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Lilia Vu kisses the AIG Women

Records

AIG Women's Open

History

The 2023 AIG Women's Open, held at Walton Heath and won by Lilia Vu, marked the 23rd playing of the event as a major on the women's circuit, and the 47th playing overall.

However, those statistics do not tell the whole story of one of the most cherished events in the world of golf.

First played at Fulford in York in 1976, after morphing from the Ladies Amateur Stroke Play Championship to include professional players, the event has quickly grown to become the most international major in women's golf and one of the most prestigious.

The list of AIG Women's Open Champions is a who's who of great golfers in modern times, with their victories collected on an array of well-known courses that are much loved around the world.

Since 1979, the Smyth Salver has been awarded to the lowest scoring amateur player returning a score for 72 holes. Like the list of champions, the Smyth Salver has a high profile list of winners, including Michelle Wie West, Anna Nordqvist, Lydia Ko, Danielle Kang and the 2018 AIG Women's Open champion Georgia Hall.

Explore the history of the AIG Women's Open below.

Champions

AIG Women's Open Champions

*Brackets () indicate number of times won or hosted                                                                                                                                                              

Year Champion Nationality Venue Score
2023 Lilia Vu  United States Walton Heath  274 
2022 Ashleigh Buhai South Africa Muirfield 274 
2021 Anna Nordqvist Sweden Carnoustie (2) 276
2020 Sophia Popov Germany Royal Troon 277
2019 Hinako Shibuno Japan Woburn, Marquess Course (2) 270
2018 Georgia Hall England Royal Lytham & St Annes (5) 271
2017 In-Kyung Kim South Korea Kingsbarns 270
2016 Ariya Jutanugarn Thailand Woburn, Marquess Course 272
2015 Inbee Park South Korea Turnberry Ailsa (2) 276
2014 Mo Martin United States Royal Birkdale (6) 287
2013 Stacy Lewis United States St Andrews (2) 280
2012 Jiyai Shin (2) South Korea Royal Liverpool 279
2011 Yani Tseng (2) Chinese Taipei Carnoustie 272
2010 Yani Tseng Chinese Taipei Royal Birkdale (5) 277
2009 Catriona Matthew Scotland Royal Lytham & St Annes (4) 285
2008 Jiyai Shin South Korea Sunningdale (4) 270
2007 Lorena Ochoa Mexico St Andrews 287
2006 Sherri Steinhauer (3) United States Royal Lytham & St Annes (3) 281
2005 Jeong Jang South Korea Royal Birkdale (4) 272
2004 Karen Stupples England Sunningdale (3) 269
2003 Annika Sörenstam Sweden Royal Lytham & St Annes (2) 278
2002 Karrie Webb (3) Australia Turnberry Ailsa 273
2001 Se Ri Pak South Korea Sunningdale (2) 277
2000 Sophie Gustafson Sweden Royal Birkdale (3) 282
1999 Sherri Steinhauer (2) United States Woburn, Duke's Course (9) 283
1998 Sherri Steinhauer United States Royal Lytham & St Annes 292
1997 Karrie Webb (2) Australia Sunningdale 269
1996 Emilee Klein United States Woburn, Duke's Course (8) 277
1995 Karrie Webb Australia Woburn, Duke's Course (7) 278
1994 Liselotte Neumann Sweden Woburn, Duke's Course (6) 280
1993 Karen Lunn Australia Woburn, Duke's Course (5) 275
1992 Patty Sheehan United States Woburn, Duke's Course (4) 207
1991 Penny Grice-Whittaker England Woburn, Duke's Course (3) 284
1990 Helen Alfredsson Sweden Woburn, Duke's Course (2) 288
1989 Jane Geddes United States Ferndown 274
1988 Corinne Dibnah Australia Lindrick (2) 295
1987 Alison Nicholas England St Mellion 296
1986 Laura Davies England Royal Birkdale (2) 283
1985 Betsy King United States Moor Park 300
1984 Ayako Okamoto Japan Woburn, Duke's Course 289
1983 No Tournament N/A N/A N/A
1982 Marta Figueras-Dotti (a) Spain Royal Birkdale 296
1981 Debbie Massey (2) United States Northumberland 295
1980 Debbie Massey United States Wentworth 294
1979 Alison Sheard South Africa Southport & Ainsdale 301
1978 Janet Melville (a) England Foxhills 310
1977 Vivien Saunders England Lindrick 306
1976 Jenny Lee Smith (a) England Fulford 299

Hinako Shibuno AIG Women
Debuts

Greatest Debuts / Five of the best debuts in the history of the AIG Women's Open.

