes Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Walter Hagen, Harry Vardon and Phil Mickelson.
“For me to be a female South African and a major winner,” said Buhai. “I’ve got no words, it’s life-changing.”
Buhai took a commanding five-shot lead into the final round after carding 30 and 31 on the front nine in the second and third rounds, respectively.
After Buhai rifled a 3-wood into the green on the par-4 first hole Sunday and converted a 6-footer for par, she looked in control on a blustery day in East Lothian.
It all seemed to unravel in a flash, however, late on the back nine.
Standing on the 15th tee, Buhai held a three-shot lead when her worst drive of the week found a poor lie in a fairway bunker. A rushed second shot out sideways went long into the fescue and it was a tangled mess from there, with a late triple-bogey bringing a host of players back in the fray.
“You know, it was very easy to panic and probably come home in an ambulance,” said Buhai, who told herself internally to get back in it.
Buhai ultimately closed with a 75, while Chun shot 70 to leave the pair knotted at 10 under for the tournament, one better than 2019 AIG champion Hinako Shibuno. It marked the first playoff at the British Open in three decades.
Ashleigh Buhai plays her third shot from the bunker on the 18th hole in the playoff after the following round of the 2022 AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield in Scotland. (Photo: Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
The pair traded sudden-death blows down the 18thfour times, with the Muirfield clubhouse providing a dramatic backdrop. The closing hole played the hardest on the course for three straight days, and after Chun found a fairway bunker the fourth time down, Buhai faced a daunting greenside bunker shot as daylight dwindled.
“Show them why you’re No. 1 in bunkers this year,” encouraged her caddie, Tanya Paterson.
Buhai hit a beauty, and after Chun knocked in a bogey putt, the stage was set for the 33-year-old former South African prodigy to etch her name into history.
“I think I did what I can do,” said Chun, who was vying to become the eighth player in LPGA history to win four different majors. She’ll have to wait until 2023 for her next attempt.
Leona Maguire, the first Irishwoman to win on the LPGA, carded the day’s lowest round, a bogey-free 66, to vault into a share of fourth.
Rose Zhang, the No. 1 amateur in the world,claimed the Smyth Salveras the only amateur to play the weekend at Muirfield. The Stanford star finished 1 over for the tournament in a share of 28th place.
Buhai, née Simon, began playing golf at age 6 and has been the face of women’s golf in South Africa since she was a teenager. The one-time prodigy won the 2004 South African Open at age 14 and led her country to the World Amateur Team Championship title on home soil in 2006, before turning professional the following year.
Buhai met her husband, David, at a golf academy in Johannesburg and the couple began dating long distance 15 years ago. After Buhai’s caddie suffered a broken leg, David took a leave from the shoe store and never went back, working for Ashleigh right up until they got married, when he picked up another bag.
Why the sudden change?
“Some people say it might be good to stay married,” Ashleigh once joked.
David, who now caddies for Jeongeun Lee6, was on the 18th sweating every shot during the playoff and raced onto the green when his wife sealed the championship with the up-and-down of her life.
“In this championship in 2019 at Woburn,” said Ashleigh, “he missed the cut and he was carrying a backpack around full of beers to keep himself calm.
“It’s always harder for those watching.”
Coming into this week, Buhai had only one top-five finish in 42 majors starts and that came three years ago at the AIG, when she was paired with eventual winner Shibuno in the final round. Four of the last five British Open champions, including Shibuno, have made this event their first LPGA title.
Buhai became the second South African woman to win a major, joining Sally Little (1980 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, 1988 du Maurier Classic). Seven South African men have won majors.
Back in February, Buhai began working with sports psychologist Duncan McCarthy, and their time together has been game-changing for the LPGA veteran. Buhai said she’s been swinging good for some time but couldn’t keep herself in the moment.
That certainly wasn’t the case this week.
“I’m just so proud of how I’ve stuck it out,” said Buhai of the expectations she has carried for decades.
“I have said the last four or five years, I’ve finally started to find my feet on the LPGA and felt I could compete, and although I’m 33 now, I feel I’m playing the best golf of my career.
“It’s been a long journey, but man, it’s all worth it right now.”
“I feel like I have so many options that I can go either way.”
Rose Zhang joins an impressive list of players who have won the Smyth Salver for low amateur at the AIG Women’s British Open. Former winners include major champions Michelle Wie West (2005), Anna Nordqvist (2008), Danielle Kang (2011), Lydia Ko (2012, 2013) and Georgia Hall (2013).
England’s Hall, of course, went on to win the British Open title as a young professional five years later.
Zhang, 19, was the only amateur who made the cut at Muirfield, finishing 1 over for the championship. The world’s top-ranked amateur missed the cut last year at Carnoustie in her only other British Open appearance. Last year’s conditions, she said, came as a bit of a shock to her.
“You really can’t falter at all on this golf course,” said Zhang. “Not on links golf, anyway. It was just that mindset of really hitting shot after shot and staying determined and just going for it.”
Rose Zhang of United States plays her tee shot on the 12th hole during Day Three of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 06, 2022 in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
Zhang has all but officially locked up the McCormack Medal for a third time with second-ranked Ingrid Lindblad missing the cut. Neither are in the field for next week’s U.S. Women’s Amateur at Chambers Bay, the final week of competition before the cutoff.
