$10m prize pot for AIG Women's Open as Scotland set for four-year hiatus for R&A major

With the news that Sunningdale will follow Royal Porthcawl, which staged last year’s event, Royal Lytham and Royal St George’s on the rota, it means that the major will not be held in Scotland for at least four years.

The most recent edition in the home of golf was at St Andrews in 2024, when Lydia Ko lifted the title, while Muirfield held it for the first time before that in 2022, the year after it had been staged at Carnoustie.

“There's certainly no anti-Scottish sentiment here,” said Darbon, speaking at a press conference at Royal Lytham, where the 50th anniversary event will be staged on 29 July-2 August. “I recently moved to Scotland, so that would be the worst thing I could display. No, no anti-Scotland sentiment. “We're very proud of the pool of venues we've got for this wonderful championship. We will return to Scotland in due course; that's a given. We are considering the pool of venues as we look to the future.”

On Monday, Darbon had insisted that was also the case for Muirfield in terms of The Open despite the next available slot - 2028 - being awarded to Royal Lytham. He was asked on this occasion where Carnoustie stood in respect of both The Open and the AIG Women’s Open.

“Yeah, we have a wonderful relationship with the venue at Carnoustie,” he said. “They've obviously been through some ownership change (the Angus venue is now under private control after Carnoustie Golf Heritage and Hospitality Group Limited (CGHH) took over the running of the courses) in recent times. We've got a good dialogue with the owners and investors. Carnoustie is very much a course that remains on our mind for future R&A championships.”

For the latest edition of the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham - Catriona Matthew triumphed on the Fylde links in 2009 before Georgia Hall emulated the feat for the most recent visit in 2018 - the prize pot will be $10m, marking the sixth year in a row that the figure has been increased as the event continues to grow under the AIG title banner.

“It is another clear signal of our commitment alongside AIG to continue to elevate the championship on the global stage,” said Darbon while Peter Zafino, chairman and CEO of AIG, echoed that view as he spoke on a video link from New York.

“I think we've tripled the prize-money since we started, so we're really proud of that,” he said. “We work very closely with The R&A to do this in a very methodical way, which is that we're going to continue to elevate the prize money but do it over time so it's sustainable.”

The latest increase in prize-money was welcomed by Matthew, who enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane at the Lancashire venue by playing the final three holes along with Mimi Rhodes, who will be part of the home contingent this summer.

“Yeah, I think that's fantastic,” said Matthew. “I think it probably comes down to a mixture of everything. It's coming to the more recognised venues, there's going to be enhanced television coverage and AIG's investment into the event, along with the R&A, into the player services, increasing the prize fund. It all just gets the event bigger and bigger, which is what all the players want.”

Unlike The Open, the AIG Women’s Open is not yet profitable. But Darbon said:

“We treat it as an absolutely critical investment. We think it's incredibly important to provide a platform for the best athletes to perform, and we believe that that translates into our ability to inspire and excite millions of young people to pick up a club all around the world. So we'll continue to make that investment. We're looking to enhance it. We're very focused on the things that flow from that, providing audience growth, providing participation programmes, and that will remain the case.”

This year’s event will see extended live coverage while, on the back of it winning a coveted LPGA award for the last two years, the ‘player experience’ is being further enhanced.

“With the support of AIG, we are making a series of enhancements to the player clubhouse facilities at the championship,” revealed Darbon. “This includes improvements to our catering and performance nutrition offering with the introduction of a grab and go facility at the practice range and an expanded offering of international options to better reflect our diverse field.

“In the performance and recovery area, we are introducing a second cold plunge pool and an enhanced sauna facility, creating a dedicated recovery space in the locker room and expanding the provision of our women's and mental health services.

We're very proud to have won the LPGA's Gold Driver Award for the best player experience for two consecutive years, and we pride ourselves on offering all of the players present at our championship the best experience possible. We will continue to make strides in this area into the future.”

While more than 300,000 fans will be at Royal Birkdale a fortnight earlier, a smaller crowd will be in attendance for the AIG Women’s Open. “We're expecting this summer to have comfortably more than 50,000 people here,” said Darbon, who is perfectly happy with that number.

“That will create again sustained growth for this proposition. We've got a great catchment area close to the venue here, but we know that we put on a global audience more broadly, people travel to this event from all across the UK and beyond, and to bring that to life, we're also alongside our investment in the player experience, we continue to prioritise the spectator experience that we deliver on-site. So we want people to come here, see the world's best golfers perform, but also wrap that experience to create a memorable day more broadly.

“I remember being at Porthcawl last year, the way we set up the village with the range and the practice facility at its heart, a chance for young people to pick up a club and engage with this game, building on the momentum and the inspiration that they see on the course itself.”