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)
Catriona Matthew has a monumental tee shot to hit Thursday.
Catriona Matthew will hit the first tee shot at the 2022 AIG Women’s British Open at Muirfield at 6:30 a.m. local time Thursday. The historic moment fully belongs to Matthew, who grew up on the Wee Course at nearby North Berwick Golf Club, where she still lives with her husband and their two girls, Katie and Sophie.
Matthew understands better than most what it means for the best women in the world to finally compete at Muirfield, site of 16 men’s British Opens. She volunteered at several of those championships growing up, picking up trash the first time.
“I think probably one of the first times I remember I was a litter picker for one of The Opens here,” she said, “and then I was actually a scorer a couple of times.”
Matthew, of course, grew up to win the 2009 Women’s British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, 11 weeks after giving birth to her second daughter. Her most recent claim to fame: Becoming the first captain to lead Europe to back-to-back Solheim Cup victories.
She’s a legend in East Lothian, with North Berwick recently reopening a clubhouse lounge in her name.
“For me personally, obviously living along the road and growing up along road,” she said, “I never would have imagined them ever playing a major so close to home.”
Matthew, 52, is a four-time winner on the LPGA but hasn’t played a full schedule on that tour in several years. While she joked about the challenge of getting her kids up early enough to make it to the first tee on Thursday, the meaning of the moment will be front and center for the woman many call “super mum.”
A general view of the 18th hole at The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers Muirfield the venue for the 2013 Open Championship on August 30, in Gullane, Lothian, Scotland. (Photo by David Cannon/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
It was only three years ago that the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers invited its first female members in 275 years. Matthew said she has couple of female friends who are members.
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.
They voted again in 2017 and pushed it through.
This year’s AIG champion will join a list of 16 men who have won an Open at Muirfield, including the likes of Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
“I think you just have to look forward rather than look backward,” said Matthew.
“Golf, starting in Scotland, we had a lot more traditions perhaps; that we’re just gradually moving with the times.”
Team Europe captain Catriona Matthew is hoisted onto her players shoulders to celebrate her teams win during the final day singles matches of the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles on September 15, 2019 in Auchterarder, Scotland. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
As for the golf, Matthew said stronger winds than are forecasted would play to her advantage. Players will need to take advantage of scoring on the front nine, she said, and then hang on coming in. The par 3s, she noted, are particularly tough with no bail-out areas.
“It’s very fair, actually,” she said. “It’s not one of these ones where if you hit a shot down the middle of the fairway, you’re still watching it thinking, ‘Oh, is it going to kick into a bunker.’
“I think here, if you hit a good shot you’re going to stay on the fairway and you’re going to stay on the green. I think in that respect, it’s probably quite fair.”
“I just love the way it feels and the way it looks.”
Brooke Henderson won her second major title, and first in six years, two weeks ago at the Amundi Evian Championship, and then promptly pulled out of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open to recharge.
She took the unplanned off-week to tour a couple of castles in Scotland and practice at Carnoustie, site of last year’s AIG Women’s British Open.
This year’s British Open will be contested at iconic Muirfield for the first time. Muirfield has hosted 16 men’s British Opens, dating to 1892. It was only three years ago that the club invited its first female members in 275 years. This year’s champion will join a list of 16 men who have won an Open at Muirfield, including the likes of Harry Vardon, Walter Hagen, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson.
Henderson, the winningest Canadian golfer of all-time – male or female – played nine holes at Muirfield on Sunday night and 18 on Monday and said it might be her favorite links course yet.
“I just love the way it feels and the way it looks,” said Henderson. “I mentioned some of the spectacular views of the water, which is really cool. You can see it from a lot of different holes, actually, which is pretty neat.”
Brooke M. Henderson of Canada lift the trophy after winning the The Amundi Evian Championship during day four of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 24, 2022 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
With no top-10 finishes to her credit yet at the British, Henderson isn’t as high on the list of favorites as one might think, despite her recent triumph. She’ll rely heavily on older sister Brittany, who has more of an analytical mind, to help her manage her way around a course originally designed by Old Tom Morris.
“I’m very much just a feel player,” said Henderson, “so coming in, I like to see the golf course and kind of feel my way around. I feel like we make a really good team that way. The two methods kind of fit really well together.”
How does St. Andrews, site of this week’s Open Championship, stack up against the rest of the course rota?
Each of the 10 layouts on the modern British Open course rota score highly in Golfweek’s Best ranking of top classic golf courses built before 1960 in Great Britain and Ireland, as would be expected. But that doesn’t mean they all are equals.
Check out the rankings of each course on the modern rota below. The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce these rankings, and they are included for each course below.
We know that most golf fans will spend the next week and more dreaming of hitting the Scottish links, so we here at Golfweek are doing everything within our power to make that dream a bit more real.
Last week we gave you some of the best U.K. golf vacations out there, but this week our focus narrows to Scotland and the 10 best courses that the home of golf has to offer.
These rankings come directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluated courses and rated them based on our 10 criteria. They also filed a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course.
For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:
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Want to play St. Andrews, Carnoustie, and Royal Troon all on the same trip? Yeah…we thought so.
The 2022 British Open is just weeks away and the entire golf world is gearing up to go back home to The Old Course at St. Andrews.
We will all be glued to the coverage of the 150th Open Championship later this month, and most golf fans will daydream about playing St. Andrews and that fantasy golf vacation they’ve been putting off for years.
It’s time to turn those daydreams into reality. Along with our friends from Golfbreaks, Golfweek has compiled five spectacular U.K. golf vacations including trips to England, Northern Ireland and Scotland to play some of the oldest and most famous courses in the world.
We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage
From links layouts to parkland courses, these are the best courses built before 1960 in Great Britain and Ireland.
Welcome to Golfweek’s Best rankings of the Top 50 Classic Courses in Great Britain and Ireland – built before 1960 – as determined by Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 (pictured atop this story: Royal Dornoch in Scotland).
The members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them based on our 10 criteria. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course. Then each course is ranked against other courses in Great Britain and Ireland to produce the final rankings.
