AIG Women’s Open Round 1: Royal Lytham Tees Off

The AIG Women’s Open tees off Wednesday, July 29 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. Lydia Ko defends her title against a field that includes Nelly Korda, Lilia Vu, and 2024 runner-up Nelly Korda. For home sim golfers, this week matters: Royal Lytham is available on GSPro and FSX Play, Toptracer activations will bring shot-tracking data to broadcasts, and the sim-to-course pipeline continues to converge.

AIG Women’s Open Round 1: What to Watch

Royal Lytham & St Annes is a classic links layout — 6,655 yards, par 72, with 165+ bunkers that punish offline drives more severely than most Open rota courses. The course’s signature feature is the out-of-bounds railway line running down the right side of the opening holes and the closing stretch.

Key storylines for Round 1:

• Lydia Ko (defending champion): Won by 2 strokes in 2025 at Walton Heath. Her precision iron play and short game are ideal for links conditions. Ko’s game translates well to sim golf — her ball-striking consistency is the kind of data sim golfers study.
• Nelly Korda (world No. 1): Six wins in 2024 including a major (Chevron). Power game that could dominate Royal Lytham’s longer par-5s if the wind stays down. Korda’s swing data — club speed, face angle, launch — is among the most analyzed in women’s golf.
• Lilia Vu (2023 AIG Women’s Open champion): Two-major winner who thrives in links conditions. Her fade-biased ball flight suits Royal Lytham’s left-to-right wind patterns.
• Charley Hull (home favorite): The English star’s aggressive, creative shot-making is made for links golf. Hull regularly plays sim golf during off-season — her GOLF+ VR appearances have drawn attention to the sim sports crossover.

AIG Women’s Open Sim Golf Implications This Week

Royal Lytham on Virtual Platforms

Royal Lytham & St Annes is available on two major sim platforms:

Platform	Course Name	Quality	Notes
GSPro	Royal Lytham & St Annes (Lidar)	High-fidelity lidar scan	Full bunker and elevation modeling. Available now.
FSX Play	Royal Lytham & St Annes	High-quality	Foresight’s official course. Available now.
E6 Connect	Royal Lytham & St Annes	Standard	Available via TruGolf/ProTee subscription.

For home sim golfers, this is the week to play the course in your sim while watching the pros tackle it. The lidar scan on GSPro captures the bunker shelf depths and green undulations that define the challenge.

Toptracer Activations

The R&A has confirmed Toptracer shot-tracking will be active on the driving range and select holes throughout the week. This is significant for sim golfers because Toptracer’s ball-flight technology — launch angle, spin rate, carry distance — uses the same metric language as every launch monitor on the market. Watching Toptracer overlays on broadcast gives sim golfers a direct benchmark: “My launch monitor says my 7-iron carries 155 yards — how does that compare to the pros’ Toptracer data?”

WGTOUR and GTOUR Connections

The AIG Women’s Open has growing relevance to the sim golf ecosystem through WGTOUR (Women’s Golf Tour, the sim-based competitive circuit) and GTOUR (the broader sim golf tour). Several WGTOUR players have cited the correlation between sim practice and major performance — the 2025 champion’s pre-round routine included GSPro practice sessions on the course before walking it.

GOLF+ VR and Sim Sports

GOLF+ VR has been running AIG Women’s Open-themed challenges in its virtual practice range, and the sim sports community is watching the LET/WGTOUR crossover closely. With the evenplay Index now live, the infrastructure for sim-to-real course compatibility is more transparent than ever.

AIG Women’s Open Round 1 Key Pairings

• 07:30 — Lydia Ko (NZL), Nelly Korda (USA), Lilia Vu (USA)
• 08:20 — Charley Hull (ENG), Jin Young Ko (KOR), Atthaya Thitikul (THA)
• 09:10 — Rose Zhang (USA), Minjee Lee (AUS), Celine Boutier (FRA)
• 12:30 — Leona Maguire (IRL), Brooke Henderson (CAN), Ayaka Furue (JPN)

AIG Women’s Open: For Home Sim Golfers

If you have a sim setup, here’s how to make the most of AIG Women’s Open week:

1. Play Royal Lytham on your sim — Load it on GSPro or FSX Play and play the course the pros are playing. Compare your strategy vs what you see on broadcast.
2. Track your numbers — Note your launch angle, spin rate, and carry distance for each club. Compare against the Toptracer data broadcast during the event.
3. Watch the Toptracer overlay — The shot-tracking data is the same language your launch monitor speaks. It’s a free benchmark session.
4. Follow WGTOUR — The sim-to-course pipeline makes this event relevant beyond just the LPGA. The evenplay Index (our guide to course compatibility) tracks which major courses are available on which platforms.

Round 1 of the AIG Women’s Open begins Wednesday, July 29 at 07:30 BST. Full broadcast coverage on Sky Sports (UK) and NBC/Peacock (US).

Related: AIG Women’s Open Countdown: 3 Days Out — Sim Golf Impact | Royal Lytham on GSPro Guide | Royal Lytham on FSX Play Guide