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Women's British Open

Tournament information
Location	United Kingdom
Established	1976, 42 years ago
Course(s)	varies Woburn Golf and Country Club (in 2019) Little Brickhill, England
Par	72 (in 2019)
Length	6,744 yards (6,167 m) (in 2019)
Organized by	The R&A
Tour(s)	LPGA Tour (1984, 1994–) LET (1979–)
Format	Stroke play
Prize fund	$3,250,000 €2,775,905 £2,497,889
Month played	August
Tournament record score
Aggregate	269 Karrie Webb (1997) 269 Karen Stupples (2004)
To par	−19 Karrie Webb (1997) −19 Karen Stupples (2004)
Current champion
Georgia Hall
2018 Women's British Open

The Women's British Open is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognized by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour as a major. The reigning champion is Georgia Hall, who won by two shots at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018 to earn her first major title.

Since it became an LPGA major in 2001 it has generally been played in late July or early August. The 2012 edition was scheduled for mid-September, due to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, while the 2014 event was played in mid-July, the week prior to the Open Championship.

In 2019 it will be known as the AIG Women's British Open. From 2007 to 2018, it was called the Ricoh Women's British Open while the previous twenty editions (1987–2006) were sponsored by Weetabix, a breakfast cereal.^[1]

History

The practice green at Sunningdale Golf Club in 2008.

The Women's British Open was established by the Ladies' Golf Union in 1976 and was intended to serve as the women's equivalent of The Open Championship. At first, it was difficult for the organisers to get the most prestigious courses to agree to host the event, with the exception of Royal Birkdale, which hosted it twice during its early days — in 1982 and 1986. After nearly folding in 1983, the tournament was held at the best of the "second-tier" courses, including Woburn Golf and Country Club for seven straight years, 1990 through 1996, as well as in 1984 and 1999.

As its prestige continued to increase, more of the links courses that are in the rotation for The Open Championship, such as Turnberry (2002) and Royal Lytham & St Annes (1998, 2003, 2006) hosted the tournament, in addition to Royal Birkdale (2000, 2005, 2010). In 2007, the tournament took place at the Old Course at St Andrews for the first time.

In the 2010s, two additional Open Championship venues became first-time hosts for the women's event: Carnoustie (2011) and Royal Liverpool (2012). The tournament has yet to be played at four Open Championship courses: Muirfield and Royal Troon in Scotland, Royal St. George's in southeastern England, and Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

Unlike its male counterpart, the Women's British Open has not adopted a links-only policy. This greatly increases the number of potential venues, especially the number close to the major population centres of England.

Through 1993, the tournament was an official stop only on the Ladies European Tour, with the exception of the 1984 edition, which was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour. Starting in 1994, it became a permanent LPGA Tour event, which increased both the quality of the field and the event's prestige. It has been an official LPGA major since 2001, when it replaced the du Maurier Classic in Canada. In 2005, the starting field size was increased to 150, but only the low 65 (plus ties) survive the cut after the second round. In both 2007 and 2008 the prize fund was £1.05 million. Starting in 2009, the prize fund changed from being fixed in pounds to U.S. dollars, and is now $3.25 million.

Tied for most victories in the Women's British Open with three each are Karrie Webb of Australia and Sherri Steinhauer of the United States. Both won the tournament twice before it became an LPGA major and once after. Yani Tseng of Taiwan and Jiyai Shin of South Korea are the multiple winners as a major championship. The other multiple winner is Debbie Massey of the U.S., with consecutive wins (1980 & 1981) well before it was an LPGA co-sanctioned event.

