First Major Win on the Horizon for Ashleigh Buhai

Ashleigh Buhai is leading the Women’s AIG Open by five shots going into Sunday, ahead of 2019 Open winner Hinako Shibuno, and South Korean pair In Gee Chun and seven-time major champion In Bee Park sit seven shots adrift.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ashleigh Buhai (@ashbuhaigolf)

Women’s sport benefitted greatly from the England Lionesses Euros Win last week, with all kinds of viewing and attendance records shattered. The women’s golf game is in an interesting position as there have been significant gains in tournament purses over recent years.

In 2018, Englishwoman Georgia Hall took home $450,000 for securing the Open Championship, significantly less than the amount Pat Perez pocketed for spraying it around Trump Bedminster.

In 2019, when current second place Shibuno took home the win, pocketing $675,000 with the tournament purse set at $5.5 million.

In 2022, it sits at $10 million, with the winner’s share increasing by 30% to over $1 million.

LIV Could Crush LPGA Tour. LPGA Tour figures think that Greg Norman and the LIV aim to make a rival women’s league also, and they believe that due to the purse increases the women would transition over to LIV. #LIVGolf @LPGA @LIVGolfInv @SBJ pic.twitter.com/kdwdtJM7D3

— Martin Montgomery (@Mortknowssports) August 2, 2022

Developments within LIV Golf could see them reaching out to the top female players in the game, the Saudi-backed start-up capable of offering financial rewards the like of which they have never encountered before.

I previously outlined how South Africa was producing good golfers at a rate of knots, with the younger generation being given a fresh platform on which to perform because the older South African golfers like Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, and Louis Oosthuizen chose to play on the LIV Tour.

South Africa has seen its fair share of struggles in the women’s golf scene, yet the Women’s PGA in South Africa dates back to 1889 at Cape Golf Club, where a handful of brave women fought for the ability to play alongside the men. The Centenary of South African Ladies Golf Union was celebrated in 2014, 100 years on from the first meeting minutes were documented, establishing its presence in the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Ashleigh Buhai (@ashbuhaigolf)

Despite being in unchartered territory, Ashleigh Buhai leads the charge for progress in the women’s game, too. There are only four female South African golfers in the World’s Top 300, three of whom are in the field this week, and Buhai herself has only one Top-10 in all major appearances to date. Her form was lacking, with a missed cut last week and only two Top-10s in this season on the LPGA Tour so far.

But, she has found something this week that has catapulted her far away from the chasing pack. After a course record 64 on Saturday, she carries a commanding lead into Sunday. In the theme of South African success at Muirfield, she looks to add to the Open wins of Gary Player and Ernie Els at the same venue in 1959 and 2002, respectively.

In what is the first women’s Open Championship to be hosted at Muirfield, it is almost fitting that a first-time major winner hoists the trophy. Buhai looks to join Sally Little (1980 LPGA, 1988 du Maurier Classic) as the only other South African-born female major winner tomorrow. After a glittering junior and amateur career, Buhai has never quite reached those heights a professional. At 33 years old, Ashleigh Buhai aims to initiate her LPGA win tally with the final major of 2022 and inject some energy and drive into the female golf scene in South Africa as the WPGA founders did – over a hundred years ago.

Cover Image Via GolfChannel