By: Max Bechtoldt
Through four majors we have had a terrific group of champions. Nelly Korda and Yuka Saso both clinched their second major titles in the Chevron Championship and U.S. Women’s Open respectively. Then, two of the best players on tour without a major finally got their first with Ayaka Furue and Amy Yang. Who will add their name to the list next at the Old Course at St. Andrews? Here are my picks:
No. 5. Rose Zhang – I like Zhang’s game for this week. She is very strong at placing the ball in the correct position, which can come in handy at The Old Course. Zhang’s putting stats, while solid, don’t really do her a lot of justice. She has fantastic speed control on longer putts, which should play nice with the large greens at St. Andrews.
No. 4. Lilia Vu – The defending champion should feel confident to win her third-career major. While Vu has been a bit hampered by injury issues this season, she’s still been much more consistent than she was in her player of the year 2023 season. Here, she has a course that plays to her strength of putting, and the pressure should be relatively low for a No. 2 player in the world’s standards.
No. 3. Lauren Coughlin – Coughlin is on absolute fire right now. She has placed top 10 in the last four events including two wins, one coming last week in Scotland. Nobody is playing more confident golf than Coughlin and her results have shown that. The putting in particular has been spectacular, she made her last seven putts on the last seven holes at the Scottish Open. Ride the hot hand here.
No. 2. Lydia Ko – Ko’s game is clicking right now, and I think her short game wizardry will really help her out this weekend. Ko now has two wins this season, neither against a full-LPGA field, but both against strong competition. The gold medal win came at a great time, where it adds momentum, but gave her space to process it. I think her major championship drought has a good chance to end at the most iconic golf course in the world.
No. 1. Ayaka Furue – There is not a single safer bet in the world of golf currently than Ayaka Furue playing well. Furue has a jarring 10 top-10 finishes this year. She’s played as well as anyone in the majors in 2024, including a win in the most recent one at the Evian Championship. It is still such a shame that she didn’t get the chance to play in the Olympics, but I think a second-career major would make up for it.
