ST ANDREWS, Scotland — It’s still anyone’s ballgame through 54 holes at the AIG Women’s Open, and Sunday’s finish promises to be one of the most thrilling of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
Two-time AIG Women’s Open winner Jiyai Shin currently leads the way by one shot over defending champion Lilia Vu, with Nelly Korda sitting two behind at 5-under. Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko is lurking at 4-under alongside Jenny Shin, and a quartet of players ended day three in a tie for sixth at 3-under, including 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship winner Ruoning Yin.
Jiyai Shin might be unfamiliar to some, but she often plays well in major championships. She finished in a tie for 23rd at The Chevron Championship in April and was in the top three of two major championships last season, tying for second at the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links and then coming solo third at the AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath Golf Club.
Before giving up her LPGA Tour membership in 2014 after joining the organization in 2009, Shin had earned eight top-10 finishes in major championships in addition to her two victories at the AIG Women’s Open in 2008 and 2014. She also finished solo sixth at the U.S. Women’s Open in 2007 at Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club as a non-member.
So, it isn’t a shock that Shin finds herself in this position at one of the biggest tournaments of the year. And considering her past history with this major championship, she just might wind up claiming her third AIG Women’s Open title at St Andrews, a title she has come close to nabbing on a few different occasions since winning her last LPGA Tour event in 2013.
Shin will go in the final pairing at 2:15 p.m. local time with Vu, who is working to successfully defend a title for the first time in her LPGA Tour career. The California native triumphed last season at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England, defeating home-country hero Charley Hull by six shots just down the road from where the Englishwoman grew up.
Vu looked unflappable during Saturday’s third round, handily recovering from a bogey on 12 and double-bogey on 13 by making three birdies in her final five holes, including one on the closing par 4 at the Old Course.
Vu is a player who relishes the challenge of the difficult conditions that major championships provide and could very well ride that grit and tenacity into the winner’s circle at the Home of Golf, becoming the first player since Yani Tseng in 2011 to capture back-to-back victories at this tournament. But she hasn’t stressed herself with the pressure of what doing something like that would mean for her career at large.
“I don’t think it weighs on my shoulders,” said Vu when asked about the anxieties that come with defending a major title. “I think I came into the week with a good mindset that it’s a new week. Just going to show up the same way I do every single week, trying to play my best and beat the golf course.”
Vu’s fellow American Korda has been a bit of a conundrum as of late, winning six times in seven starts in the spring and then missing her next three cuts in June, two of which were at the U.S. Women’s Open and the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She has seemingly righted the ship this week at St Andrews, however, opening with a pair of 68s in the first two rounds to lead through 36 holes. A 3-over 75 on Moving Day derailed Korda a bit, leaving her two shots behind Jiyai Shin with 18 holes to play in Scotland, but the 14-time LPGA Tour winner is never to be counted out when a title is there for the taking.
While many have questioned Korda’s dodgy results as of late, the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1 has done her best to keep her expectations in check and keep moving forward, knowing that she is more than capable of getting back to her winning ways that saw her make history in the early half of the season.
Lydia Ko is another player to continue keeping an eye on. She hasn’t won a major title since 2016 but has been playing free and easy after automatically qualifying for the LPGA Hall of Fame when she captured the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a career-long dream finally realized for the 27-year-old superstar.
The 20-time LPGA Tour winner has posted three under-par scores over the first 54 holes, and another steady effort could be all she needs to contend for her 21st Tour title on Sunday at St Andrews.
With all of those big names contending, don’t forget about the host of other players in the mix who could become first-time major winners at the Home of Golf, a list that includes the likes of Jenny Shin, Jeeno Thitikul and Alexa Pano.
But a spectacular effort will be needed to overcome the elements that have once again decided to rear their ugly heads on Sunday afternoon, and it will likely be a photo finish to see who can steel themselves and survive the unforgiving Scottish weather all while taming the beautiful beast that is a windy, rainy Old Course in the final round.
And come the end of play, a new chapter of history will ultimately be authored at the Home of Golf.
Who will be left holding the pen? Now that is anyone’s guess, an outcome even the winner herself won’t know until the race comes to its formidable conclusion.