After 10 days at home, Zhang heads back to Europe to represent the U.S. at the World Amateur Team Championship in Paris. From there, she heads straight to Pebble Beach for Stanford’s first college event of the season.
When asked about her plans for turning professional, Zhang, who won the individual NCAA title last spring and helped the Cardinal win the team championship, said it’s all up in the air.
“I feel like I have so many options that I can go either way,” she said. “But I think for now, I’m going to go back for my sophomore year and just enjoy another great year with my teammates.”
Buhai called her round Saturday, “one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played.”
Twenty years ago, Ashleigh Buhai’s childhood hero, Ernie Els, won the British Open at Muirfield. That victory came not long after Buhai met Els for the first time at the 1998 South African Open. She bought the life-sized poster she kept in her bedroom there for him to sign.
South Africa legend Gary Player, who won the British Open at Muirfield in 1959, left her a message on Saturday morning.
Now Buhai, a 33-year-old who joined the LPGA in 2008, has the chance to follow in their footsteps at the historic club, where she has a five-stroke lead heading into the final round of the AIG Women’s British Open.
“Obviously I’m very pleased,” said Buhai, who shot 64 with a bogey on the last hole to finish at 14 under for the championship.
“To be able to I think shoot that score in those conditions, you have to be able to pat yourself on the back; so much so that I thought I was 6 under, not seven, so I was 8 under playing the last, which I think I have to look back is probably one of the best rounds of golf I’ve ever played.”
Buhai has 12 career top 10s on the LPGA, no victories and is currently ranked 84th in the world. She found herself in three divots on a windy Saturday in Gullane and never missed a beat. When she missed her first green on the back nine on the par-5 17th, Buhai chipped in for birdie.
Relentless.
Ashleigh Buhai chips in for an eighth birdie of the day 🤯
“I was feeling pretty calm,” she said. “I’ve done good work on my swing with my coach for so long now, and I feel my lines are where they need to be and I just need to keep my tempo. If I keep my tempo, then most of the time it tends to fall. The club tends to fall where it needs to fall.”
Still, Buhai knows that if she has posted such low scores in trying conditions, that means someone else can, too.
American Sherri Steinhauer came from four strokes back to win this championship in 1998, as did Se Ri Pak in 2001, the largest comebacks since records were kept.
The largest comeback in overall LPGA major championship history is seven strokes, and it’s happened on three occasions: Patty Sheehan, 1983 KPMG Women’s PGA; Karrie Webb, 2006 Chevron; and Minjee Lee, 2021 Amundi Evian.
Here are five players to keep an eye on for a Sunday charge:
“I played okay, I didn’t embarrass myself off the first tee.”
Lindsey Garden made history on Saturday when she became the first female member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers to tee it up in the AIG Women’s British Open. Keep in mind that the club dates back to 1744 and welcomed its first group of female members in 2019.
This marks the first Women’s British Open ever held at the iconic Muirfield. There have been 16 men’s British Opens staged at Muirfield, dating back to 1892.
With an odd number of players making the cut, Garden got the call to tee off as a marker at 10 a.m. local time alongside Lydia Hall of Wales. Garden plays off a handicap index of 1.6.
“I played okay,” said Garden. “I didn’t embarrass myself off the first tee, almost got on the green at the first, so three-putted as usual but no, it was good. I struck the ball nicely. Putting could have been better.”
Garden grew up in Tain and represented Scotland on a number of occasions as a top-level amateur. She also spent time caddying on the DP World Tour.
“It’s fantastic,” said Garden when asked about her historic membership.
“So I’ve been a member a year, and it’s just been a great year because since I’ve been a member with knowing we’re hosting the AIG Women’s Open and it’s been lots of prep for that. And there’s been some really fun stuff around that media days and just some interviews with various media people talking about what is it like to be a woman member at Muirfield, it’s the same as it is for a man. We’re equal.”
It was just three years ago that Muirfield invited its first female members in the club’s 275-year history.
Whoever wins the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open will forever hold a special place in women’s golf history.
Three years ago, Muirfield, host of 16 men’s British Opens, invited its first female members in the The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers’ 275-year history.
Muirfield was actually removed from the R&A’s rota of British Open host venues after a 2016 membership vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the rule to admit women.
The membership voted again in 2017 and pushed it through. Needless to say, the final major of 2022 carries great significance.
The first four LPGA major winners this season were Jennifer Kupcho, Chevron Championship; Minjee Lee, U.S. Women’s Open; In Gee Chun, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship; and Brooke Henderson, Amundi Evian Championship.
Take a look at some photos from the start of an historic week:
Lost luggage continues to be a problem for players across the pond.
Jessica Korda has given up on seeing her suitcase this week in Scotland. On Monday, she wore Megan Khang’s pants (the significantly shorter Khang rolls up her pants, Korda said.) On Tuesday, she wore her sister Nelly’s pants. On Wednesday, she borrowed Alison Lee’s.
