Huang and Do win the Women’s Open; Kang does not qualify

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

American Brianna Do and Canadian Anna Huang are among the 17 players who secured their participation in this week’s AIG Women’s Open, after qualifying in Monday’s 18-hole round. The AIG Women’s Open will tee off on Thursday at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. Huang, the youngest player on the Ladies European Tour at 16 years old, signed the best round on Monday with an impressive 67, four under par, at the Pyle and Kenfig Golf Club. She was followed by Anna Foster from Ireland and Arpichaya Yubol from Thailand, both with three under par.

I am delighted with my score. I don’t 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 a great help.

Anna Huang

Do, 35 years old, tied for eighth place with a score under par. The 2011 Women’s Amateur Public Links champion will participate in her first Women’s Open since 2016. Currently ranked 351st, she comes from tying for 23rd place 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 didn’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 a tournament sense.

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 signed a 73. Despite not qualifying for her 13th Women’s Open, Kang stated that she was not disappointed.

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

Danielle Kang

Hira Naveed of Australia (69) and Momoko Kobori of New Zealand (70), teammates at Pepperdine from 2017 to 2019, also managed to qualify. The 17 qualifiers for this week’s tournament, which will feature 144 golfers, finished under par.