One American, 16-year-old Canadian among AIG Women's Open qualifiers

Yahoo

3 days ago

AIG Women's Open final qualifying began Monday morning with 107 players vying for berths into the year's final major, which starts Thursday at Royal Porthcawl.
It ended with 17 players qualifying.
Canada's Anna Huang led the way as medalist in the 18-hole qualifier at Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club, a Harry Colt design that is located about a mile from this week's Open site in Wales. Huang, who is just 16 years old and the youngest member of the Ladies European Tour, shot 4-under 67. This will be her second major of the year, following the U.S. Women's Open, where she missed the cut.
'I'm delighted with my score,' Huang said. 'On the front nine, I just stayed really patient, I didn't miss any fairways and the putts were dropping. I don't play links golf, so it took a couple of practice rounds to get used to it, but I think I handled it pretty well. I played in the U.S. Open this year so this will be my second major championship. I learned a lot from that week and bringing more patience into this week will be really helpful.'
Ireland's Anna Foster, who played college golf at Auburn, and Thailand's Arpichaya Yubol tied for second at 3 under. Florida State alum Morgane Metraux was among four players to tie for fourth at 2 under, and her twin sister, Kim, was first reserve at even par.
Brianna Do was the lone American to qualify. The 35-year-old former U.S. Women's Public Links champion has made the cut in two majors already this year, the KPMG Women's PGA and Evian Championship. She had missed 11 of 12 career major cuts prior to this year.
Do's 1-under 70 included a 45-foot eagle make on her ninth hole.
'It was nice to get an early tee time, so the wind was calm for a lot of my round,' Do said.
Five other Americans did not qualify, including 2017 Women's PGA champion Danielle Kang, who shot 73, and Louisville product Lauren Hartlage, a final qualifier last year who carded 71 but missed out reserve status in a playoff.
Also qualifying at 1 under was a group that included Stanford alum Aline Krauter, who qualified for and tied for 28th at this year's U.S. Women's Open despite being penalized for slow play in her qualifier, and current Cardinal standout Meja Ortengren, an amateur from Sweden.
Another Swede, former Arizona State player Linnea Strom, birdied her final hole to shoot 70 and move the cut line, ensuring no playoff for the 17 qualifying spots.
For the full list of qualifiers and results, click here.