Can Ariya Jutanugarn defend her title? Will Lydia Ko turn around a disappointing season? Will Mi Hyang Lee follow up her Ladies Scottish Open with a second straight win in Scotland? Those are three of the more pressing questions surrounding this week’s Women’s British Open.
2017 Women’s British Open: Veterans prepare to duke it out with young guns at Kingsbarns
Two grizzled vets, Laura Davies and Paula Creamer, had to qualify for this week’s Women’s British Open and they’ll have all they can handle vying for the trophy with youngsters like defending champ Ariya Jutanugarn, Lydia Ko, and Lexi Thompson.
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The kids may hog the headlines week in and week out on the LPGA and PGA Tours, but savvy, experienced veterans like Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr may have something to say about who walks away with the silver chalice come Sunday night at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Fife.
“I played really well. I drove the ball great and hit my irons really well, and the creative shots I played really nicely and actually trusted my feel and creativity rather than being so technical about it,” Webb told reporters on Sunday after struggling down the stretch of the Scottish Open, blowing a two-stroke edge with three holes to play, and losing by one shot.
“I felt really good about how I played this week and I actually felt good about how calm I was today, considering it’s been a while since I’ve been in contention,” said the three-time Women’s British Open winner, whose T2 at the Scottish rocketed her 38 spots up the Rolex Rankings ladder to No. 67. “Hopefully that bodes well for next week.”
Graphic via Golf Channel
Kerr hung around for much of the week at the Scottish and will head to the first tee at Kingsbarns on the strength of a T4 outcome.
“Way to go for the old girls,” Kerr told reporters after she and Webb earned spots in the final grouping for Saturday’s third round of the Scottish Open.
If recent history is any indication, Laura Davies and Paula Creamer are unlikely to add to their win totals this week but after having to qualify for the event, the battle-scarred older pros are certainly hoping to ride the Big Mo’ into the winner’s circle.
Davies — who is 53 years old and winner of four majors, though not the British — extended her streak of consecutive Women’s British Open starts to 37 but was not pleased about the route she had to take to get there.
“I’ve played in the last 36 Opens and have never had to qualify,” Davies told reporters following a par on the first hole of a 14-woman playoff to grab one of the last 11 slots. “So, this is a new experience. I don’t like it very much.”
Creamer last posted a W at the 2014 HSBC Women’s Champion thanks to an unbelievable, 75-foot eagle putt that beat Azahara Munoz in a playoff.
The 30-year-old demonstrated form reminiscent of her earlier years with a T13 finish at the Scottish Open. It was just her second top 20 of the year to go along with seven missed cuts in 15 starts on the LPGA Tour.
The 2010 U.S. Women’s Open champ will be making her 13th appearance at the British Open, a tourney in which she finished third in 2012 and tied for third in 2009. Creamer has more than winning the British on her mind — a solid performance could force Juli Inkster to make her a captain’s pick for the U.S. Solheim Cup team.
Of course, the grizzled vets will have their hands full trying to fend off the likes of Jutanugarn, Ko, and Lexi Thompson.
Jutanugarn started the year on a roll, with nine top 10s, including a win at the Manulife LPGA Classic in June, in 13 starts. She overtook Ko for the No. 1 ranking and then went into a tailspin with two missed cuts and a withdrawal in her last four events.
Jutanugarn, who is battling a cold this week, finished in a tie for 44th at the Scottish. :ong-time golf observer Ron Sirak wondered recently if the pressure of being at the top had gotten to the 21-year-old.
In Friday’s second round at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Jutanugarn needed a par to make the cut on the number. She failed to get it, but the way she earned her early exit caught Sirak’s eye. Jutanugarn “made one of the most lackadaisical, lackluster bogeys I’ve ever seen,” Sirak said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Monday. “It was almost like she just didn’t want to be there. There’s something missing in there. It’s not so much technique as it is attitude.”
Ko, 20, was on top of the world for so long, including 85 straight weeks as No. 1 until Jutanugarn unseated her, her winless 2017 season comes as something of a shock. Many pundits believe the wholesale changes to her entourage have been her undoing, as she has fallen to No. 5 in the world.
“Changing your caddie … is like firing your chief of staff and looking to stabilize things by shaking things up,” Sirak said. “You’re looking outside yourself for answers. I think that’s part of what Lydia has struggled with this year. She’s been looking outside herself for answers, juggling all those changes.”
While Sirak believes Ko will make the necessary adjustments, he contended that she needed something positive, and soon, “so that this year doesn’t become a total loss for her.”
Then there’s Thompson. The 22-year-old enters the British Open ranked higher than she has ever been.
Despite one win and eight top 10s, Thompson has sort of flown under the radar this year. She’ll head to the first tee on Thursday after a runner-up finish at last month’s Marathon Classic and with a strong record in the majors.
Since capturing her first major title at the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship, Thompson has three top 10s, including a T8 at last year’s British Open, in her last five major starts.
