England’s Mel Reid is looking for her first major victory in the AIG Women’s British Open at Woburn this week, which could see her move to joint second on the LET’s Solheim Cup points list.
The top three on the list will cement their place in the team following next week’s Aberdeen Standard Investment Ladies Scottish Open, followed by the next five players on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, and Reid would love to make a fourth appearance for Team Europe, following on from 2011, 2015 and 2017.
“Obviously I’ve got two big weeks,” said Reid. “I don’t want to just play well to get in the Solheim Cup, I want to play well for myself. If I play well these next few weeks, I feel like that will take care of itself. Obviously everybody is asking me about it. I don’t know, obviously I feel like I’ve come into some form the last six, seven weeks, which is what you want when a Solheim Cup is in four or five weeks. So I’d say I’m probably one of the more in-form European players, which hopefully is giving Beany (Captain Catriona Matthew) a headache.”
The last time the AIG Women’s British Open was played at Woburn, Reid made the cut, but had four rounds in the 70s. This time, she has prepared differently and spent less time on the range.
“I made a mistake last year at the British Open. I definitely practised too much. I think I did 20 hours in two days of practice. I took it a lot easier this year, so hopefully that’s going to make a difference. I obviously saw the course yesterday. The course is playing long. It’s definitely playing longer than last time we were here, which I’m all up for. I think that’s how a major championship should be. It should be a good test of golf, and the course is in immaculate condition. I’m really impressed with the condition of it.”
She likes the changes to the course and added: “18 is certainly playing longer. You know, we played the par-5, is it No. 7, we played that into wind, and I would say I carry it one of the longer players in the air with a driver, and I only carried that fairway by 20 yards yesterday on a par-5. The par-3s are very, very solid. A lot of par-4s, 16 is a very, very par-4 now. No. 1: I think they must have moved back. I know it was windy yesterday, but I hit 7-iron in there yesterday. I think the length of it is probably the main difference that you can see.”
Every athlete loves to compete in front of a home crowd and Reid loves playing in front of her compatriots, but she also knows the pressures that the local favourites like Charley Hull will face.
She said: “Everyone has so many high expectations for her, but I think this is probably the toughest week that she will ever have because of the expectations and because it is her home golf course. At the end of the day, it’s a major championship. There’s a lot of good players here, and obviously it would be incredible if she won here, but she’s got a lot of other stuff going on that is added pressure this week.
“I’ve always been impressed with Charley. She’s always had the game and obviously I’ve spent a bit of time with her. Obviously I’m competitive, but I do hope she plays well this week.”
Up to five English players are in the frame for this year’s European Solheim Cup team and Reid added: “English golf is in great shape right now. You know, obviously you’ve got Charley and Georgia (Hall),we’ll see how Jodi (Ewart Shadoff) plays this week and obviously Bronte (Law). I’ve known Bronte for a lot of years, pretty tight with Bronte: she’s a little firecracker. It looks like she’s going to be on the team, and I think she’s going to be one of the best additions, so I’ve never seen English golf this strong.”
Reid will tee off at 8.09am on Thursday, playing with Moriya Jutanugarn and Sei Young Kim.
