Scotland’s St Andrews The Old Course is Georgia Hall’s second home. Her love for the location is so strong that purchasing real estate in the town is a matter of when rather than if.
Continue hitting the driver as she did on the par-4 ninth hole to finish with an eagle, which is a really uncommon accomplishment on a windy Thursday at St. Andrews. The 2018 Women’s Open champion might be making a deposit on Monday.
“Three-hundred and 27 yards, or something,” Recalling the precise distance on her last tee shot—which turned an excellent first round into one that puts her in a strong position going into Friday—Hall remarks in a typically modest manner. In the opening round, she tied for fourth place in the morning wave at 1-under-par.
“I did pull out a 5-iron and was going to lay up short of the bunkers but I thought I might not be able to reach this green. I hit a perfect drive to 20 feet and holed it.
“To be fair, I was happy signing my scorecard for one over on the last hole. So to manage to get an eagle there is definitely a bonus.”
What a way to finish.
— AIG Women’s Open (@AIGWomensOpen) August 22, 2024
An eagle on the last from Georgia Hall gives her a solid start of 71. pic.twitter.com/8kQunzFwj8
Ruoning Yin, the leader, is now three strokes behind Hall after he recorded a 4-under par 68. It was one of the better shots of the day.
The PGA Championship winner from the previous year, Yin, had a chance to take a big lead after making three straight birdies on holes three, four, and five, but she faltered in her final three holes.
Teeing off in the morning’s fifth group alongside Ayaka Furue and Rose Zhang, Hall’s demeanour was that of a player prepared for a brutal battle with the elements.
With winds approaching forty miles per hour, she had witnessed the five groups ahead of her suffer at the exposed greens on 11, 12, and 13. At the tenth hole, Hall mishit her drive to the left, but she rallied with a fantastic 3-iron that she hit 184 yards and converted for a birdie. She was one of just ten players to make a birdie on a hole that has significant undulations.
The round was tedious as previous groups argued over which line could keep them in the game, forcing Hall’s squad to wait in line. Thirty of the world’s top 50 players have never participated in a competitive round at the Old Course, which may come as a shock to some.
But Hall longs for these circumstances. According to her, it gives British players a competitive advantage over other players. Hall’s achievement of winning the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes six years ago was a result of her admiration for links play.
The only thing that would surpass her major win at the home of golf is to duplicate the feat at St Andrews, where she has only played as an amateur in 2013 and again for four holes as part of an event called Celebration of Champions in 2022 alongside Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
She has been at her best because of this major. She finished among the top 30 the last two years, and she tied for second in 2021.
After making a double bogey on hole 17, it appeared as though her round may unravel, but by embracing a resolute, survival mentality, she enjoys attritional golf while others become impatient.
“Definitely some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever played in for sure,” said Hall.
“Just thankful it wasn’t raining. You couldn’t even read the greens because you had to think about where the wind was actually going. It’s up there with the windiest I’ve ever played in.
“It was a struggle. Mentally such a battle (but) I was very glad we didn’t stop play. I love those conditions, whether I play badly or not. This is a true Women’s Open like this, and I believe that’s how it should be every day.”
All the R&A wanted was to make it through Thursday. Martin Slumbers, the outgoing chief executive, attested to the fact that they had positioned the pins to give players a chance to score regardless of the weather, increased the height of cut on the greens, and used water to slow them down.
Georgia Hall double-bogeyed the Road Hole at the Old Course but bounced back to finish 1-under. (Luke Walker / Getty Images)
Using the wind to her advantage, Hall found the fairway on the back nine thanks to a clever fade with the driver that started the ball well out of bounds. She only discovered the bunker once on 13, but she managed to get away safely by using her understanding of the route.
It is a feeling Hall has not had in a while to be within a few shots of the lead heading into the second round of a major.
She last won on the LPGA in September of 2020. June’s fifth-place finish at the Dow Championship is her lone top-10 result from the previous year, and the closest she has come since was in the Drive On Championship, which she lost to Celine Boutier in a playoff.
But she feels she has timed her run for the Open effectively, having been in the top 20 in four of her previous five competitions.
“If you look at my last 10 years, I normally come into form around June, July time,” she said.
“I’m normally quite a late starter but obviously (the) first half of the year was probably some of the worst performance of golf that I’ve had.
“But my golf actually wasn’t bad. Mentally I was just struggling a little bit but the past couple months my results have been pretty good — consistent. I was pretty confident coming into this event.
“I don’t think anyone can win a golf tournament unless they are mentally happy and in a good place on and off the golf course. As golfers, we spend our life being a golfer and having everyone look at us, but we don’t have a lot of time to focus on ourselves off the course.
“I’ve come to kind of recognise who I am off the golf course, not just Georgia Hall the golfer. That’s been good for me.”
Hall may have found peace inside her own mind, but if she wants to win the Open twice, this time at her spiritual home of St Andrews, she will need to overcome the chaos that awaits her over the course of the following three days.
(Top photo: Luke Walker / Getty Images)