Winners

LPGA major championship

Winners of the championship as an LPGA major (2001–present):^[2]

Year	Dates	Champion	Country	Venue	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse ($)	Winner's share ($)
2018	Aug 2–5	Georgia Hall	England	Royal Lytham & St Annes	271	−17	2 strokes	Pornanong Phatlum	3,250,000	504,821
2017	Aug 3–6	In-Kyung Kim	South Korea	Kingsbarns	270	−18	2 strokes	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	3,250,000	504,821
2016	Jul 28–31	Ariya Jutanugarn	Thailand	Woburn, Marquess Course	272	−16	3 strokes	Mirim Lee Mo Martin	3,000,000	412,047
2015	Jul 30 – Aug 2	Inbee Park	South Korea	Trump Turnberry - Ailsa	276	−12	3 strokes	Ko Jin-young	3,000,000	464,817
2014	Jul 10–13	Mo Martin	United States	Royal Birkdale	287	−1	1 stroke	Shanshan Feng Suzann Pettersen	3,000,000	474,575
2013	Aug 1–4	Stacy Lewis	United States	St Andrews	280	−8	2 strokes	Na Yeon Choi Hee Young Park	2,750,000	402,583
2012	Sep 13–16	Jiyai Shin	South Korea	Royal Liverpool	279	−9	9 strokes	Inbee Park	2,750,000	428,650
2011	Jul 28–31	Yani Tseng	Taiwan	Carnoustie	272	−16	4 strokes	Brittany Lang	2,500,000	392,133
2010	Jul 29 – Aug 1	Yani Tseng	Taiwan	Royal Birkdale	277	−11	1 stroke	Katherine Hull	2,500,000	408,714
2009	Jul 30 – Aug 2	Catriona Matthew	Scotland	Royal Lytham & St Annes	285	−3	3 strokes	Karrie Webb	2,200,000	335,000
2008	Jul 31 – Aug 3	Jiyai Shin	South Korea	Sunningdale	270	−18	3 strokes	Yani Tseng	2,100,000	314,464
2007	Aug 2–5	Lorena Ochoa	Mexico	St Andrews	287	−5	4 strokes	Maria Hjorth Jee Young Lee	2,000,000	320,512
2006	Aug 3–6	Sherri Steinhauer	United States	Royal Lytham & St Annes	281	−7	3 strokes	Sophie Gustafson Cristie Kerr	1,800,000	305,440
2005	July 28–31	Jeong Jang	South Korea	Royal Birkdale	272	−16	4 strokes	Sophie Gustafson	1,800,000	280,208
2004	July 29 – Aug 1	Karen Stupples	England	Sunningdale	269	−19	5 strokes	Rachel Hetherington	1,600,000	290,880
2003	July 31 – Aug 3	Annika Sörenstam	Sweden	Royal Lytham & St Annes	278	−10	1 stroke	Se Ri Pak	1,600,000	254,880
2002	Aug 8–11	Karrie Webb	Australia	Turnberry Ailsa	273	−15	2 strokes	Michelle Ellis Paula Martí	1,500,000	236,383
2001	Aug 2–5	Se Ri Pak	South Korea	Sunningdale	277	−11	2 strokes	Mi Hyun Kim	1,500,000	221,650

LPGA event

Winners as a co-sanctioned LPGA tournament, but not an LPGA major (1994–2000):^[2]

Year	Date	Champion	Country	Venue	Score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse ($)	Winner's share ($)
2000	Aug 17–20	Sophie Gustafson	Sweden	Royal Birkdale	282	−6	2 strokes	Becky Iverson Meg Mallon Liselotte Neumann Kirsty Taylor	1,250,000	178,000
1999	Aug 12–15	Sherri Steinhauer	United States	Woburn, Duke's Course	283	−5	1 stroke	Annika Sörenstam	1,000,000	160,000
1998	Aug 13–16	Sherri Steinhauer	United States	Royal Lytham & St Annes	292	+4	1 stroke	Brandie Burton Sophie Gustafson	1,000,000	162,000
1997	Aug 14–17	Karrie Webb	Australia	Sunningdale	269	−19	8 strokes	Rosie Jones	900,000	129,938
1996	Aug 15–18	Emilee Klein	United States	Woburn, Duke's Course	277	−11	7 strokes	Amy Alcott Penny Hammel	850,000	124,000
1995	Aug 17–20	Karrie Webb	Australia	Woburn, Duke's Course	278	−10	6 strokes	Annika Sörenstam Jill McGill	600,000	92,400
1994	Aug 11–14	Liselotte Neumann	Sweden	Woburn, Duke's Course	280	−8	3 strokes	Annika Sörenstam	500,000	80,325