Karrie Webb on her way to victory at Turnberry in 2002

Karrie Webb (above) and Sherri Steinhauer share the record for most AIG Women's Open titles

Most Victories

3: Karrie Webb, 1995, 1997, 2002 / Sherri Steinhauer, 1998, 1999, 2006

2: Debbie Massey, 1980, 1981 / Yani Tseng, 2010, 2011 / Jiyai Shin, 2008, 2012

 

Most Successive Victories

2: Debbie Massey, 1980, 1981 / Sherri Steinhauer, 1998, 1999 / Yani Tseng, 2010, 2011

 

Largest Margin Of Victory

11 strokes: Ayako Okamoto, 1984

9 strokes: Jiyai Shin, 2012

8 strokes: Karen Lunn, 1993 / Karrie Webb, 1997

 

Champions Who Won on Debut (1976 & since 1995)

Jenny Lee Smith, Fulford, 1976 / Karrie Webb, Woburn-Dukes, 1995 / Hinako Shibuno, Woburn-Marquess, 2019

 

Most Runner-Up or Joint Runner-Up Finishes

3: Marta Figueras-Dotti, 1980, 1985, 1986 / Annika Sorenstam, 1994, 1995, 1999 / Sophie Gustafson, 1998, 2005, 2006

 

Champions Who Have Led Outright After Every Round (since 1995)

Karrie Webb, 1997 / Jeong Jang, 2005 / Lorena Ochoa, 2007

 

Champions Who Have Led After Every Round But Were Tied For The Lead In At Least One Round (since 1995)

Emilee Klein, 1996 / Yani Tseng, 2010

Smyth Salver Winners

Year Winner Strokes
1979 Sue Hedges  309
1980 Belle Robertson & Marta Figueras-Dotti 295
1981 Belle Robertson  299
1982  Marta Figueras-Dotti  296
1984  Mary McKenna  302
1985  Jill Thornhill  308
1986  Vicki Thomas  289
1987  Joanne Furby  305
1988  Kathryn Imrie  301
1989 Joanne Morley  294
1990 Sarah Bennett  302
1991 Akiko Fukushima  296
1993 Patricia Meunier & Joanne Morley  297
1994 Tina Fischer  299
1995 Lisa Dermott  301
1996 Barbara Heckett  296
1997  Silvia Cavalleri  290
1999 Giulia Sergas  291
2001 Rebecca Hudson  287 
Year Winner Strokes
2003 Elisa Serramia  294
2004 Louise Stahle  290
2005 Michelle Wie  278
2006 Amy Yang  301
2007 Melissa Reid  296
2008 Anna Nordqvist  285
2010 Caroline Hedwall  291
2011 Danielle Kang  290
2012 Lydia Ko  297
2013 Georgia Hall & Lydia Ko  294
2014 Emma Talley  294
2015 Luna Sobron  287
2016 Leona Maguire  284
2017 Sophie Lamb  282
2018 Atthaya Thitikul 300
2019 Atthaya Thitikul 284
2021 Louise Duncan 281
2022 Rose Zhang  285 
2023 Charlotte Heath  295
Nationality of Champions

USA (9 Champions, 12 victories)

Sherri Steinhauer - 1998 Royal Lytham & St Annes, 1999 Woburn-Dukes, 2006 Royal Lytham & St Annes

Debbie Massey - 1980 Wentworth, 1981 Northumberland

Betsy King - 1985 Moor Park

Jane Geddes - 1989 Ferndown

Patty Sheehan - 1992 Woburn-Dukes

Emilee Klein - 1996 Woburn-Dukes

Stacy Lewis - 2013 St Andrews

Mo Martin - 2014 Royal Birkdale

Lilia Vu - 2023 Walton Heath

 

England (8 Champions, 8 victories)

Jenny Lee Smith - 1976 Fulford

Vivien Saunders - 1977 Lindrick

Janet Melville - 1978 Foxhills

Laura Davies - 1986 Royal Birkdale

Alison Nicholas - 1987 St Mellion

Penny Grice-Whittaker - 1991 Woburn-Dukes

Karen Stupples - 2004 Sunningdale

Georgia Hall - 2018 Royal Lytham & St Annes

 

South Korea (5 Champions, 6 victories)

Jiyai Shin - 2008 Sunningdale, 2012 Royal Liverpool

Se Ri Pak - 2001 Sunningdale

Jeong Jang - 2005 Royal Birkdale

Inbee Park - 2015 Turnberry

In-Kyung Kim - 2017 Kingsbarns

 

Sweden (5 Champions, 5 victories)

Helen Alfredsson - 1990 Woburn-Dukes

Liselotte Neumann - 1994 Woburn-Dukes

Sophie Gustafson - 2000 Royal Birkdale

Annika Sorenstam - 2003 Royal Lytham & St Annes

Anna Nordqvist - 2021 Carnoustie

 

Australia (3 Champions, 5 victories)

Karrie Webb - 1995 Woburn-Dukes, 1997 Sunningdale, 2002 Turnberry

Corinne Dibnah - 1988 Lindrick

Karen Lunn - 1993 Woburn-Dukes

 

Japan (2 Champions, 2 victories)

Ayako Okamoto - 1984 Woburn-Dukes

Hinako Shibuno - 2019 Woburn-Marquess

 

South Africa (2 Champions, 2 victories)

Alison Sheard 1979 - Southport & Ainsdale

Ashleigh Buhai 2022 - Muirfield

 

Chinese Taipei (1 Champion, 2 victories)

Yani Tseng - 2010 Royal Birkdale, 2011 Carnoustie

 

Germany (1 Champion, 1 victory)

Sophia Popov - 2020 Royal Troon

 

Mexico (1 Champion, 1 victory)

Lorena Ochoa - 2007 St Andrews

 

Scotland (1 Champion, 1 victory)

Catriona Matthew 2009 - Royal Lytham & St Annes

 

Spain (1 Champion, 1 victory)

Marta Figueras-Dotti - 1982 Royal Birkdale

 

Thailand (1 Champion, 1 victory)

Ariya Jutanugarn - 2016 Woburn-Marquess