“If anyone knows anyone at the Zurich airport that would like to put my suitcase on the one flight a day that they have coming into Edinburgh,” said Korda, “I’d deeply appreciate it.”
A six-time winner on the LPGA, Korda opened the AIG Women’s British Open with a 5-under 66 at iconic Muirfield that included a 20-foot eagle putt on the 17th. She wore FootJoy pants on a rainy, windy and sunny Thursday morning after receiving an emergency shipment before the first round.
Korda has an AirTag on her bag so she knows where it sits, but she can’t get her hands on it, a common refrain for many travelers to the U.K. and Europe this summer. Given the chilly temps in Scotland, Korda has especially missed her accessories.
“Wearing a Muirfield hat right now,” she said. “I have some great partners and it’s just tough, when you play well and you’re obviously in the hunt, and you can’t kind of wear that. A lot of my warm stuff. My hand warmers … my hands get really cold, so I wear gloves all the time. That, and I’ve got a lot of heat patches for my lower back and my vitamins, don’t have that.”
Jessica Korda plays their third shot on the second hole during Day One of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield on August 4, 2022, in Gullane, Scotland. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)
Korda posted her best finish of the year in a major last spring with a runner-up showing to Jennifer Kupcho at the Chevron Championship. She has one top-10 finish at the AIG, a tie for fifth, back in 2014. The 29-year-old American trails 2019 AIG winner Hinako Shibuno by one shot.
“It’s really fun,” said Korda of playing Muirfield for the first time. “Really stressful. Definitely would like to not have to put a score together, but it’s fun to be able to hit different shots.
“I’m aiming so far left or so far right of like my actual finishing line, which is not something I do obviously on a weekly basis, so there’s a lot of trust in my golf game. Almost like being willing to fail on every single shot, it’s pretty tough, but fun to be able to see the ball do things that you normally don’t see it do.”
Korda’s younger sister, Nelly, teed off in the afternoon.
Who’s going to capture the final women’s major of the year?
Whoever wins this week’s AIG Women’s British Open will forever hold a special place in women’s golf history. Three years ago, Muirfield, host of 16 men’s British Opens, invited its first female members in the club’s 275-year history.
The club was actually removed from the R&A’s rota of British Open host venues after a 2016 membership vote failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the rule to admit women.
The membership voted again in 2017 and pushed it through. Needless to say, the final major of 2022 carries great significance.
Jennifer Kupcho, winner of the first female event ever hosted at Augusta National, won the final Chevron Championship at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course to kick off major season. Minjee Lee’s dominant performance at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles followed.
Then, In Gee Chun nabbed her third different major at the KPMG Women’s PGA, and two weeks ago, the Amundi Evian saw Brooke Henderson snap a six-year drought between her first and second major titles.
Here’s a look at 10 players to keep an eye on at Muirfield:
This history this week at Muirfield won’t be limited to the course.
This history this week at Muirfield won’t be limited to the course. The R&A and AIG have announced an increase to the purse at the AIG Women’s British Open by 26 percent, to a new championship record $7.3 million. The first woman to win a professional title at historic Muirfield will receive $1,095,000.
The player who finishes second will earn $720,028.
The total purse for this event has increased 125 percent since AIG came on board as title sponsor.
“We are proud to be the title sponsor of the AIG Women’s Open and to serve as allies to women in golf, business and the communities where we live and work,” said Peter Zaffino, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of AIG.
“Thanks to our great partnership with The R&A, we continue to make progress on pay equity while raising the profile of women’s golf and showcasing the tremendous talent of the elite women athletes competing in this iconic championship.”
Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, reiterated that the progress in prize funds needs to be commercially sustainable.
“We are delighted that many of our Open patrons now also support the AIG Women’s Open,” said Slumbers, “but we need to unlock new supporters to make sure women’s golf is financially viable.
“This week is the show piece of the R&A’s commitment to women’s golf, but it goes much further than just this one week. It’s woven into all we do. We need to increase the number of women and girls, not only playing golf, but we also need to create opportunities for women in leadership.”
During his time with the press on Wednesday, Slumbers was asked to reflect on the progress that has been made since 2016, when the membership at Muirfield failed to reach the two-thirds majority needed to change the rule to admit women.
The club was actually removed from the R&A’s rotation of British Open host venues after that vote. The membership voted again in 2017 and pushed it through.
“I think 2016, it was an important time for this sport and for the R&A,” said Slumbers. “I had only been in the organization a few months. We had been working very hard on a strategy for the R&A that had inclusivity very much as a part of it. We were in the beginning stages of merging with the Ladies Golf Union, and frankly, that merger transformed the R&A into where we are today.
“I think that when you think back over that six-year period since then, women’s golf has really exploded, and it’s got a long way to go yet. But I do think that that time will be viewed as pivotal in that change.”
Earlier this year, the best female golfers in the world played for a record $10 million purse at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles, where the top two finishers earned seven-figure checks. The KPMG Women’s PGA increased its purse to $9 million this year.
AIG Women’s Open purse on the rise:
2022 – $7.3 million
2021 – $5.8 million
2020 – $4.5 million
2019 – $4.5 million (beginning of The R&A and AIG partnership)
