August 20-23
Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland
$4,500,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4
Five days away from her 51st birthday, Solheim Cup captain Catriona Matthew rolled back the years to tame Royal Troon and raise hopes of a second AIG Women's Open victory.
Eleven years after winning her sole major title at Royal Lytham, Matthew carded a superb level-par 71 in winds gusting up to 40 miles per hour to lie four shots off the lead held by American Amy Olson.
Matthew was two over par with four holes remaining before making a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th and completing her round with a bogey on the 18th.
.@SolheimCupEuro captain & 2009 @AIGWomensOpen champion @Beany25 posts a level-par round of 71 @RoyalTroonGC 🏴
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 20, 2020
"It was just one of those days when you knew you just had to hang in there & stay committed to your shots."#AIGWO pic.twitter.com/09iDJ4ttVX
"I think coming in here with how I've been playing lately, probably making the cut would be good," Matthew said. "But obviously a day like today, the conditions probably helped me that it's not going to be super low (scoring).
"No reason why I can't go on from here. Obviously there's still a huge way to go, but just need to keep plugging away."
Matthew's performance was aided by a new putting grip and she added: "It's quite a radical change. Over the years I've tried various different grips but this 'saw' grip is quite a radical one.
"I've obviously fiddled about with it in practice and never taken it to a tournament, but I thought there was nothing to lose this week."
Olson was one of just three players to break par in the difficult conditions, the 28-year-old carding five birdies and a solitary bogey in a superb 67 to lead by three shots from compatriot Marina Alex and Germany's Sophia Popov.
"The conditions out there honestly were so tough that I've said that was the best ball-striking day of my life," Olson said. "I kept the trajectory on every shot what I wanted."
6️⃣7️⃣ ✍🏻@AmyOlsonGolf fires the round of the day to take the overnight lead on -4 👏🏻
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 20, 2020
Very impressive golf in tough conditions @RoyalTroonGC ✅ #AIGWO | @AIGWomensOpen pic.twitter.com/XDsNmmXGgN
Olson, who finished second in the Evian Championship in 2018 after a double bogey on the 72nd hole, added: "I seriously love major championship golf. I love the difficult conditions. I just really feel like the cream rises to the top.
"You can't get away with anything and so it requires every part of your game to be sharp, and I love that challenge. I relish it."
Former champion Georgia Hall ended the day six shots off the pace but was was happy with a hard-fought 73 after being three over after five holes.
"Some holes I could barely stand up, it was so windy all the way round but especially at the start," Hall, who won at Royal Lytham in 2018, told Sky Sports. "I'm pretty happy with how I played today.
"I played quite conservative at Lytham and tried to stay out of the bunkers and that was my aim for today. When you go in a pot bunker you are literally chipping out and then it puts pressure on your third shot."
Birdie time 👊🏻@georgiahall96 moves to +1 #AIGWO pic.twitter.com/Ka06aBj5Km
โ Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) August 20, 2020
Canada's Alena Sharp was in the first group out at 6.30am and hit her opening tee shot out of bounds on her way to a dispiriting double bogey, but she played the remaining 17 holes in two under to finish level par.
And the Phoenix-based 39-year-old revealed she had extra reason to enjoy her efforts thanks to her Scottish roots.
"I was so ecstatic to see that we were going to get to play Royal Troon and it wasn't going to get cancelled," Sharp said. "My grandmother was born in Greenock and my uncle was born in Glasgow. I feel like they were watching over me today and giving me a little help out there."
Dame Laura Davies, who hit the opening tee shot to mark her 40th appearance in the event, birdied three of the last six holes, but the 56-year-old could still only return a nine-over-par 80.
