Surrey’s Annabell Fuller was one of 12 players to earn their place in the final women’s major of the season, the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews, after coming through Final Qualifying on Monday.
The 22-year-old Roehampton Club member finished tied second in the 97-player field after shooting a four-under par 68 over at Crail Golfing Society’s Craighead Links.
It will be Fuller’s second appearance in the Women’s Open, having finished tied 61st in 2021 when playing as an amateur.
Fuller said: “I played solidly, putted well, and didn’t really make any mistakes. I only hit one ball into the rough and was mainly hitting fairways and greens, and I managed to roll in a few putts – so all good.”
She added: “I’m so excited to be playing at St Andrews. I grew up playing HSBC Wee Wonders tournaments there on the junior course, so it’s nice to be going back. I played the St Rule Trophy there years ago, but it’s been a while since I last was on the Old Course, and It’s great to be going back there.”
Weiwei Zhang of China led the qualifiers at Crail with a five-under-par 67, finishing one clear of Fuller, Casandra Alexander, Kristen Gillman and Emma Grechi.
Lauren Hartlage, Noora Komulainen, Lee-Anne Pace and Patricia Schmidt tied for sixth with 70s, while a sudden death play-off of 12 players for the remaining three spots saw Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Stephanie Meadow and Ursula Wikstrom prevail.
Fuller, who has had six top-20 finishes on what his her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour, gets her tournament under way at 1.54pm on Thursday, playing from the 10th tee in the company of Spaniards Maria Hernandez and Ana Pelaez Trivino.
For all the first round tee times at the AIG Women’s Open, click here