The Women’s British Open is returning again to the Woburn Golf Club. The new title sponsor of the event is AIG. So between 2019-2024, it is called as the AIG Women’s British Open.
The AIG Women’s British Open will take place on the Marquess’ Course at Woburn between 1st and 4th August.
This will be the 11th British Women’s Open, to be held in Woburn Golf. The first 9 were held at the Duke’s Course.
In 2016, it was played at the Marquess’ Course.
At the coming AIG British Women’s Open, Georgia Hall has to defend her title against such great players as:
- China’s first World No.1 Shanshan Feng, the youngest ever world #1,
- Lydia Ko,
- 2-time Major winner So Yeon Ryu,
- Lexi Thompson,
- Michelle Wie,
- Jessica Korda,
- Ariya Jutanugarn,
- IK Kim,
- Inbee Park,
- Yani Tseng,
- Mo Martin,
- UK favorites Charley Hull and Catriona Matthew etc.
18 Exempt Qualification Criterias
- The top 15 and anyone tying for 15th place in the 2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
- The top 10 LET players who enter from the Rolex Rankings as at Monday 1 July not already exempt under the category (#1).
- The top 30 LPGA players who enter from the Rolex Rankings as at Monday 1 July not already exempt under the category (#1). A player exempt in the category (#2) may also be exempt under this category.
- The top 25 players who enter from the 2019 LET Order of Merit as at Monday 1 July not already exempt under categories (#1) or (#2). A player exempt in the category (#3) may also be exempt under this category.
- The top 40 players who enter from the 2019 LPGA money list as at Monday 1 July 2019 not already exempt under categories (#1) or (#3). A player exempt in the category (#2) and/or (#4) may also be exempt under this category.
- The top 5 players who enter from the 2019 JLPGA money list on completion of the JLPGA 2019 Earth Mondahmin Cup not already exempt under categories (#1), (#2) or (#3).
- The top 2 players who enter from the 2019 KLPGA money list as at Monday 1 July not already exempt under categories (#1), (#2), (#3) or (#6).
- Winners of any recognized LET or LPGA Tour event in 2019. Blank entries will be made on behalf of players qualifying, after the closing date, in this category.
- The winners of the 2018 LET, LPGA, JLPGA & KLPGA Money List/Order of Merit.
- Any player who is in the top 30 of the Rolex Rankings as at Monday 1 July who enters and is not already exempt.
- Past winners of the Women’s British Open Championship, aged 60 or under on 4 August 2019, provided that the player is still an active member of a recognized professional Tour.
- Past winners of the US Women’s Open, ANA Inspiration and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship from 2015 to 2019, plus the winners of the Evian Championship from 2014 to 2019.
- The leading 5 LPGA members, not already exempt, in the 2019 Marathon Classic presented by Dana. Blank entries will be made on behalf of competitors qualifying in this category.
- The leading 3 LET Members, not already exempt, in a 2019 LET event (to be confirmed). Blank entries will be made on behalf of competitors qualifying in this category.
- The 2019 Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Champion, The 2019 Women’s Amateur Champion, 2018 United States Ladies’ Amateur Champion, 2018 European Ladies’ Amateur Champion, the 2018 (Women’s) Mark H McCormack Medal Holder, and the highest Women’s WAGRTM ranked GB&I golfer as at Women’s WAGRTM Week 2019/25, provided that each must still be an amateur at the time of and throughout the Championship.
- Any Player who did not compete in the previous year’s Women’s British Open due to maternity, as approved by The R&A or IMG in conjunction with the player’s home tour, provided she was otherwise qualified to compete in the previous year’s Women’s British Open.
- The balance of the 90 LPGA members who have entered to compete in the Tournament. Any who are not already eligible under categories (#1)-(#16) should be selected from the LPGA Money List as of the close of entries for the Tournament. If less than 90 LPGA members have entered the Tournament as at the close of entries for the Championship, the Championship shall proceed with such lesser number of LPGA members, with the balance of the field determined according to subsection (#18) below. A player exempt in this category may also be a member of another tour. Any subsequent withdrawals or additions to the field which affect this category after the closing date will not result in a further adjustment.
- The balance of the field shall be filled from the Final Qualifying round.
When will women golfers receive the same performance bonus?
Early this month, I read an interesting news in Business Insider:
Adidas-sponsored players on the team that wins the FIFA Women’s World Cup this year will receive the same performance bonus payments as their male counterparts.
Well, the sponsorship managers at Adidas are not saints at all. Today, football is the world #1 sport (basketball is #2).
In 2018, a Nielsen’s World Football Report found:
- 70% of women find the men’s World Cup “very appealing.”
- 53% of women are very interested in football!!!
- Golf is the 8th most popular sport among women.
Already in 2015, more than 750 million television viewers watched the FIFA Women’s Cup Canada 2015!
This is why it makes perfect sense for Adidas to support female football.
At the same time, when Team USA secured the Solheim Cup over Team Europe in 2017 968,000 viewers tuned in to watch the final day.
This was the largest TV audience the Solheim Cup had seen in a decade.
In 2018, the LPGA tour was available over cca. 450 hours internationally in up to 175 countries.
The bigger LPGA events will attract around 500 million TV households across the globe, with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Evian Championship expected to peak at around 600 million.
I hope GOLFTV (PGA Tour & Discovery’s live and on-demand video-streaming service) will show LPGA tournaments, AIG Women’s British Open, and other major female golf tournaments as well.
This would be great support for women golf tournaments.
Images: Getty Images