AIG Women's Open 2026 Leaderboard Day 2: Kuwaki & Noh Share Lead at Royal Lytham
Royal Lytham & St Annes is showing its teeth. After two rounds of the AIG Women's Open, Japan's S. Kuwaki and American Yealimi Noh share the lead at 6-under, but the leaderboard behind them tells the story of a golf course that rewards precision and punishes anything loose. Defending champion Jeeno Thitikul sits one shot back at 5-under after a second-round 74, and England's own Charley Hull is lurking at 2-under with the weekend still to come.
The AIG Women's Open — the final major of the 2026 LPGA season — has delivered everything a links golf purist could want: shifting winds, thick rough, and greens that demand creative shot-making. Royal Lytham's 6,700 yards may not intimidate on the scorecard, but the 200 bunkers scattered across the property have swallowed plenty of scorecards over the first 36 holes. And with the weekend forecast calling for gusts up to 25 mph off the Irish Sea, the worst of the weather may still be ahead.
The LPGA's decision to bring the Women's Open back to Royal Lytham for the first time since 2018 has been met with near-universal praise from the players. Links golf demands a different skillset — low trajectory, creative shot shapes, and the patience to accept that a well-struck shot might still end up in a pot bunker. The players who thrive here are the ones who embrace the chaos rather than fight it.
Kuwaki and Noh Set the Pace
Kuwaki's second round was a model of consistency — a 1-under 71 that featured 15 pars and three birdies against two bogeys. The Japanese star has been one of the LPGA's most improved players in 2026, and her ball-striking this week has been surgical. She's hitting fairways at an elite clip, and her lag putting from long range has kept the big numbers off her card. On a course where one bad swing can lead to a double bogey, boring golf is winning golf.
Yealimi Noh matched Kuwaki's 71 to join the lead, carding four birdies against three bogeys. The 25-year-old American is searching for her first major championship, and her aggressive approach — firing at pins that others have been content to aim away from — has paid off through two rounds. The question heading into the weekend: can that aggression hold up when the pressure tightens on Sunday?
Thitikul Stumbles But Stays Close
Jeeno Thitikul entered Friday with the outright lead after an opening 67, but a second-round 74 — including a costly double bogey at the par-4 14th — dropped her to 5-under and one shot off the pace. The Thai superstar has been the LPGA's most consistent performer in 2026, and a one-shot deficit with 36 holes to play is hardly cause for panic. She'll need to clean up the misses off the tee, though — Royal Lytham's fairway bunkers are effectively one-shot penalties, and Thitikul found too many of them on Friday.
England's Lottie Woad sits alone in fourth at 4-under after a second-round 70, giving the home crowd plenty to cheer about. Woad, still an amateur, is playing with the kind of fearlessness that has defined breakout major performances in recent years. If she can hold her nerve through the weekend, a top-five finish — or better — is very much in play.
Charley Hull and the Chasing Pack
Charley Hull carded an even-par 72 on Friday and sits at 2-under, four shots off the lead. The English fan-favorite has been grinding through a season of near-misses, and the roars that follow her around Royal Lytham suggest the crowd believes this could be the week it all comes together. She'll need to go low on Saturday — something in the mid-60s — to put herself in the final group on Sunday.
Mao Saigo, Haeran Ryu, and Shannon Tan are all within striking distance at 3-under, while Lucy Li and Jing Yan surged into contention with matching 69s to reach 2-under. The cut line fell at 4-over, sending several major champions home early — including past AIG Women's Open winners who struggled to handle Royal Lytham's exacting demands.
The weekend forecast calls for more wind, and Royal Lytham only gets tougher as the course firms up. This championship is wide open — and whoever hoists the trophy on Sunday will have earned every bit of it.
Sources: LPGA.com, GolfPost, ESPN
Last updated: July 31, 2026