2025 AIG Women’s Open Storylines to Watch

In just a few short days, major championship golf will be over. The long countdown to next spring will begin on Monday, but until then, let's enjoy what's shaping up to be a fantastic final act. Here's what I'll be keeping an eye on as the AIG Women's Open tees off Thursday at Royal Porthcawl.

Lottie's Party

The talk of the golfing world arrived in Wales late Sunday after driving down from Scotland with her family and woke up on Monday as the championship’s betting favorite. While there hasn't been any time to let her Scottish Open triumph sink in, Lottie said on Tuesday she's enjoying herself and "will try to have fun with it and not add too much stress really." She'll be in another featured group this week playing alongside defending champion Lydia Ko and 2023 winner Lilia Vu. Ko had high praise for Lottie's recent triumphs, saying, "It will be cool for me to see the things that I can possibly learn from her and why she's playing good." In case there was any doubt that the past month hasn't made waves, a Hall of Famer hoping to learn from Lottie confirms she's got everyone's attention. At this point, the only thing that might slow Lottie down is the month of July ending. On Friday the calendar page will be flipped, and we'll see if August keeps the magic going.

Top Two Time

Top-ranked Nelly Korda is having a better season statistically than her record-breaking 2024. She's only really had one solid chance at winning though, when she came up just short at the U.S. Women's Open at Erin Hills. Last year she was near the top on Sunday more often, and the stars aligned on a few occasions on her way to winning six times before June. This week is her final chance to get her major count to three, and combined with coming achingly close to getting the job done at St. Andrews last year, there’s more than enough motivation for Korda. Wind and rain should give her a leg up on the competition. As Karen Stupples mentioned in our Women's Open preview episode of The Mixed Bag, she is "insanely good at the knockdown shot, like one of the best at the three-quarter swing. In fact, I think she's at her best when she's going at about 80%.”

When world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul no-showed the first two majors of the year, alarm bells went off regarding her ability to step up during these big weeks. A T-4 and runner-up finish at the Women's PGA and Evian Championships have proven Jeeno is up to the task. The only thing left is to get over the finish line, something she had a 98.6% chance of doing when she got to the 18th tee on Sunday at Evian. Any player not named Jeeno Thitikul would still be recovering from that loss and come into this week wrestling some serious demons, but it takes more than a one-two-three birdie-eagle-birdie punch to bring Jeeno down. She only has one top 10 in the Women's Open so far, but this could be the week she sheds the "best player to have never won a major" title.

Royal Porthcawl's Moment

This week will be the largest women's sporting event ever held in Wales. It's Royal Porthcawl's time to shine. After battering the field at the Senior Open two years ago, the course has proven it has plenty of bite when the elements show up. If you're looking for where that bite might be the strongest in the coming days, check out Iona Stephen's latest video where she tackles the five most difficult holes at Royal Porthcawl with long-time Head Professional Peter Evans. I'm all for biblical conditions on links courses, they're what made last year at St. Andrews one of the best watches in recent memory. You can throw the forecast out the window and expect the unexpected this week, but hopefully that doesn't deter fans from making their way to Porthcawl in what should be a celebration for both Wales and women's golf.