Mark Darbon talks about strength of women's game and growth of AIG Women's Open
The R&A
02 Aug 25
4 mins
Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A, has been sharing his thoughts on the strength of the women’s game during his first AIG Women’s Open in post.
In a walk-and-talk conversation with Sky Sports broadcaster Henni Zuel, Darbon pointed to the rude health the game finds itself in – highlighting the number of talented young players who have broken through and enjoyed major success in recent years.He also spoke about the steps The R&A is taking, in partnership with AIG, to grow the AIG Women’s Open and continue to provide a world class experience for fans and athletes.“Firstly I should thank AIG for their wonderful support of this Championship”, Darbon said. “The growth and investment that’s been made into this event since that partnership started has been really strong.“We’ve been focused on a couple of things. Firstly, taking this Championship to brilliant venues. Part of our job is to provide a stage for these wonderful athletes to perform. We’ve got that strongly here this week, and we’ve got some great venues that we’ve been to recently and that we plan to go to in the future.“The second bit is about the athlete experience. We want to provide a platform for those athletes to perform, and that means making sure they’ve got a great environment in which to prepare. The investment we’ve made into our player clubhouse and the facilities that we provide for those players is so central.“Alongside that we’ve tried to grow the prize fund for the game too, and to close a bit of the gap that exists between the women’s game and the men’s game. We’ve announced an increase to the prize purse this week and that’s something we’re really proud of.”This week The R&A announced that the prize fund at the AIG Women’s Open had increased to $9.75 million, a rise of $250,000 on 2024.The Champion will take home $1,462,500, the highest amount in the AIG Women’s Open’s 49-year history.This comes as the women’s game continues to grow, and Darbon added: “Great sport needs, first and foremost, great competition – and we’re seeing that in spades in the women’s game at the moment.“If you look at the last 13 major championships there have been 13 different winners, the average age of those winners is significantly lower than it is in the men’s game right now.“This year alone we’ve had three first-time winners in the four major championships, so real competition, real strength in depth, and that bodes well for the future of the women’s game.”You can watch the full conversation in the video above.
