LPGA stars bracing for St. Andrews, 40 mph winds at Women’s Open

Get ready for some wild weather at the AIG Women’s Open this week.

The tournament returns to the Old Course at St. Andrews, which will host the best female players in the world but also expose them to near gale force winds.

Thursday’s first round will see gusts reach 40 miles per hour, and perhaps even 45 in the afternoon. The forecast also calls for light rain in the morning but then the sun should pop out in the afternoon—a perfect late summer day in Scotland. More of the same will follow over the next three days, but the only thing certain about the weather at St. Andrews is that it’s always unpredictable.

“You just have to embrace it,” said Lexi Thompson on Wednesday.

Photo by Morgan Harlow/R&A via Getty Images

Photo by Morgan Harlow/R&A via Getty Images

“You’re going to get some unlucky breaks with some bounces, and with the weather you just have to be like, ‘All right, I have it all in my bag, I’m ready, and just have to commit to the shot as much as you can.’ That’s all you can do and just let the wind blow it or the rain take it and just hope for the best.”

The brutal weather conditions go hand-and-hand with links golf, the style of play that involves hitting the ball low, using the ground to your advantage, and avoiding the gnarly pot bunkers. Green speeds are also slower on links golf courses in order to combat the high wind speeds. Nevertheless, this type of golf does not exist in the United States.

“It’s a different creative side to golf where you have to work the ball sometimes more than you’re used to when you’re hitting different shots, bumps-and-runs,” added World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

“It’s just a little bit more creative and for me that’s fun to do. So I will have a lot of fun with it.”

Korda hails from Florida, where temperatures soare above 90-degrees almost year round. She prefers to play in warmer weather, where it’s easier to stay loose. Yet, the two-time major winner has a strategy on how to combat the conditions in Scotland.

“It’s actually staying warm and being able to feel my hands because that’s usually why I have gloves, even when it’s not really necessarily too cold, I stick my hands in the gloves, and I have hand warmers in there,” Korda said.

“It’s staying warm and loose, not tightening up, and being able to commit to your shots.”

That, of course, is easier said than done. But the world’s best players will face a stern test this week at St. Andrews, which will leave the golf world entertained.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.