Pos. |
Player | To Par |
R1 |
1 |
Amy Olson | -4 |
67 |
T2 |
Marina Alex | -1 |
70 |
T2 |
Sophia Popov | -1 |
70 |
T4 |
Dani Holmqvist | E |
71 |
T4 |
Nuria Iturrioz | E |
71 |
T4 |
Emily Kristine Pedersen | E |
71 |
T4 |
Gaby Lopez | E |
71 |
T4 |
Catriona Matthew | E |
71 |
T4 |
Anna Nordqvist | E |
71 |
T4 |
Lee-Anne Pace | E |
71 |
T4 |
Alena Sharp | E |
71 |
T4 |
Jasmine Suwannapura | E |
71 |
T4 |
Lindsey Weaver | E |
71 |
T14 |
In Gee Chun | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Austin Ernst | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Katherine Kirk | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Lydia Ko | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Nelly Korda | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Alison Lee | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Caroline Masson | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Yealimi Noh | 1 |
72 |
T14 |
Elizabeth Szokol | 1 |
72 |
T23 |
Jodi Ewart Shadoff | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Laura Fuenfstueck | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Johanna Gustavsson | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Georgia Hall | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Ariya Jutanugarn | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Stephanie Kyriacou | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Lizette Salas | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Angela Stanford | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Michele Thomson | 2 |
73 |
T23 |
Amy Yang | 2 |
73 |
T33 |
Nicole Broch Larsen | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Ashleigh Buhai | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Cydney Clanton | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Gemma Dryburgh | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Sandra Gal | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Eleanor Givens | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Nasa Hataoka | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Celine Herbin | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Minjee Lee | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Andrea Lee | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Ally McDonald | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Becky Morgan | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Azahara Munoz | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Haru Nomura | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Sanna Nuutinen | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Marianne Skarpnord | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Jennifer Song | 3 |
74 |
T33 |
Kelly Tan | 3 |
74 |
T51 |
Lina Boqvist | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Perrine Delacour | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Maria Fassi | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Kristen Gillman | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Hannah Green | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Caroline Inglis | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Yui Kawamoto | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Sarah Kemp | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Megan Khang | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Karolin Lampert | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Camilla Lennarth | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Xiyu Lin | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Pernilla Lindberg | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Stephanie Meadow | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Katja Pogacar | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Monique Smit | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Klara Spilkova | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Linnea Strom | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Momoko Ueda | 4 |
75 |
T51 |
Angel Yin | 4 |
75 |
T71 |
Hannah Burke | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Olivia Cowan | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Lindy Duncan | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Maria Fernanda Torres | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Charley Hull | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Tiffany Joh | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Felicity Johnson | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Danielle Kang | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Minami Katsu | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Cheyenne Knight | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Mi Hyang Lee | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Stacy Lewis | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Haley Moore | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Emma Nilsson | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Su Oh | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Hinako Shibuno | 5 |
76 |
T71 |
Patty Tavatanakit | 5 |
76 |
T88 |
Brittany Altomare | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Carlota Ciganda | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Kendall Dye | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Dana Finkelstein | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Julieta Granada | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Brooke M. Henderson | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Mone Inami | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Moriya Jutanugarn | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Brittany Lang | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Yu Liu | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Leona Maguire | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Olivia Mehaffey (a) | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Inbee Park | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Morgan Pressel | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Jenny Shin | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Emma Talley | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Christine Wolf | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Jing Yan | 6 |
77 |
T88 |
Anne van Dam | 6 |
77 |
T107 |
Dottie Ardina | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Aditi Ashok | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Peiyun Chien | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Jenny Coleman | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Julia Engstrom | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Kylie Henry | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Esther Henseleit | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Whitney Hillier | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Cristie Kerr | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Jennifer Kupcho | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
In Kyung Kim | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Meghan Maclaren | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Mel Reid | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Madelene Sagstrom | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Sarah Jane Smith | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Yujeong Son | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Charlotte Thomas | 7 |
78 |
T107 |
Lexi Thompson | 7 |
78 |
T125 |
Diksha Dagar | 8 |
79 |
T125 |
Caroline Hedwall | 8 |
79 |
T125 |
Alice Hewson | 8 |
79 |
T125 |
Tvesa Malik | 8 |
79 |
T125 |
Gabriela Ruffels (a) | 8 |
79 |
T125 |
Charlotte Thompson | 8 |
79 |
T131 |
Carly Booth | 9 |
80 |
T131 |
Jennifer Chang | 9 |
80 |
T131 |
Laura Davies | 9 |
80 |
T131 |
Christina Kim | 9 |
80 |
T131 |
Bronte Law | 9 |
80 |
T131 |
Luna Sobron Galmes | 9 |
80 |
T137 |
Celine Boutier | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Manon De Roey | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Nanna Koerstz Madsen | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Annie Park | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Gerina Piller | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Louise Ridderstrom | 10 |
81 |
T137 |
Ursula Wikstrom | 10 |
81 |
144 |
Tonje Daffinrud | 14 |
85 |