AIG Women's Open R2 Report: Hull, Woad and Korda all in the hunt as Ryu leads
England's stars put in a gritty performance to remain in the hunt at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
England's Lottie Woad and Charley Hull remain firmly in the hunt for their first AIG Women's Open title, finishing the second day of play well within striking distance of clubhouse leader Ryu Hae-ran.
Much like on day one, Hull showed flashes of brilliance and capitalised on a few fortunate breaks during an up-and-down round at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
It would take her until the sixth hole to score her first birdie, and a few costly mistakes had her on the verge of stepping on to the final tee at 1-over for the round. However she sunk a brilliant bunker shot for birdie, keeping her well in the mix of the chasing pack.
Hull's compatriot, Lottie Woad, produced a steadier showing, displaying immaculate iron play as the wind picked up in the afternoon session to post an identical score. Both join a cohort of eight players tied for sixth on 2-under going into the weekend.
| Position | Player name | Score |
| 1 | H. Ryu | -7 |
| 2 | S. Kuwaki | -6 |
| T3 | Y. Noh | -5 |
| T3 | A. Thitikul | -5 |
| 5 | A. Joo | -3 |
| T6 | M. Katsu | -2 |
| T6 | L. Woad | -2 |
| T6 | Y.J. Jiang | -2 |
| T6 | L. Li | -2 |
| T6 | P. Martín Sampedro | -2 |
| T6 | L. Coughlin | -2 |
| T6 | C. Hull | -2 |
| T6 | C. Wannasaen | -2 |
| T14 | N. Korda | -1 |
| T14 | L. Ko | -1 |
| T14 | M. Rhodes | -1 |
| T14 | C. Boutier | -1 |
| T14 | J.H. Im | -1 |
| T14 | R. Choi | -1 |
| T20 | R. Takeda | E |
| T20 | E. Henseleit | E |
| T20 | S. Tan | E |
| T20 | K. Arwefjäll | E |
| T20 | Y. Wilson | E |
| T20 | A. Utama | E |
Conditions proved tough on the second day at Royal Lytham, with most players coming in at around even par and a low score of -3 for the day setting the high water mark for scoring.
Ultimately, it was South Korea's Haeran Ryu, who is chasing her third major title this season having triumphed at the Evian Championship and the Women's PGA Championship, who stamped her authority on the tournament, overcoming a torrid start to finish the round with a 68 and claim the solo clubhouse lead at 7-under.
Day one leader Atthaya Thitikul, whose flawless 7-under 64 was the lowest championship round ever recorded at the Lancashire venue, slipped back to a tie for second with a patchy round of 2-over par.
Like Ryu, world number one Nelly Korda is chasing her third major title of 2026, having stepped into the winner's circle at the Chevron Championship and the U.S. Women's Open. She battled to an equal best score of 3-under for the day, and sits a shot behind the main chasing pack at 1-under.
Meanwhile, defending Open champion Miyu Yamashita saw her chances of retaining blow up in spectacular fashion. The Japanese, who was already hovering around the cut line, carded a catastrophic quad-bogey eight on the closing hole to leave her well short of qualifying for the weekend.
Brad Nash is Reviews Editor at GolfMagic, having joined the team in June 2025 to look after all things reviews, soft goods testing and equipment alongside Equipment Editor Georgina. Primarily a writer, you may see him pop up in videos or on the GolfMagic socials from time to time.
