Lilia Vu will look to defend her title from her magical run last summer while Golf Town Athlete Brooke Henderson is hoping her Olympic momentum will continue to the final major championship of the year on the LPGA Tour.

This year’s AIG Women’s Open will be contested at the Old Course at St. Andrews, long known as The Home of Golf! The LPGA Tour returns to St. Andrews for the first time since 2013. It debuted at the storied venue in 2007.

“It’s the Home of Golf – I don’t think it gets any better than that,” Brooke said. “I’ve been blessed to stay at the hotel in town and walk on the (Swilcan) Bridge. But to be able to tee it up and hopefully play in all four rounds and be in contention on the weekend… that’s the dream.”

Brooke missed the cut at last year’s AIG Women’s Open – her only major championship missed cut of the season. This year she heads to the Women’s Open having recorded seven top-10 finishes so far in 2024, including a tie for eighth at the CPKC Women’s Open.

Brooke also finished tied for 13th at the women’s Olympic golf competition at Le Golf National after a 1-under 71 in the final round.

“Overall, I feel like I’m right there and I’ve been saying that for a little while, but I feel like I’m right there. A couple breaks, a couple putts and I feel like I’ll be in contention in the coming weeks,” Brooke said after the finale in Paris.

Vu, the defending champion, has had a solid return to action on the LPGA Tour after battling with a back injury in the early part of 2024. She sat on the sidelines after the Ford Championship in late March and didn’t tee it up again until the middle of June. But talk about returning with a bang! Vu won her first start back from injury, the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give and then finished tied for second at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship the very next week.

Vu won the AIG Women’s Open last year – one of her two major victories – by six shots over Charley Hull. With her win she moved to No. 1 in the world rankings for the first time.

Her trip to St. Andrews for the Women’s Open will be her first to the Home of Golf, and Vu was asked recently about her emotions heading into that week as the defending champion.

“I am so excited for that tournament. I’ve been talking about it all week. I think I’m going to cry when I cross the bridge on 18, honestly,” Vu said.

In order to top the field again at the AIG Women’s Open, Vu will have to beat all of the best golfers in the game – including world No. 1 Nelly Korda along with Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko.

Ko teed it up at the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open the week after her medal triumph and returns to St. Andrews for the first time since she was an amateur in 2013.

Ko topped the field at Le Golf National to complete her Olympic medal collection (having won silver in Brazil and bronze in Japan). Her gold-medal triumph meant she earned the one final point she needed to get into the LPGA Hall of Fame. She won gold by two over Esther Henseleit of Germany and three over Janet Lin of China.

“I didn’t really think I was capable of getting in any sort of Hall of Fame, and to say that I’ve gotten in the Hall of Fame at my sport in something that’s given me so much is surreal,” Ko said. “I think before the Olympics, I had joked, ‘oh, if I had won the gold medal, I’ll probably not play the week after.’  But I was talking to my team, and I just wanted to kind of stick to my schedule.

“I think it’s a good thing, especially kind of playing into something as big as The Open.”

Brooke, meanwhile – who posted a photo on Instagram alongside the gold medal-winning Ko – learned something fun about St. Andrews as she was doing some pre-tournament research. Apparently one of the very first members of the club was named Sir Robert Henderson. Whether there is an actual familial connection or not Brooke isn’t sure. But she knows there’s a ‘Henderson’ there from way back when. And now she’s trying to keep that thread alive in 2024.

“St. Andrews and Scotland is going to be very cool and very exciting. Probably one of the top places I’m looking to play this year,” Brooke said, “and probably out of my entire life.”