Earlier tournaments

Winners before the tournament became an LPGA tournament (1976–93):

Year	Champion	Country	Venue	Score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up	Purse (£)	Winner's share (£)	Ref
Weetabix Women's British Open
1993	Karen Lunn	Australia	Woburn, Duke's Course	275	8 strokes	Brandie Burton	300,000	50,000
1992	Patty Sheehan	United States	Woburn, Duke's Course	207	3 strokes	Corinne Dibnah	300,000	50,000
1991	Penny Grice-Whittaker	England	Woburn, Duke's Course	284	3 strokes	Helen Alfredsson Diane Barnard	150,000	25,000
1990	Helen Alfredsson	Sweden	Woburn, Duke's Course	288	Playoff	Jane Hill	130,000	20,000
1989	Jane Geddes	United States	Ferndown	274	2 strokes	Florence Descampe	120,000	18,000	[3]
1988	Corinne Dibnah	Australia	Lindrick	295	Playoff	Sally Little	100,000	15,000
1987	Alison Nicholas	England	St Mellion	296	1 stroke	Laura Davies Muffin Spencer-Devlin	100,000	15,000	[4]
Women's British Open
1986	Laura Davies	England	Royal Birkdale	283	4 strokes	Peggy Conley Marta Figueras-Dotti	60,000	9,000	[5]
Burberry Women's British Open
1985	Betsy King	United States	Moor Park	300	2 strokes	Marta Figueras-Dotti	60,000	9,000	[6]
Hitachi Women's British Open
1984	Ayako Okamoto	Japan	Woburn, Duke's Course	289	11 strokes	Betsy King Dale Reid	160,000	24,000	[7]
Pretty Polly Women's British Open
1983	No tournament
1982	Marta Figueras-Dotti (a)	Spain	Royal Birkdale	296	1 stroke	Rosie Jones Jenny Lee Smith	23,000	(6,000)	[8]
1981	Debbie Massey	United States	Northumberland	295	4 strokes	Belle Robertson (a)	19,000	5,600	[9]
1980	Debbie Massey	United States	Wentworth	294	1 stroke	Marta Figueras-Dotti (a) Belle Robertson (a)	15,000	4,500	[10]
1979	Alison Sheard	South Africa	Southport & Ainsdale	301	3 strokes	Mickey Walker	10,000	3,000	[11]
1978	Janet Melville (a)	England	Foxhills	310	2 strokes	Wilma Aikten (a)		(1,000)	[12]
Women's British Open
1977	Vivien Saunders	England	Lindrick	306	Countback	Mary Everard (a)	500	210	[13]
1976	Jenny Lee Smith (a)	England	Fulford	299	2 strokes	Mary McKenna (a)		(210)	[14]

In 1992 the second day was washed-out and the event reduced to 54 holes. In 1990 Alfredsson won with a par at the fourth extra hole. In 1988 Dibnah won with a birdie at the second extra hole. The 1984 tournament was co-sanctioned by the LET and LPGA Tour. Prize money for this event was in US dollars; £ values here are based on an exchange rate of $1.25=£1. The 1977 event was decided on "countback". Saunders won the title because she had a better last round; 76 to Everard's 79.
(a) denotes amateur

Major champions by nationality

This table lists the total number of titles won by golfers of each nationality as an LPGA major (2001–present).

Nationality	Number of wins
South Korea	6
United States	3
England	2
Taiwan	2
Australia	1
Mexico	1
Scotland	1
Sweden	1
Thailand	1

Future sites

Source:^[15]

Smyth Salver

The Smyth Salver is awarded to the leading amateur, provided that the player completes all 72 holes, for one year. The winner also receives a silver medal. The salver was donated by Moira Smyth, a past president of the Ladies' Golf Union.^[16]

References

External links

• Official website


• Coverage on the LPGA official site


• Coverage on the Ladies European Tour official site