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BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Woad the focus as Women's Open heads to Wales
The AIG Women's Open begins at Royal Porthcawl on Thursday with much of the pre-tournament focus on Lottie Zealand's Lydia Ko is the defending champion heading into the final golf major of the the build-up has been dominated by talk of Woad, who has emerged as British golf's most exciting the 21-year-old is the bookmakers' favourite to claim her first major victory - despite the fact this is just the second event of her professional if she is to triumph, England's Woad must see off the finest players in the women's 49th Women's Open, which runs until Sunday, 3 August, is the first men's or women's major staged in has been billed as the biggest women's sporting event staged in the country - thanks to a combination of the tournament's status, its reach and the quality of the will be live BBC radio commentary and text coverage of all four days of the tournament, as well as reaction and analysis on the BBC Sport website and mobile app. Woad to spearhead home challenge? Woad's status as favourite is the result of a spectacular run of form which began with a resounding victory in the Irish Open - when she was still an amateur - in early then finished just a shot outside the play-off at the Evian Championship, missing out on £400,000 in prize money at the fourth women's major of the year because of her amateur status, before turning professional and winning on debut at last week's Scottish Woad, from Surrey, claim victory once more this weekend, she would be the first British woman since Georgia Hall in 2018 to win a major and only the second since Catriona Matthew 16 years Hull, another of the home contenders this week, describes Woad's recent progress as "absolutely unbelievable"."I played with her in the practice rounds in Ireland and I played with her in the first two rounds last week, and at the minute I feel like she's playing with such confidence she can't miss a shot," Hull said."I think it's great to see. She's a breath of fresh air for the game."Hull, who at 20th is the highest-placed Briton in golf's world rankings, has long been regarded as England's best hope of major success. Hull's preparations for the 60th major of her career have been far from ideal, with the 29-year-old forced to withdraw from the Evian Championship after collapsing on the said she lost four kilograms in the past three weeks because of illness - and that she has also been hampered by a back she is now feeling better, Hull says the ailments have had an impact on her swing."I'm not hitting it the best coming into this week, which is very frustrating because it's an event I've been looking forward to playing all year," she said."I've just got to go out there with what I've got. I'm not going to let it beat me up too much."There are two Welsh players in the field, with Porthcawl member Darcey Harry playing in her first Women's Open - with boyfriend and professional golfer Jacob Skov Olesen as her caddie - having made a promising start to life on the Ladies European Tour this Hall, a former Porthcawl club champion, is the second local in the 144-player field having come through final qualifying earlier this week. Who are the leading contenders? Aside from Woad, world number one Nelly Korda is among the fancied players despite the fact that she is yet to triumph in two-time major winner finished in a tie for second behind Ko at St Andrews last year - but has brushed off the notion that it might be important to her to add a Women's Open victory to her list of global successes."I feel like I don't really have anything more to prove to people ever," the 27-year-old American said."For me it's just I'm passionate about the game. I love playing in these kind of conditions, testing my game, and getting to play against the best players in the world."Thailand's Jeeno Thitikul, the world number two who is in impressive form, is another of the favourites this week along with Australia's Minjee Lee, winner of the Women's PGA Championship - the third major success of her career - last year's other major winners, Mao Saigo of Japan, Sweden's Maja Stark and Grace Kim from Australia, are also competing on the south Wales coastline. Royal Porthcawl's chance to shine Celtic Manor hosted the Ryder Cup in 2010, but this will be the grandest individual golf tournament played in Porthcawl has hosted the Amateur Championship seven times, the Curtis Cup in 1964 and the Walker Cup in 1995, when a United States team including Tiger Woods were beaten by Great Britain and Northern Welsh links was also the stage for the Senior Open in 2014, 2017 and most recently in 2023, when Alex Cejka beat Padraig Harrington in a play-off after both players had finished at five-over-par in a tournament played in, at times, brutal weather forecast looks much better for this week, though there should be enough wind to make it a factor on the only course in Wales where there is a sea view from every hole."The views from the golf course are absolutely breathtaking," Korda said."But you can definitely tell that when the wind kind of picks up here, it's going to be a really, really hard test." Like many others in the field, Ko has spent the early part of the week trying to familiarise herself with a course that few know is even a change for the members watching on, as the regular 18th hole is being played as the first - with the usual first becoming the second, and so on - due to the logistics and infrastructure involved in hosting a major."There's not many people in the field that have played here before, so it's like a clean slate and nobody really has an advantage," Ko said."Regardless of whether you're the defending champion or you qualified through the qualifier, I think it's going to be a really tough week."
