The LPGA Tour takes a short chunnel ride from France to England this week for the the season’s final major tournament. Added to the official tour schedule in 1994, The Women’s British Open became a major championship in 2001 but traces its roots back to 1976. The course changes annually and this year the ladies will play golf at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in the city of Merseyside.
After a dry spell of seven years a Brit finally won last year’s Open. Karen Stupples gained her first major title after beginning her final round with an eagle and a double-eagle and closed with a 64 to tie the LPGA major championship record. Stupples will be defending this week along with a stellar group of golfers attempting to win a share of the $1.8 million prize.
A total of 150 golfers out of the 315 who originally entered the competition are in the final field chasing a first prize of $240,000. Even second place money is decent, earning the number-two position just under $175,000. The record number of golfers originated from twenty-nine different countries attempting to make the cut and play golf at the par-72 6,463 yard links course. This is a co-sanctioned event between the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour.
Annika Sorenstam tries one last time this year to win a major tournament. With victories at the Kraft Nabisco Championship and the McDonald’s LPGA Championship Annika was on the road to grabbing all four majors which was jokingly referred to as a “Sorenslam.” That was not to be as unlikely winner Birdie Kim took control of the U.S. Women’s Open and knocked in a greenside bunker shot at the 18th hole securing her first tour victory.
After Tiger Woods’ recent victory at the British Open I’ll bet he text messaged Annika with the number “10.” Sorenstam is also attempting to win her 10th major and, like Tiger, trying to win her second career grand slam this year. Since Annika has stated that she enjoys playing links golf and already has one victory from the 2003 Women’s British Open there is a good chance she can tie Woods’ phenomenal major championship slam and text him back this Sunday with the number “10”… and a smiley face. With a win this weekend Annika will have won three major championships in one year. The last woman to achieve that task was Pat Bradley in 1986.
Annika plays from the first tee on Thursday along with Ai Miyazato and Natalie Gulbis and reverses order to play the tenth tee on Friday with the same pairings.
The next most popular golfer of the week is 18-year-old Paula Creamer who secured her second victory ever this weekend at the Evian Masters in France. Only her first year playing professionally “The Pink Panther” appears more like a tour veteran than a rookie. Let’s see if Paula can win back-to-back championships this week to secure the Rolex Rookie of the Year Award and increase her chances of playing on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. I know that I would be proud if Paula Creamer represented the United States! Paula Creamer tees it up both Thursday and Friday with defending champ Karen Stupples and Lorena Ochoa who tied for second place with Michelle Wie at the Evian Masters.
The international field has many recognizable names including Marisa Baena, Birdie Kim and Karrie Webb who has won this event three times (1995, 1997, 2002). Rosie Jones deserves honorable mention. She may be playing her final major tournament and needs a win lest she become ‘one of the top golfers never to have won a major’.
The four amateurs in the field are the 2005 Ladies’ British Amateur champion Louise Stahle, 2004 Ladies’ British Stroke Play champion Clare Queen, Carlotta Ciganda and Michelle Wie, two 15-year-olds in attendance on exempt status. This event marks a milestone in Michelle Wie’s career. This is the first time Wie has played in all four majors in one year. She had tremendous results with a second place finish in both the McDonald’s LPGA Championship and the Evian Masters.
With three par-5s on the back nine, Royal Birkdale will surely be a test to the golfers. Established in 1889 Royal Birkdale has been host to two Ryder Cups, the Walker and Curtis Cups, both the Women’s British Open and the PGA Open and is considered the number-one golf course in Britain and among the finest in the world.
TNT will cover the first two rounds of the Weetabix British Women’s Open July 28th and July 29th, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET. Third and final round coverage then switches to ABC July 30th 2:00-3:30 pm and July 31st 1:30 – 3:00 pm ET.