KYLIE HENRY is one of only two Scots who will be teeing up at the Women’s British Open tomorrow and the 31-year-old admits she cannot wait to get her first-ever competitive round at Royal Lytham underway.
Only Henry and Catriona Matthew have made it into the field for the fourth major of the year, although Michele Thomson is second reserve after a strong showing at Final Qualifying. This year’s Women’s Open will be Henry’s sixth appearance at the tournament but having not made the cut since 2011, the Glaswegian will be keen to make it to the weekend this year.
And having done a recce at the course a few weeks ago, she is feeling in good shape going into tomorrow but is well aware that there is little room for error.
“I played the course for the first time a few weeks ago,” she said.
“It was so burnt but the greens are in great condition. It’s such a good course and you need to be hitting good shots because it’s tight.”
Henry tuned up for Royal Lytham at the Ladies Scottish Open at Gullane last week, where she was one of only two Scots to make the cut. Her final score of five over par for a tie for 67th place was solid if not spectacular but she admits that four rounds of competitive golf was the perfect preparation for her first major of the season.
“It was great to play in such a good event right before a major and Gullane was a very similar style of course so it’s been good preparation,” she said.
“I’m sure the greens will be fairly similar to Gullane so it’s about doing a bit of work on holing the 8 and 10 footers, that’s crucial.”
Henry, as with all the players who ply their trade on the Ladies European Tour (LET), has suffered from huge gaps in the calendar this year, with only a handful of tournaments having been sanctioned. To compensate for the dearth of events on the LET, Henry has made a number of trips to America to compete on the Symetra Tour and she admits that the combination of events on both sides of the Atlantic has been the perfect compromise.
“I feel like my game is in a good place,” she said. “I felt like I was under-prepared last year which is why I’ve done things slightly differently this year.
“The LET is still my priority and while it’s a good experience, I’m well past the stage of committing to the Symetra. Because I’m going back and forth to America, it’s pretty costly so I’m not sure how many more tournaments I’ll play over there.”
Henry’s fellow Scot at Royal Lytham, Catriona Matthew, will be returning to the scene of her greatest triumph this week. The 48-year-old won her sole major on this course in 2009 but if she is to replicate that result, she will have to up her game from last week’s Scottish Open, where she missed the cut.
Last weekend’s winner in Gullane, Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, claimed the would number one ranking with her Scottish Open victory and will line up at Royal Lytham as one of the favourites. The field is of the highest quality, with every one of the current major winners in action, as well as British number one Charley Hull, the youngest-ever word number one Lydia Ko and seven-time major winner and world number two, Inbee Park.
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