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Women's British Open Golf 2021: Tee Times, Dates, TV Schedule, LPGA Prize Money
August 18, 2021
The Women's British Open marks the fifth and final major women's tournament on the 2021 calendar, and with it, an incredible streak will be on the line. It's possible this could be the 10th straight major to produce a first-time major winner, as fresh names keep ending up at the top of the leaderboard.
Not only that, but the past 12 majors have each had a different winner. The only woman who wasn't a first-time major champion during that stretch was Jin Young Ko, who won the 2019 Evian Championship after she had previously been victorious at the ANA Inspiration earlier the same year.
The Women's British Open is set to begin Thursday at Carnoustie Golf Links in Scotland. It will be the second time that the tournament has been held at the course and the first since 2011, when Yani Tseng became the only golfer to win the event in back-to-back years since it became a major on the LPGA Tour.
Here's everything else you need to know heading into this year's Women's British Open.
Tournament Information
Dates: Thursday, Aug. 19-Sunday, Aug. 22
TV: Round 1 (6 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, Golf Channel); Round 2 (6 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, Golf Channel); Round 3 (6 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, Golf Channel); Round 4 (7 a.m.-noon ET, Golf Channel; Noon-2 p.m. ET, NBC)
Tee Times: A full list of tee times can be found at LPGA.com
Prize Money: A $4.5 million purse, with $675,000 going to the winner
Preview
The first four women's majors winners of 2021 have been Patty Tavatanakit (ANA Inspiration), Yuka Saso (U.S. Women's Open), Nelly Korda (Women's PGA Championship) and Minjee Lee (Evian Championship). Perhaps one of them could win a second time and snap the run of first-time women's major winners.
If any of them are going to do it, Korda may have the best chance. She's currently ranked No. 1 in the world and is coming off an impressive performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where she won the gold medal for women's golf.
The 23-year-old has played in the Women's British Open four times, making the cut in each of the past three. Her best finish came in 2019, when she tied for ninth. And she's finished 19th or better in three of the four majors so far in 2021.
"With sports it's so different because you're constantly looking ahead for your next event," Korda said after winning gold in Tokyo, per Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press (h/t Yahoo Sports). "It never really gets to kind of sink in. ... But when I do look back, it's just crazy."
If the Women's British Open produces a 13th straight different major winner, it could be Lydia Ko. The 24-year-old has won two career majors, but none since she was victorious at the 2016 ANA Inspiration.
But Ko has been playing well of late. She tied for second at the Women's Scottish Open last weekend, after she won the bronze medal while representing New Zealand at the Olympics. Earlier this year, she finished second at the ANA Inspiration and tied for sixth at the Evian Championship.
However, Ko also knows Korda is going to be tough competition again this weekend.
"I'm sure she's going to have a great week," Ko said, per Ewan Murray of the Guardian. "Golf day-in and day-out can feel different but she's been playing so good and so consistently well, so I'm sure she's one of the names we'll be seeing. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw her around the top of the leaderboard."
There could also be a 10th straight first-time major winner this weekend. One name to watch may be Atthaya Thitikul, who finished fifth at the Evian Championship last month. The 18-year-old also tied for second at the Women's Scottish Open last weekend.
Last year, Sophia Popov won the Women's British Open for her first major championship. She hasn't fared as well in this year's majors, missing the cut twice and tying for 60th at the other two, so she'll need to play better to have a chance to repeat as champion.