Hall hoping to inspire again at AIG Women's Open

Georgia Hall is hoping she can continue to inspire young British golfers when she goes in search of a second title in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Troon.

The winner of the Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 2018, Hall will be confident of mounting another strong challenge in South Ayrshire from August 20-23.

Two years on from winning the event, Hall is proud of the effect her success had and would love to provide further encouragement for young players by triumphing again on a links course.

“I think it had a much bigger impact than I thought,” she explained in a conference call to preview the AIG Women’s Open.

“Even six months later I had messages from girls on social media saying: ‘I’ve taken up the sport because I’ve watched you play and compete in the last nine holes at Lytham and you made me fall in love with the game.’

“That’s a great feeling that I got, to have a lot more youngsters (getting) into golf, and if I can continue that, that would be great. If a British person can win the AIG Women’s Open, it just touches everyone all across the country.”

Troon promises to offer a stiff test to the game’s elite, particularly if the coastal winds rise at any point during the event.

However, Hall made it clear she will be comfortable if she is faced with a blustery environment.

“I think it would make things a lot more interesting,” said the 24-year-old. “I don’t wish for too much bad weather, but I do expect a lot of players will be expecting bad weather at least for one day.

“I feel I have an advantage when it’s very windy. When it rains, that’s a no for me, I don’t enjoy that at all. But if it’s windy, it can be as windy as it likes. I quite enjoy playing in the wind.”

Regardless of what the weather brings at Troon, Hall is excited to be returning to Scotland for the first major championship of 2020.

“Scotland is my favourite place in the world. I absolutely love it,” she explained. “I would love to live there. I love holidays there, everything. To win there would be awesome, for sure.”

Asked what it is about Scotland that she likes, Hall replied: “Well, everything, really. I love how pretty it is, there’s so much countryside, and I think the best golf courses in the world are in Scotland. Everybody loves golf over there.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the golfing calendar, and Hall will play her first ranking event since February when she features in the Ladies Scottish Open, a week before the AIG Women’s Open takes place.

However, while that event will represent her return to a major tour, Hall has been able to gain competitive experience in recent weeks due to the Rose Ladies Series, a sequence of eight professional events held across the United Kingdom that has been organised and sponsored by Justin Rose and his wife Kate.

Hall, who headed into this week's three-day series finale having won two events in succession to top the Order of Merit, said: “It’s great. It gives me something to play in and be competitive in, and it gives me something to practise for every week, so it’s really good just to be in that mindset heading into the Scottish (Open).

“I think it’s great to be competitive every week leading up to these two big events. I’m very happy with where my game is.

“I had a long time off, actually. I hit some golf balls, and then when the golf course started opening again, it was great. I could go and practise and spend most of my days just kind of playing golf, really.

“I think it has gone pretty fast. It's been, in a way, nice to slow down and be at home a little bit, but I can't wait to step back out there and compete.”