It was the 3-wood heard around the golf world.
American Mo Martin striped a 3-wood from roughly 240 yards that hit the flagstick and came to rest just six feet from the hole on the par-5 18th at Royal Birkdale to set up the biggest putt of her life. Martin sank the eagle putt – her first eagle of the season – then waited an hour before learning she was the 2014 RICOH Women’s British Open champion.
That victory will be fresh on her mind this week as the Tour travels to Trump Turnberry Resort in Turnberry, Scotland, for this year’s installment of one of the LPGA’s five majors. There will be plenty on the line this week as Martin defends her title at the $3 million event, and she will need every shot in her bag and her prowess as the Tour’s most accurate driver as she squares off against one of the toughest fields of the season.
World No. 1 Inbee Park, 2013 RICOH Women’s British Open champion and reigning Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis and Lydia Ko will be among those looking to dethrone Martin at the 72-hole event. Lexi Thompson, fresh off a win in Michigan, rookie sensation Sei Young Kim and two-time 2015 winner Na Yeon Choi are also making the trip across the pond to tee it up in the prestigious event.
This week’s field will be a veritable “Who’s Who” of stars, including 2015 major champion Brittany Lincicome and this season’s other tournament winners: Chella Choi, Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist, Minjee Lee, Cristie Kerr, Hyo Joo Kim and Amy Yang. A slew of other players who have won major championships – from Paula Creamer and Shanshan Feng to So Yeon Ryu, Michelle Wie and Morgan Pressel – will also tee it up on the par-70 course.
Throw in two-time RICOH champion Yani Tseng (2010-11), and it is a virtual bonanza of talent that will be chasing major championship glory. Players will also gunning for Rolex ANNIKA Major Award points, with Park leading the way by four points over Lincicome with two majors remaining.
The event was held at Turnberry’s Ailsa Course once before, in 2002, when Hall of Famer Karrie Webb won by two strokes over Paula Marti and Michelle Ellis. Webb’s 15-under-par total from that year could be a ballpark measuring stick for this year’s tournament, but with rain and wind in the forecast, anything is possible.
The next 72 holes will be links-style golf at its best, and ESPN2 and ABC will broadcast 13 hours of coverage over the course of the weekend. ABC will carry the tournament’s final hour on Sunday from 5-6 p.m. ET as another major championship is decided.
It should be great watching at a scenic and famed locale in the birthplace of golf. That’s not a bad way to spend a week.
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