Anna Foster will play in her third AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes after she came through a playoff in Final Qualifying at St Annes Old Links.
It is the third time the Elm Park star has successfully qualified for the AIG Women’s Open and she survived an eight-player playoff for the remaining six places available.
“The wind was still blowing early this morning, but I managed to get out there and make a good start which gave me a little bit of a cushion as there are some tough holes on the back nine. I feel like I’ve been playing well recently and tried to lean on the times I’ve come through Final Qualifying before in 2023 and 2025. I was definitely thinking about those previous occasions and the positive memories.
“You don’t need to be perfect to get through, you can plot your way round, and I tried to remind myself of that. It’s quite a tough and stressful day and I just tried to keep it simple. It’s exciting to play again in the AIG Women’s Open. Each time I’ve played I’ve got a bit more experience and I feel like I belong there more.”
Foster was tied for eighth place on two-under 70 alongside Chloe Williams of Wales Polly Mack of Germany, Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino, Amanda Doherty of USA England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and Denmark’s Cecile Finne-Ipsen.
It was Foster, Williams, Mack, Trivino, Doherty and Ewart Shadoff who progressed to Thursday’s AIG Women’s Open where Foster will join Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh.
Beth Coulter missed out on the playoff by two shots after a level-par round of 70 and she will make her professional debut this week in Malahide at the Women’s Irish Challenge.
Sara Byrne was five-over while Aine Donegan was plus seven and Annabel Wilson, who is also competing in Malahide this week, plus eight.
Belgium’s Manon De Roey and Bel Wardle from England shared top spot with four-under-par rounds of 68.
Wardle, 26, will play in her first major championship while De Roey, 34, who posted her score in the final group of the day, can look forward to her seventh straight AIG Women’s Open appearance.
Five players finished on three-under-par 69 to qualify, including the English amateur Lauren Crump and former Curtis Cup player Annabell Fuller, along with Australia’s Justice Bosio, Vanessa Bouvet from France and Spain’s Carla Tejedo Mulet.
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