"A true British open test"- Nelly Korda reminisces on AIG Women's Open, thanks her friends for supporting her
Nelly Korda finished the 2024 AIG Women's Open in a tie for second place, two shots behind champion Lydia Ko. Korda was one of the players who best dealt with the difficult conditions of the Old Course at St. Andrews, the venue of the event.
The difficulty of the course, however, was one of the aspects of the event highlighted by Korda. The world number one posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) about her time at the AIG Women's Open. She wrote:
"Taking all the positives and smiles from the @AIGWomensOpen. It was so much fun playing at the “home of golf” in the tough conditions.. a true British open test. Shoutout to two of my best friends for making the trip over to watch."
Korda carded scores of 68 and 68 in the first two rounds to take the lead after 36 holes. However, the so-called "Moving Day" pretty much sealed her fate at the AIG Women's Open as she could only manage a 75.
During that third round, Korda carded four birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey. Jiyai Shin took advantage of this slip-up to climb to the top of the leaderboard.
In the fourth round, Nelly Korda seemed to get back on track with four birdies and a bogey through 13th and took the lead again. But a double bogey and a bogey without a birdie on her last five holes saw her lose ground to Lydia Ko, who shot her best round of the event (69).
Nelly Korda won the Rolex Annika Major Award
Nelly Korda did not win the fourth Major of her career and second of the season at St. Andrews, but her runner-up finish was significant. It earned her the Rolex Annika Major Award.
The award is given to the best player in the season's Major championships. It is determined by a points system awarded to the top 10 finishers in each Major in descending order:
- 1st – 60 points
- 2nd – 24 points
- 3rd – 18 points
- 4th – 14 points
- 5th – 12 points
- 6th – 10 points
- 7th – 8 points
- 8th – 6 points
- 9th – 4 points
- 10th – 2 points
Winning the Chevron Championship and finishing second in the AIG Women's Open gave Korda 84 points, 14 ahead of Ayaka Furue, who won the Amundi Evian Championship and finished T6 at the US Women's Open.
The other three Major champions of the season, Yuka Saso (US Women's Open), Amy Yang (KPMG Women's PGA Championship), and Lydia Ko (AIG Women's Open) tied for third with 60 points.
The highest-ranked player without a Major championship win was Lilia Vu, who won the Rolex Annika Major Award in 2023. Vu played in just three Majors in 2024, but finished second twice (Women's PGA Championship and AIG Women's Open).