Conditions to test world's best at Women's British Open (Aug 2, 2017)
Cold, blustery conditions and driving rain along the Scottish coastline have already welcomed the 144 players that will compete for this year's Ricoh Women's British Open.
That weather will likely intensify throughout the four days and 72 holes of play in the tournament that begins on Thursday.
For the first time in its 42-year history, the Women's British Open will be contested at Kingsbarns Golf Links, bringing the fourth major championship on the LPGA calendar back to St. Andrews and the Home of Golf.
And while this is the first time the world's best will visit Kingsbarns, the Kyle Phillips-designed track is no stranger to hosting elite-level golf and is considered one of the toughest challenges in Scotland.
Six former winners join defending champion Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand in the field this week at Kingsbarns, which will play to a par of 72 and at 6,697 yards. On the line is a total purse of $3.250 million, with $487,500 and 625 Race to the CME Globe points going to the winner.
Jutanugarn will attempt to become the first player to successfully defend a title this season and the first to go back-to-back at Ricoh since Taiwan's Yani Tseng in 2010 and 2011.
Among those players attempting to keep Jutanugarn from that repeat are world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, American Lexi Thompson, fourth-ranked Sung Hyun Park of South Korea and No. 5 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, the former top-ranked player in the world.
Also in the field this week is 2002 champion Karrie Webb of Australia, who nearly won her 42nd event on tour at last week's Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open. She will be joined by Catriona Matthew of Scotland, (2009), Stacy Lewis (2013) and Mo Martin (2014), who all finished in the top-five last year.
Inbee Park of South Korea, whose victory in 2015 completed the career Grand Slam, also returns to the field after skipping last year's event due to an ongoing thumb injury.
Park, the 2016 women's gold medal winner at the Rio Olympics and a former world No. 1, thrived in similarly challenging weather conditions in winning that championship at Turnberry. She said Tuesday after a chilling practice round that she's ready for just about anything on the course over the next four days.
"This is the kind of weather that we are expecting coming to Scotland," Park said. "We are getting four seasons in one day. That's what we're prepared for coming out here. In Korea, we play quite a lot of golf in the wintertime, and we've played in the snow and we've played in cold weather, windy conditions.
"The wind on this golf course can make such a difference and different strategies are needed, for how to putt and how to stroke with the wind. It's a very wind-dependent golf course. The greens are huge and you have to be on the right tier. Obviously getting to the green sometimes becomes a challenge when the wind blows hard, so you've got to know how to play knock-down shots and how to play low and how to hold it up in the wind."
A year has passed since Jutanugarn's victory at Woburn Golf & Country Club, where she claimed a three-stroke win over Mirim Lee of South Korea and Martin. While the 21-year-old has won once in 2017 and even ascended to world No. 1 for two weeks in June, she's struggled mightily for the past few months.
A nagging shoulder injury that has been inflamed from a surgery she had in 2013 has been a factor as Jutanugarn missed the cut or withdrew from three consecutive events in July.
"We know there are times when we're not going to have a good week and it's happened to me last month, but I just never give up," said Jutanugarn, who finished tied for 44th last week at the Ladies Scottish Open.
"The last few tournaments, I've just struggled but I know what I have to work on. I'll just keep working, and I'm still growing and I'm still learning every day."
For the first time in her professional career, Thompson has reached No. 2 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings and is the highest-ranked American in this week's event. Thompson's performance over the rolling two-year ranking period consists of 26 top-10 finishes in 45 events, including four wins (three LPGA, one JLPGA) and seven runner-up finishes (six LPGA, one JLPGA).
Since her major championship win at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Thompson has finished in the top 10 in three of her last five major appearances. Her best finish at the Ricoh Women's British Open is a tie for eighth in 2016.
This week is the culmination of 12 consecutive weeks of play on the LPGA Tour. It also marks the final event before the USA and Europe teams are named for the 2017 Solheim Cup.
The Ricoh Women's British Open is the 22nd event in the season-long Race to the CME Globe. Thompson currently leads the standings with 2,554 points, followed by Ryu (2,504 points) and Jutanugarn (2,177 points).
