Opening Golf to the World
Rules of Golf
Rulings from the AIG Women’s Open
07 Sep 26
4 mins
Rulings from the AIG Women's Open 2026
Stradling the months of July and August, the AIG Women’s Open returned to Royal Lytham & St Annes to celebrate 50 years since the inauguration of the Championship. Rules officials from all over the world were on hand during the Championship and witnessed Japanese star Shiho Kuwaki triumph in a dramatic play-off over Germany’s Esther Henseleit to claim her maiden major championship.
On the second play-off hole, Henseleit’s tee shot was pushed to the right where it struck a marshal, bouncing right and running into the long rough and bushes. An unfortunate break, but Rule 11.1b covers this. When a ball in motion hits any person accidently, which in this case was an unsuspecting member of the marshalling team, the ball is played as it lies. With Henseleit in trouble, Kuwaki held her nerve magnificently to hit her approach to around 15 feet and seal victory.
During the four days of championship golf, there were a number of rules queries raised which were dealt with by the Championship Committee, with a few of the more obscure and interesting ones covered below.
On the final hole of round two, Germany’s Helen Briem struck her tee shot to the right, similar to that of her countrywoman Henseleit in the play-off, and found the gorse bushes. A ball search commenced, and with the clock ticking ever closer to three minutes, a ball was found deep in the bushes. It would take Briem a few seconds to get to the area, navigate her way into the bush and look to identify it, by which time three minutes had passed. However, under the Rules (Rule 18.2a) when a ball is found, the player is permitted reasonable time to get to the ball, and in circumstances where a ball is found very close to the three-minute mark, and in an area which is difficult to navigate, this means that the ball may be identified after the three minutes has elapsed. In this instance, the ball was successfully identified by Briem a few moments after the three minutes had expired, but in reasonable time and the player was permitted to proceed under the Rules from this position; albeit deep in the gorse bushes and by taking unplayable ball relief and the back-on-the-line option.
Royal Lytham & St Annes is no stranger to championship golf, and many of us are familiar with the setting of this historic course within the local community. Sometimes you can forget how close to the coastline the course is situated, but England’s Lauren Crump was reminded of this on the 7th hole during Friday’s play when a seagull picked up her ball! After playing her shot from the tee, Crump’s ball was seen to come to rest on the fairway before the seagull flew in and picked up the ball by a vigilant marshal, and reported the facts to the player and nearby referee. As it was known or virtually certain that the ball had been moved by the seagull, defined as an outside influence in the Rules, Crump was required to replace the ball in its original position for no penalty (Rule 9.6). And because the exact position was almost impossible to determine from so far away, the position in which the ball is replaced is estimated; with the referee and marshal on hand to assist.
There was a strong crowd in the Saturday sunshine as the leaders made their way out onto the course for round three, and there were plenty of keen fans following the pairing of Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko. And on the 7th hole, one such spectator unexpectedly got very close the action! Ko pulled her shot, with her ball heading into the spectator ropelines, and it coming to rest inside the coat of a watching fan! Under the Rules (Rule 15.2) Ko was of course entitled to free relief in this situation from the jacket, which is a movable obstruction. And because the ball was in the obstruction and had no contact with the course, the spot directly underneath the ball was estimated and Ko would drop a ball within one club-length not nearer the hole from this spot and continue on to make a par on the long par-5. No spectators were injured and throughout the whole process the spectator made sure she stayed as still as possible until the relief process had started, which was very helpful to both Ko and the referee! And only when the estimated point had been determined was the fan able to move away, to a strong ovation from the rest of the spectators!