FILE PHOTO: Jun 23, 2022; Bethesda, Maryland, USA; Georgia Hall plays her shot from the 11th tee during the first round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Congressional Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports
(Reuters) - Georgia Hall said a home winner of this week's Women's British Open would help inspire more girls to take up the sport and that it was crucial for the country's young athletes to have role models.
Hall said her victory in the 2018 edition had "elevated" golf in Britain and that another home winner could do the same, pointing to the impact of England's win at the Women's European Championship.
"The idea is for younger girls to get into the game and to make golf aware to other people watching it, and I think obviously the coverage this week is going to be very big in the UK," Hall told reporters on Wednesday.
"Any time England do well in any type of sport, especially women, it's fantastic to see, and obviously (the women's football team) got loads of coverage.
"I just think the better us British golfers can do, the more it will inspire others. When I was younger, I had a couple that I look up to, and I think that's very important for the younger generation."
This year's event is the first to be played at Muirfield, five years after it voted to admit women members, and will have a record purse of $7.3 million.
"I think it's so important that the women are here this week," Hall said. "It makes such a mark on women's golf ...
"I think the women's game is definitely in the best position it's ever has been, and I'm very happy to be in the middle of my career doing that."
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
