Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul sits atop the leaderboard after an opening round of 64 (-7) at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The world number two was on excellent form on day one of the final Major championship of the year rolling in three birdies on the trot on holes four, five and six.
Thitikul added another birdie on eight before further birdies on 11, 13 and 15 to seal her round of seven-under-par and lead by two strokes.
“I do enjoy it when golf is good. It’s really nice that I knew I hit some good shots, but I got lucky bounces over the pot bunkers. When it’s your way, it’s really your way. I knew I had a really good putter today too,” said Thitikul.
“The majors really test our games mentally and physically. When you play good in a major, even top five or top 10, you feel great and you have more confidence going to play just regular tournaments. It’s about beating the course when you’re in a major.”
The five-time LET winner has great memories of this golf course after she won the Smyth Salver during the 2018 edition of the AIG Women’s Open.
“I should be better than when I was 15 years old! It played the same, I think there’s still bunkers in the way and when you play good you keep the momentum going. My strategy is to beat my score from when I was 15,” Thitikul continued.
“I had really good memories on the first hole. I remember the first day from 2018 and on the first hole, I hit it [very] close to the pin. That’s the best memories. Then making the cut was also good memory, but I think I finished last so I was to keep improving on what I did last time.”
Two-time Major champion Haeran Ryu and Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki share second place on five-under-par.
Ryu, who won the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and Amundi Evian Championship back-to-back, began her day with a birdie at the first and added further birdies on the fourth, sixth and seventh holes.
Despite a bogey on 15, the world number three bounced back with birdies on 16 and 18 to seal an opening round of five-under-par.
“Today felt so tough because in the morning before the round there was a little rain, so I thought please no rain today. Weather is pretty good and the wind is still hard. My golf is pretty good, I’m happy to finish with a birdie,” said Ryu.
“You think about the bunkers and the wind because this type of golf course is too hard to make some pars on the second shot bunker, so that’s why I always think about no bunkers. Today, I hit a couple times in the bunker, but it’s pretty good save so hopefully tomorrow I stay more in the fairway.”
Kuwaki only had one dropped shot on her scorecard and rolled in birdies on the fourth, fifth, sixth, 11th, 16th and 18th holes.
“I managed my game well despite the strong winds and I was able to hole some key putts. I stay focused throughout the round and finished with such a good score. My shots were very consistent and making a putt of about six metres early in the front nine really helped me get into a good rhythm,” said Kuwaki.
American Yealimi Noh and France’s Celine Boutier ended the opening day in a tie for fourth place on four-under-par.
Boutier was bogey-free after making an eagle on the sixth hole and birdies on nine and 13 for her 67 (-4).
“I’m very happy with this opening round. Any time on this course, you go bogey-free it’s always going to be a good round. I’m very happy with the way I played and the way I was able to save a lot of pars and have a lot of birdie opportunities out there,” said Boutier.
“[On the eagle] I was able to hit a solid 6-iron on my second shot to reach the green in two. I had a 20-footer or so, slightly uphill and right-to-left, so I tried to give it a good run, and it went around the hole and went in, so that was a nice surprise. I honestly thought it was going to lip-out, but happy it went in.”
Japan’s Chizzy Iwai and Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen share sixth place on three-under-par with nine players one shot further back including English duo Lottie Woad and Charley Hull, Singapore’s Shannon Tan, India’s Diksha Dagar and Spanish amateur Paula Martin Sampedro.
Woad was bogey-free on the opening day with birdies on the sixth and 12th holes at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
“It was a good start. No bogeys, which is always good around here. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens,” said Woad. “I didn’t make too many putts, but good shots around here are 15-25 foot which aren’t the easiest. You’re not going to hole those. I hit some good rolls; I just didn’t make enough.
“The atmosphere was great. Teeing off early this morning, but there were still a lot of people, and it picked up as the round went on. I can tell everyone was cheering for me which was nice.”
2025 LET Order of Merit winner Tan made a solid start with her opening 69 (-2) which included five birdies, one bogey and one double bogey.
“The first six or seven holes were pretty good condition with not much wind and then the wind picked up as expected. I would today was pretty decent, I knew the wind was going to be tough and mentally I just grinded it out,” said Tan.
“I missed a few fairways and greens, which is always going to happen when it’s tough. But then I was just telling myself I’m going to make up-and-down here and focus on the next shot.
“I’ve played in a few majors now and I’ve seen how my game compared to everyone else, and I think my game is up there. More experience and learning more about what to do in different scenarios on the course has helped as well. I’ve pretty much improved after every start in a major, it’s definitely trending the right way.”
Round two will begin at 6.30 am (local time) and there will be a cut to the top 65 players and ties at the end of the day.
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