Weekend rockstars

Golf championships are won over the weekend.

There will always be something magical about a tournament’s opening day – and while plenty of big names have made famous moves on a Friday – golfers know they must peak on Saturday and Sunday if they are to have any chance of glory.

There are countless examples of world-class players entertaining the AIG Women’s Open crowds during a raucous weekend of rip-roaring action.

From three-time Champion Sherri Steinhaiuer securing victory on the 18th at Royal Lytham in 1998 to Jeong Jang’s hole-in-one in the final round at the same venue in 2009, the big names continually produce when the pressure is on.

Modern-day players are also getting in on the act, producing moments of breathtaking brilliance in front of a mesmerised crowd – and here are just a few examples from recent years.

Miyu Yamashita
Royal Porthcawl
Saturday, 2025

Miyu Yamashita had plenty to celebrate in Porthcawl last year.

Not only did she win the AIG Women’s Open in style, she also turned 24 during the Championship.

Her birthday fell on the Saturday, but she struggled to find any form during a difficult afternoon; eventually toiling to a two-over-par third round.

It could have been worse, however, had it not been for a courageous long putt on 17 which salvaged a par at a crucial moment.

It kept her one-stroke ahead of A Lim Kim going into the final day – and Miyu regrouped on the Sunday to card a two-under-par 70 and win by two strokes from Charley Hull and Minami Katsu.

Mimi Rhodes
Royal Porthcawl
Sunday, 2025

There are holes-in-one … and there are holes-in one.

There have been 15 aces in the AIG Women’s Open since the Championship became a major in 2001 – but this one was a bit different.

England’s Mimi Rhodes – who won three times on the Ladies European Tour in 2025 – will no doubt nail more holes-in-one during her career, but she will not hit another quite like this.

Standing on the 5th tee during the final round at Royal Porthcawl last year, Mimi watched on as playing partner Steph Kyriacou – who had registered a hole-in-one of her own on the Friday – played an exquisite tee shot to within an inch of the cup.

Mimi then stepped up and fired her ball straight at the pin. It rolled towards the cup before deflecting off Kyriacou’s ball and into the hole to prompt huge cheers from around the green. Astonishing.

Remarkably, Royal Lytham & St Annes – the venue for this year’s Championship – has been the stage for seven of those 15 holes-in-one. Holes 1, 9 and 12 are the ones to keep an eye on.

Lottie Woad
St Andrews
Saturday, 2024

England’s Lottie Woad burst onto the golfing scene with an incredible run of form in the early part of 2024.

She won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in the April before finishing T23 on her major debut at the Chevron Championship a fortnight later – two performances which helped catapult her to the top of the World Amateur Golf Ranking® (WAGR®) by the June.

And then came the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews.

Lottie, then aged just 20, opened with a respectable level-par 72 on a wild Thursday. She bettered this by two on the Friday to ensure her involvement over the weekend.

She held a commanding five-stroke lead over Julia Lopez Ramirez, Louise Rydqvist and Ela Anacona in the quest for the coveted Smyth Salver, a prize awarded to the top-placed amateur at the AIG Women’s Open (provided they complete all four rounds).

Lopez Ramirez made a surge on the Saturday – but was ultimately unable to reel Lottie in.

Lottie’s standout moment of the week came on Saturday; a stunning hole-out eagle on St Andrews’ fabled 18th hole, much to the delight of the spectators lining the street to her left.

Charley Hull
Walton Heath
Sunday, 2023

There’s nothing an AIG Women’s Open crowd loves to do more than cheer home the popular Charley Hull as the Englishwoman makes her trademark charge over the weekend.

She did it last year at Royal Porthcawl … and two years earlier at a balmy Walton Heath.

Chasing down eventual Champion Lilia Vu, Charley refused to lie down, attacking pins at every opportunity as she sought her first major title. And one shot in particular will live long in the memory for those spectators lucky enough to see it live – a once-in-a-lifetime bunker shot which caused ripples all over the course.

Five strokes behind Lilia, Charley found a greenside bunker with her second shot at the par-5 11th. With her ball close to the face, it looked a tricky escape.

But Charley, ever the cavalier, did not take a backward step and dug out a magnificent shot which flew into the air before rolling across the green and in to the cup, leading to one of the loudest cheers of the entire week.

Ashleigh Buhai v In Gee Chun
Muirfield
Sunday, 2022

In 2022, Ashleigh Buhai was in magnificent form from the Thursday right up to the 15th hole on the Sunday.

Three shots clear and with just the final stretch ahead of her, spectators were already getting their phones ready to capture the winning moment.

Then the drama began.

The South African hit her tee shot into a bunker, found thick rough with her next shot and didn’t make clean contact with her third. The result was a triple-bogey.

Ashleigh, who was leading by five shots at the beginning of play, subsequently slipped to 10-under-par, level with In Gee Chun with just three holes of the 72 remaining.

A quiet word with her caddie Tanya Paterson allowed Ash to reset in time for the four-hole sudden-death play-off that would ensue long into the night.

Ashleigh eventually got up-and-down from a greenside bunker to claim the title at 9:10pm local time.

Fans certainly got value for money that year!

Hinako Shibuno
Woburn
Sunday, 2019

Nicknamed ‘The Smiling Cinderella’, Hinako Shibuno was certainly grinning from ear to ear after landing a huge putt on the 72nd hole to complete a dream victory in 2019.

The Japan star was playing outside her homeland for the very first and came into that year’s AIG Women’s Open as a relative unknown. But she took the Championship by storm, racing into the 54-hole lead.

However, Hinako lost her two-stroke advantage pretty early on in the final round by four-putting the 3rd for a damaging double-bogey. With a cluster of star names and future Champions in and around, it led to an absorbing afternoon of cat-and-mouse on the wonderful Woburn links.

Hinako regrouped admirably to birdie the 5th and get her title charge back on track and never slipped further away for the rest of the afternoon.

Tied with Lizette Salas at 17-under, the American missed a 6ft birdie putt at the last to offer Hinako a glimmer of hope. And the Japanese grabbed it with both hands, hammering home a pacey 20ft birdie putt on 18 to become the first player to win on her debut appearance since the AIG Women’s Open earned major status in 2001.