The fifth and final major of the 2023 LPGA Tour season begins this week as the 47th playing of the AIG Women's Open is on tap for the game's best at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. All ten of the top 10 in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings are set to tee it up alongside all four 2023 major champions and 14 of 15 winners this season. With such a huge pool of talent in one 144-player field, here are a few players to keep your eye on at the year's last major championship.
Celine Boutier
It's hard to ignore the hot hand in golf and no one is hotter at the moment than Celine Boutier. The Frenchwoman captured her first major championship two weeks ago at The Amundi Evian Championship in dominant fashion, winning by six shots over defending champion Brooke Henderson to become the event's first French champion. If that wasn't enough, the 29-year-old then went to the FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf, an event she finished runner-up in 2022, and took home another trophy, this time defeating Hyo Joo Kim by two shots. It was the first time since Jin Young Ko won the Cognizant Founders Cup and BMW Ladies Championship in 2021 that a player had recorded back-to-back victories. It was also the first time since 2016 when Ariya Jutanugarn won the AIG Women's Open and the CPKC Women's Open, that a player had won a major and the tournament after.
Statistically, it's not surprising to see Boutier winning this much as her success is easily quantified. According to KPMG Performance Insights, she ranks second on Tour in strokes gained around the green (+0.61), sixth in strokes gained total (+1.75) and 17th in strokes gained tee to green (+1.03). She's also fifth in sand saves (59.09%), ninth in rounds under par (29), 11th in greens in regulation (72.45%) and 11th in scoring average (70.44).
Coming to Walton Heath this week, Boutier will look to become the first player to win three straight tournaments since Jutanugarn last did so in 2016. And while the now five-time LPGA Tour winner will certainly be battling some fatigue, she just might be able to pull off the impressive feat. Though she has missed four cuts in her seven previous appearances at the AIG Women's Open, Boutier has finished in the top 10 twice, tying for seventh in the 2022 edition of the event at Muirfield and coming sixth in 2019 at Woburn Golf and Country Club, a venue that is somewhat similar to Walton Heath.
Ashleigh Buhai
While it's rare to see a player successfully defend her title at a major championship, South African Ashleigh Buhai will still look to become the first player to do so since Inbee Park won her third consecutive KPMG Women's PGA Championship in 2015 this week at Walton Heath. The 34-year-old became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2022 AIG Women's Open at Muirfield, defeating In Gee Chun in a four-hole playoff to capture her first major championship title. Since then, Buhai has won three other times worldwide, capturing the 2022 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open on the WPGA Tour of Australasia, the 2023 Investec South African Women's Open on the Ladies European Tour and the 2023 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer on the LPGA Tour.
Not including last year's victory, the LPGA Tour veteran has had a mixed bag of results in the AIG Women's Open in her 14 starts before winning. She has missed seven cuts in the event, but found the top 15 in 2019 and 2020, finishing solo fifth and in a tie for 11th, respectively. That top five at Woburn in 2019 should provide the defending champion with even more confidence as this year's venue, Walton Heath, will require a similar style of golf as it's not the traditional links course that is typically seen in this part of the world.
This week marks Buhai's 16th start of the 2023 season, and in addition to her win in New Jersey, she has earned five other top-10 finishes, the best of which is a solo third that came at the Cognizant Founders Cup. Statistically, Buhai is second in birdies (212), third in putts per green in regulation (1.75), seventh in strokes gained approach (+0.94), ninth in rounds under par (29), 11th in driving accuracy (82.15%), 12th in putting average (29.15) and 14th in strokes gained total (+1.36), all of which bode well as she looks to defend her title for the very first time.
Minjee Lee
If you look at her recent results in the AIG Women's Open, it's shocking that Minjee Lee has yet to win this major championship. This week marks her 10th start in the event, and in her previous five showings, the Australian has not finished outside the top 11, recording a solo 10th in 2018, a T11 in 2019, a solo third in 2020, a T5 in 2021 and a T4 in 2022. The 27-year-old has one additional top 10 to her credit, a T9 in 2015 that came at Trump Turnberry, as well as a T25 in 2016 at Woburn. She's only missed the cut twice in the AIG Women's Open, in 2014 and 2017.
Lee's 2023 season got off to a slow start as she didn't finish better than T41 in her first four events of the year, but things picked up after she helped the Australia Team to second place in the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown. The major champion finished solo second the very next week after losing out in a playoff to Jin Young Ko at the Cognizant Founders Cup. Since then, Lee hasn't finished worse than T20, most notably tying for seventh at the Dana Open and tying for 13th at the U.S. Women's Open at Pebble Beach.
