Korda and Hull Lead the Field Into the 50th Women's Open at Royal Lytham

Nelly Korda wants another major. Charley Hull wants her first. Both will step onto the first tee at Royal Lytham this week for the 50th edition of the Women's Open, on a links course that has historically flattened the form book. The tee times for Thursday's opening round and Friday's second round are set. The field is assembled. And the two names at the top of the pre-tournament conversation represent different arcs.

Korda's power muted by Lytham's terrain

Nelly Korda arrives at Royal Lytham as the world's top-ranked player, stacking wins at a pace that draws comparisons to the sport's all-time greats over the past two seasons. But major championships have flattened her form charts before, and the close calls weigh on a player. Royal Lytham's links setup doesn't reward the controlled, yardage-book precision that dominates LPGA parkland golf. The wind off the Lancashire coast changes the course every 20 minutes. The pot bunkers are punitive rather than decorative. Korda's power advantage gets muted when the fairways are firm and the lies are uneven.

"I love links golf. It tests every part of your game and you have to be creative," Korda said ahead of the tournament. The challenge for the game's most dominant player: translating sustained excellence into a format where a stray bounce can wreck a scorecard on any hole.

Hull, Woad and the home crowd's double edge

Charley Hull has never won a major. She has been the crowd favourite at every Women's Open held on English soil for the better part of a decade, and the expectation has never matched the outcome. Royal Lytham might suit Hull's game in ways other venues haven't. She grew up playing in British conditions. She shapes the ball both ways by instinct rather than by coaching manual. Her short game, when it's firing, belongs in the top tier of the women's tour. Links golf rewards the kind of improvisation Hull does at her most relaxed. But relaxation and major championship pressure pull in opposite directions. Hull's best Women's Open performances have come when she's played with a freedom the occasion doesn't always permit. Every cheer from the home crowd carries an unspoken demand that this should be the week she breaks through.

Hull is not the only British player with reason to feel optimistic. Lottie Woad, one of the rising talents in British women's golf, is also in the field. The previous two Women's Opens held at Royal Lytham were won by British golfers, and both Hull and Woad will arrive hoping to make it three in a row. That historical thread gives the home challenge a narrative weight beyond any single player's form.

Wind and bunkers sort the contenders

Royal Lytham & St Annes is defined by tight fairways, deep bunkering, and wind that makes yardage numbers feel like suggestions. The club produces champions who think their way around rather than overpower the layout. This is the 50th edition of the Women's Open, a milestone. The tournament has evolved from a semi-obscure fixture on the women's calendar into a genuine major drawing the deepest field in women's golf. The standard of competition at this stage is higher than it has ever been. The course doesn't need to be lengthened to 7,000 yards to defend itself. The wind and the turf do the work regardless of where the defending champion sits on the leaderboard.

Morning wave, afternoon gusts: the draw matters. The full tee times for the first and second rounds have been released, with marquee groups arranged to maximise television windows. Korda and Hull will draw the largest galleries across the opening 36 holes, though several other major champions and in-form players will be working through the same stretch of holes. Links golf has a particular cruelty in its opening rounds. A player can post a number in the morning wave when the wind is moderate, only for the afternoon draw to get battered by conditions that turn a 70 into a 76. Every caddie studies the tee sheet with the same intensity they'd give a pin sheet.

The players who contend this week will likely share a few traits: comfort with uncertain lies, the discipline to aim away from pins when the wind demands it, and the mental stamina to accept that a bogey on a par-3 doesn't define the round. Korda has the game to win anywhere. Hull has the game to win here. Whether either converts opportunity into a trophy lift on Sunday depends on decisions made over four rounds on a course that has humbled better players than either of them.

The 50th Women's Open starts Thursday.

Updated: 2026-07-28 - Added Lottie Woad to home challenge and historical context of British winners at Royal Lytham