Huang and Do qualify for the Women’s Open; Kang does not, surprises in the qualy

Brianna Do and Anna Huang Secure Their Spots in the AIG Women’s Open

A total of 17 golfers managed to secure their participation in this week’s prestigious AIG Women’s Open, after overcoming Monday’s 18-hole qualifying round. Among them, American Brianna Do and Canadian Anna Huang stood out. The AIG Women’s Open tournament will begin on Thursday at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. Anna Huang, at just 16 years old and being the youngest player on the Ladies European Tour, signed the best round on Monday with an impressive 67, four under par, at the Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club. Irish Anna Foster and Thai Arpichaya Yubol followed her closely, both with a score of three under par.

I am delighted with my result. I don’t usually play links golf, so it took me a couple of practice rounds to get used to it, but I think I handled it quite well. I played in the US Open this year, so this will be my second major championship. I learned a lot from that week and bringing more patience this week will be really helpful.

Anna Huang

Brianna Do, 35, tied for eighth place with a low par. The 2011 Women’s Amateur Public Links champion will compete in her first Women’s Open since 2016. Currently ranked 351st, Do is coming off a tie for 23rd at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in June and T59 three weeks ago at the Evian Championship.

A few years ago, I was the first alternate for the Evian, and I couldn’t get in, so I came to Scotland and played quite a bit of golf. I played at the Old Course, Prestwick, Elie, so I played quite a bit for fun, and it was incredible. I learned quite a bit there, but not in the sense of a tournament.

Brianna Do

Among the five Americans who failed to qualify was Danielle Kang, a major champion in 2017 and a four-time U.S. Solheim Cup player, who shot a round of 73 strokes. Despite not qualifying for her 13th Women’s Open, Kang expressed that she was not disappointed.

Not even a little bit. I met incredibly cool people here. I got to play with a lot of members in Porthcawl, and I met everyone in Pyle and Kenfig. It’s been great.

Danielle Kang

Australian Hira Naveed (69) and New Zealander Momoko Kobori (70), teammates at Pepperdine from 2017 to 2019, also managed to qualify. The 17 players who passed the qualifying for this week’s tournament, which will feature 144 participants, finished under par.