The Women’s Majors season draws to a close this week with the Women’s Open, which takes place for the sixth time at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lancashire.
Japanese star Miyu Yamashita will be there to defend her trophy, but all eyes will be on world number one Nelly Korda and South Korea’s Haerun Ryu, who have won this year’s other four big prizes between them.
Getting off to a quick start will be vital for anyone else with hopes of crashing the party, but the last three first-round leaders in Majors have failed to go on to complete the job.
A score of 63 was required to lead the last two of the Evian Championship and Women’s PGA Championship, and it looks set to be a competitive battle to be top of the leaderboard on Friday morning.
Women’s Open First-Round Leader Tips Summary
Best Bet - Haerun Ryu each-way @ 20/1
Alternative Bet - Miyu Yamashita each-way @ 20/1
Alternative Bet - Akie Iwai each-way @ 40/1
Women’s Open First-Round Leader Prediction
Best Bet: Haerun Ryu each-way @ 20/1
While Korda holds the top spot in the world rankings and is set to go off favourite to win her third Major of the year, South Korea’s Haerun Ryu is the form player heading into this week’s Women’s Open.
Ryu managed to hold off the field to win both the Women’s PGA Championship at the tough Hazeltine National Golf Club and then the Evian Championship, which catapulted her to third in the rankings.
It is difficult to see how she will not travel to Lancashire in great confidence and this looks a good chance to improve upon an uninspiring record of 21-49-23 in her three Women’s Open appearances.
However, she could still get off to a flyer and could prove tough to beat if she gets swiftly into the groove.
Alternative Bet: Miyu Yamashita each-way @ 20/1
Another player whose morale will be in the clouds is defending champion Miyu Yamashita, who grabbed glory at Royal Porthcawl 12 months ago when she ended the first round one shot off the pace set by her compatriots Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda.
Yamashita won the Meijer LPGA Classic last month and has performed well in recent big tournaments, finishing 12th at the Women’s PGA and then fourth at the Evian Championship.
Her fifth spot in last week’s Women’s Scottish Open means she arrives in Lancashire in fine fettle and we could witness her getting off to another blistering start when the action gets under way on Thursday.
Alternative Bet: Aike Iwai each-way @ 40/1
Akie Iwai is another Japanese player who is capable of having a big week and she could also make a strong start.
Iwai has proved she can get to grips with British conditions having finished seventh at St Andrews two years ago and 11th at Walton Heath the year before, while she was also 11th at the Scottish Open which was a successful week at Dundonald Links.
Her most impressive recent result, however, was her third at the last Major, the Evian Championship, when she led the field after round one following a 63, so she has form to suggest she can be a factor in the battle to be first-round leader.
Key Tournament Stats
South Korea’s Ina Yoon heads the LPGA’s first-round-scoring rankings with an average of 68.85
Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda led the field after round one at Royal Porthcawl last year with rounds of 67
Australia’s Minjee Lee, who returns this year, was the first-round leader on the last occasion Royal Lytham & St Annes hosted the Women’s Open in 2018 after she shot 65
This will be the sixth occasion that the Women’s Open will be held at Royal Lytham & St Annes
Nelly Korda’s victory at the Chevron Championship has been the only occasion in a Women’s Major this year when the first-round leader has wo
nA score of 63 has been required to be first-round leader at the last two Majors
Read more golf betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
