2024 AIG Women's Open: Facts, player stories, tee times and how to watch

It's the final Major of the year and we're going out on a big one as the AIG Women's Open makes its third visit to St Andrews, where the best women's players in the world will take on the iconic Old Course. With the 150th Open Championship still pretty fresh in the memory, it's set to be a fantastic week on the links, where players skills and mindset will be tested to their limits.

The AIG Women's Open was last contested at St Andrews in 2013, when current American Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis won her second Major by two shots over Na Yeon Choi and Hee Young Park. In a thrilling final day, Lewis birdied the final two holes and waited for nearly an hour for the final pairing to finish, after playing 36 holes in one day. On the 17th Hole, Lewis made light work of the tricky hole, hitting her five iron approach shot to three feet and then claiming birdie. On 18, she used her putter from 40 yards and again sank her birdie putt.

The only other previous winner at the Old Course was Lorena Ochoa, who in 2007 who started with a bogey-free six-under-par 67 and then led wire-to-wire to win her first Major title by four shots ahead of Maria Hjorth and Jee Young Lee.

Now it's time to find out who will take the crown at St Andrews for the third time. Here's all you need to know about the 2024 AIG Women's Open.

2024 AIG Women's Open at St Andrews

Host: St Andrews is a seaside town northeast of Edinburgh, on Scotland’s east coast. Dubbed the Home of Golf, the Old Course, in particular, is a bucket list golf course for all golfers around the world. This is the third time that St Andrews has hosted the AIG Women's Open (2007, 2013, 2024) and it is the 49th edition of the event, and the 24th playing as a Major championship.

Set-up: The course will play approximately 6,784 yards, par 72 (36-36). The yardage for each round of the championship may vary due to course setup and conditions.

Field: 144 golfers, from 29 countries. After 36 holes the field is cut to top 65 and ties. View the full field here.

Purse: The 2024 AIG Women's Open prize fund has been increased to $9.5 million with the winner receiving $1.425 million.

Champion: The winner receives the AIG Women's Open Trophy. A winner's cheque of $1.425 million.

Current champion: Last year, American Lilia Vu won her second Major of her career and the season, winning by a staggering six shots from home favourite Charley Hull .

What do the players think about playing on the iconic links of St Andrews?

Defending champion Lilia Vu, who is playing the Old Course for the first time:

"We're at St Andrews, which is like the place that everyone wants to play. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. There's a little bit of pressure, but I think I know it's going to be a battle for everyone, not just me. So I'm going to try my hardest, do my best out here."

Charley Hull knows it's an important week and a special venue:

"It's the Home of Golf. It would be a special win. Something that you've always dreamed of. It would be very special. I teed it up on the back nine yesterday morning, and as you walk down, like, 17 and 18 you get, like, goosebumps. It's pretty cool."

Scotland's top ranked player and home favourite Gemma Dryburgh, knows the significance of being in St Andrews:

"It doesn't really get any better than that really. You know it's what dreams are made of, really, playing in Scotland and at the Home of Golf. It's a place where I've come to a lot as a kid, and it's a pretty special place for anyone."

Whilst Catriona Matthew has announced that the AIG Women's Open at St Andrews will be her last Major appearance:

"I think probably in a way a little bit of a mixture of relief, knowing myself that this will be the last one I'm going to play in… But I've realised, you've just got to, at 55, you're not going to be competitive enough as I want to be. Everything comes to an end."

Who is going to win?

The field is stacked and picking a winner this week is really hard. Lauren Coughlin comes into the week after winning the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open and climbing to a career high of 14th in the world rankings, confidence will be high after two wins in three weeks, but can she keep up the momentum?

Lydia Ko has her Olympic gold medal win still fresh in her memory and had a solid performance last week at Dundonald Links. After a fairytale ending at the Olympics which saw her claim the final point she needed to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame, what a story it would be if she won her second Major at the home of golf!

If you're looking to back a consistent performer on the links, then you don't need to look much further than Minjee Lee. The two-time Major winner has great form on British links courses, with a tied fourth at Muirfield, tied fifth at Carnoustie and third at Royal Troon, in recent years. Apart from her final round, she also performed well last week. We have no doubt she will be in the mix this week, but wonder whether she can climb those few extra places to top the leaderboard.

Finally, Charley Hull will be a favourite this week. She may not have the best form on the links but she has found a strategy recently which has helped her to tackle the windy conditions better. A big fan favourite, she is bound to have a lot of crowds following her this week. She contended last week too, so if she can get the measure of the Old Course, she will be tough to beat.

2024 AIG Women's Open Tee Times

View the AIG Women's Open tee times here. Keep an eye on the live leaderboard here.

How to watch the 2024 AIG Women's Open

There will be 28 hours of coverage in the UK across the championship days.

UK - Sky Sports Golf LIVE golf times (BST) below:

Thursday 22 August - 12:00pm to 7:00pm
Friday 23 August - 12:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday 24 August - 12:00pm to 7:00pm
Sunday 24 July - 12:00pm to 7:00pm

USA - NBC, USA Network and Peacock LIVE golf times (ET) below:

Thursday 22 August - 7:00am to 2:00pm (USA)
Friday 23 August - 7:00am to 2:00pm (USA)
Saturday 24 August - 7:00am to 12:00pm (USA); 12:00pm to 2:00pm (NBC/Peacock)
Sunday 25 August - 7:00am to 12:00pm (USA); 12:00pm to 2:00pm (NBC/Peacock)

You can also keep up to date with everything happening at the AIG Women's Open via The R&A TV and AIGWO Radio.

Make sure you're following the LPGA, LET and AIG Women's Open on social media to keep up to date with everything that is going on.