Statistically, the eight-time LPGA Tour winner's game is as strong as ever as she ranks first in strokes gained approach (+1.57), second in strokes gained tee to green (+2.07), 13th in strokes gained driving (+0.61) and 16th in strokes gained total (+1.35). Lee is also second in greens in regulation at 74.31%, fourth in birdies with 198 made and fourth in sub-par holes at 203. Considering that the last five AIG Women's Open champions hit an average of 57 greens en route to victory and that the last four were all ranked inside the top 10 in greens in regulation, the Aussie, who has always been deadly with her ball-striking, seems to fit the profile of an AIG Women's Open champion.
Anna Nordqvist
Sweden's Anna Nordqvist captured her ninth LPGA Tour victory and third major title at the 2021 AIG Women's Open at Carnoustie, winning by one shot over Georgia Hall, Madelene Sagstrom and Lizette Salas. It was the first time since 2017 that Nordqvist had won on Tour. The 36-year-old has been incredibly consistent since then, only missing four cuts since August 19, 2021, and finishing in the top 10 five times, including a solo third at the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship and a tie for third at the 2023 KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
This is her 14th start of the 2023 season and 17th appearance at the AIG Women's Open. In her 16 previous starts in this major championship and not including her victory, the LPGA Tour winner has finished in the top 15 six times, tying for seventh in 2011, 2015 and 2017, tying for 11th in 2013 and 2019 and tying for 12th in 2014. In Nordqvist's 13 other starts this year and in addition to that T3 at Baltusrol Golf Club's Lower Course, she has finished inside the top 20, including a T20 two weeks ago at The Amundi Evian Championship. Nordqvist is ranked fifth in greens in regulation (73.61%), 11th in strokes gained putting (+0.86) and 15th in scoring average (70.65) on Tour this season.
As she works to capture her first win since 2021 this week, Nordqvist will also look to solidify her case for being a playing assistant captain at the 2023 Solheim Cup in September at Finca Cortesin. Right now, she's on the bubble to automatically qualify for the European Team, currently sitting in the last qualifying spot available based on position in the Rolex Rankings with fellow Swede Madelene Sagstrom nipping at her heels.
Hinako Shibuno
Hinako Shibuno burst onto the LPGA Tour scene in dramatic fashion in 2019, winning the AIG Women's Open at Woburn Golf and Country Club as a non-Member. Electing not to take the automatic LPGA Tour Membership granted to non-Members who win on Tour, the Japan native became a 2022 LPGA Tour rookie after finishing in the top 45 and ties at the 2021 LPGA Q-Series. She finished in the top 10 five times last season, the most notable of which are a solo third at the AIG Women's Open at Muirfield and a tie for fourth at The Chevron Championship. So far this year, Shibuno has just one top 10, a tie for seventh at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain. According to KPMG Performance Insights, the 24-year-old ranks fifth in strokes gained putting (+0.98) and 11th in strokes gained around the green (+0.38) this season, a combination that should prove to be useful in these challenging major conditions.
While Walton Heath and Woburn are markedly different, both courses are inland and tree-lined, vastly different from the traditional links-style venues at which the AIG Women's Open is often contested. All four of Shibuno's rounds were in the 60s when she won in 2019 as she carded scores of 66-69-67-68 for a 72-hole total of 18-under, the lowest winning score in the last five editions of the AIG Women's Open. Much has changed in the four years since Shibuno won this championship, but considering this week's conditions will be similar to 2019 when she captured her one and only LPGA Tour title, don't count the LPGA Tour sophomore out at Walton Heath.
Madelene Sagstrom
While Madelene Sagstrom will whole-heartedly admit she used to hate playing links golf when she was younger, the 30-year-old Swede seems to have figured something out when it comes to succeeding in the AIG Women's Open. In her last two appearances in the event, Sagstrom has finished inside the top five, tying for second in 2021 at Carnoustie and tying for fourth in 2022 at Muirfield. This week's venue, Walton Heath Golf Club, may not be the same kind of layout as the previous two years, but those two finishes are sure to be a good confidence booster as Sagstrom looks to better those performances in Surrey, England.
This is her 14th event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season and she's coming into the fifth and final major of the year fresh off a tie for ninth at last week's FREED GROUP Women's Scottish Open presented by Trust Golf. It was just her second top-10 result of the season – Sagstrom finished T10 at the Cognizant Founders Cup – but was her fifth top 20 and first since a T13 at the Mizuho Americas Open in June. Although other parts of her game leave something to be desired, the Swede has excelled off the tee this year as she currently ranks fifth in average driving distance at 274.74 yards and is 17th in strokes gained driving (+0.58).
Riding high on the momentum derived from a solid finish last week in Scotland and feeling plenty confident from her previous two appearances at the AIG Women's Open, Sagstrom could be a surprise contender this week at Walton Heath.
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