Nelly Korda and Haeran Ryu combined to win the first four majors of the season.
It’s only fitting they are paired together, along with LPGA Hall of Famer Lydia Ko of New Zealand, for the first two rounds of the AIG Women’s Open. The final major of the season begins Thursday at Royal Lytham & St Annes in Lytham St Annes, England.
Either Korda or Ryu could become the first woman since South Korea’s Inbee Park in 2013 to win three majors in one year. Korda collected the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open for a brilliant start to 2026, and Park’s countrywoman Ryu prevailed at the Women’s PGA Championship and the Evian Championship.
“I have a lot of confidence,” Ryu said. “I got a lot of confidence after two major champion, and then but this is another golf course and another golf, so I just keep working hard with my team.”
Ryu won the Evian earlier this month in France by shooting a record 60 in the third round and going on to defeat Canada’s Brooke M. Henderson in a playoff the next day. The 60 was the lowest round ever shot at a major, men’s or women’s.
Ryu, who took time off afterward and did not play the Women’s Scottish Open, called herself “still (a) rookie” on links courses, which is exactly the test Royal Lytham & St Annes presents. It is a par-71 layout measuring 6,601 yards this week.
World No. 1 Korda finished 2 over par at the Scottish two weeks after her first missed cut of the year at the Evian.
“Evian is just a funky golf course. I didn’t play that bad actually, if I’m being honest,” Korda said. “You know, it’s golf. You’re going to — just because you’re playing well doesn’t mean you’re invincible and you’re going to make every cut and be in the top 10 every single week.
“I feel like I’ve done this long enough where I’ve missed enough cuts that it’s just about the bounce-back.”
On the topic of links play, Korda said her approach is about controlling the controllables.
“Sometimes with links golf you can kind of get pretty agitated with the bounces that you get,” she said. “You hit a good shot, get a bad bounce, end up in a pot bunker, have to pitch out unfortunately and save par.”
The defending champion is Japan’s Miyu Yamashita, who prevailed by two shots at Royal Porthcawl last year as a rookie.
At just 24, Yamashita has collected 16 wins worldwide, mainly on the LPGA of Japan Tour. She’ll try to be the first back-to-back winner at the Women’s Open since Taiwan’s Yani Tseng in 2010-11.
“Yani Tseng winning in 2011 was of course an amazing achievement,” Yamashita said. “To be here again, to have the chance to be the defending champion, is something I really look forward to, and just got to focus on the golf and my performance this week.”
Royal Lytham & St Annes last hosted this major in 2018, marking the most recent time an English player won the title. Georgia Hall earned her first and only major trophy that week and is now in a very different stage of life: She’s returning to Lytham for her first competitive round since giving birth to her first child, Conor, five months ago.
“I first picked up a club … six weeks after giving birth,” Hall said. “I was in Ireland and went to a local driving range. I was really excited because I didn’t know how I was going to hit it and thought I might top it or something, but I actually hit it pretty good, but my rotation, like there is no rotation at all.
“Yeah, I went there for an hour and I was pleasantly surprised. I was leaving that thinking, ‘OK, let’s see if I can get back to Lytham.’ Yeah, it was good. I enjoyed the progress coming back.”