BBC News
5 days ago
- BBC News
Hall eyes more success in Wales at Women's Open
Former champion Georgia Hall is hoping Wales will prove to be a happy hunting ground once more as she prepares for the AIG Women's Open at Royal Hall is the most recent British winner of the Women's Open having triumphed at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018. The tournament comes to Wales for the first time this year as Royal Porthcawl plays host to the final golf major of 2025 starting on Thursday. And for Hall, that means a return to the scene of past 29-year-old won the Girls' Amateur Championship in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, in 2012 before going on to collect the Women's Amateur Championship at Machynys Golf Club in Carmarthenshire 12 months later."Really I'm a big fan [of Wales]," Hall said."I haven't played golf in Wales since those wins, so I think it will be a great test in Porthcawl." The Women's Open is the biggest female sporting event ever staged in Wales, but Royal Porthcawl is no stranger to prestigious south Wales links has staged the Walker Cup, the Curtis Cup and, on three occasions, the men's Senior Open."I've played a couple of holes out here and it's a very tough course, I think it's definitely underrated," said Bournemouth-born Hall."It's learning to know where to hit it. Especially on this golf course there's a lot of blind tee shots, so that will be key."Hall has won seven professional titles and is a five-time Solheim Cup player. Currently ranked 119th in the world, she is hoping the Women's Open will inspire the next generation of golfers."It would be great to see the young girls supporting and seeing what the world's best women have to offer," she said."I love to see a lot of people support, especially the youngsters."I'm a massive fan of golf and what it can provide for the kids and people socialising and [helping] to make friends. It's great that people are learning to grow the game as well."Hall is also an advocate for the promotion of women's sport and wants to see increasing media coverage. "I think that having this event here and all the other women's sports [this summer] is amazing and hopefully in 10 years' time it will be bigger than it is now," she added.
The Sun
5 days ago
- The Sun
Padraig Harrington seals another major after storming to ISPS HANDA Senior Open Championship glory
PADRAIG HARRINGTON stormed to a sensational Senior Open victory on Sunday - landing his second senior major title of the season in style. The three-time major champ took a two-shot lead into the final round at Sunningdale, and never looked back as he closed out a dominant wire-to-wire win. 2 2 He got off to a flyer with a stunning eagle at the first, before picking up birdies at six and nine to keep the momentum going. The Dubliner's only blemish on the front nine came at the eighth, where he dropped a shot with a bogey. But the Stackstown golf legend hit back in style to see out his second senior major title of the year after his win at the US Open in Colorado last month. He then carded another birdie at the 14th to stretch his lead to three shots over Justin Leonard, holding firm as the pressure mounted from the American. And the 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee then held his nerve as after a bogey on 17, prior to finding a tough lie in the bunker on his approach. But the chasing Leonard couldn't make a par putt as Harrington maintained the three-shot lead heading up the last with caddie Ronan Flood. 53-year-old Harrington negotiated the last with a par to finish on -3 for his final round for a sixteen under par total as he lapped up the applause from a huge crowd in Berkshire. He finished three-strokes ahead of Thomas Bjorn and Justin Leonard, who signed-off for a total of -13 at Sunningdale. It's was his third senior major after wins at the 2022 and 2025 US Open Championships. He joins Darren Clarke and Christy O'Connor Jr as the only men from the Emerald Isle to win the Senior Open Championship crown. There was an overall purse of $2.85m on offer- - and a first prize of $447,800 for Harrington.
