Mercedes-Benz is getting into the women's game, with the luxury car giant becoming the official automotive partner of England's WSL and WSL2 this week.

The deal showcases Mercedes-Benz's growing commitment to women's sports, with the auto giant also signing on as the presenting sponsor of the WTA Tour last month — adding to a resume that includes serving as the official patron of the LPGA Tour's AIG Women's Open.

"The Mercedes-Benz story began 140 years ago with a bold idea," said Mercedes-Benz UK CEO and managing director Olivier Reppert in the WSL's Wednesday press release. "Now, that same spirit of innovation and ambition drives our partnership with WSL Football."

While financial terms of the partnership are not public, Mercedes-Benz is just the latest big-name sponsor to back WSL Football, with some reports saying that the two-league outfit has tripled its commercial revenue since splitting with the FA in 2024.

"Bringing a brand of this calibre…will help us elevate the game, deepen engagement with fans and players, and accelerate long-term growth across both leagues," said WSL Football CRO Zarah Al-Kudcy.

Mercedes-Benz will also present this spring's inaugural interleague playoff, in which the third-place WSL2 club will battle the last-place WSL team for a chance at promotion as a part of the top flight's planned 14-team expansion for 2026/27.

Lilia Vu captured her second major of 2023 at the Women’s British Open on Sunday.

The victory caps off a big season for Vu, which featured her first LPGA Tour win and two major championships. And soon she’ll be ranked No. 1 in the world.

“It sounds almost unreal,” Vu said.

The 25-year-old American won her first event in February in Thailand before taking the Chevron Championship in a playoff two months later. She’s missed the cut in four of six stroke-play events since then as she has tried to adjust to the expectations of a major champion.

“Honestly I just wanted to win golf tournaments out here on the LPGA,” Vu told reporters in England. “It’s just been a crazy year for me, just doing pretty well at the beginning of the season and just hit a lull in the middle, just struggling. I thought at the U.S. Open after I played so bad, I didn’t know if I could ever win again.”

She finished at 14 under par, six strokes ahead of Charley Hull, her co-leader at the start of the day.

On Sunday, she felt a bit of relief, she said. She became the first female player to win two majors in the same year since Jin Young Ko did it in 2019. And she’s the first American woman to do it since Juli Inkster in 1999.

“How I felt afterward, honestly I was thinking those two wins were a fluke,” she said. “It just comes down to not thinking about winning, just playing one shot at a time. This golf course forces you to do that. It really tests you. That was my only goal. To drive the ball well and give myself chances for birdie.”

The LPGA Tour is closing out the final major of the 2023 season with a bang.

The AIG Women’s Open, which teed off Thursday at the Walton Heath Old Course in Surrey, England, increased its purse for 2023 to $9 million — a 23% increase from 2022. In doing so, the LPGA Tour’s total prize fund for 2023 reached a record $108 million — a 15% increase from 2022.

The other four women’s golf majors have seen similar increases to their prize money in the last several years:

  • Chevron Championship
    • 2021: $3 million
    • 2022: $5 million
    • 2023: $5.1 million
  • KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
    • 2021: $4.5 million
    • 2022: $9 million
    • 2023: $10 million
  • U.S. Women’s Open
    • 2021: $5.5 million
    • 2022: $10 million
    • 2023: $11 million
  • Amundi Evian Championship
    • 2021: $4.5 million
    • 2022: $6.5 million
    • 2023: $6.5 million
  • AIG Women’s Open
    • 2021: $5.8 million
    • 2022: $7.3 million
    • 2023: $9 million

Viewership numbers also have set records in 2023, with July bringing the highest average monthly viewership ever for the LPGA Tour at more than 600,000. More than one million viewers tuned in for the third and final rounds of the U.S. Women’s Open, plus the final round of the Dana Open.

In the AIG Women’s Open, Ally Ewing, a 30-year-old from the United States, leads the field at 10-under par in the second round.

AIG Women’s Open: How to watch

  • Saturday, Aug. 12: Third round
    • 7 a.m.-2 p.m. ET — USA Network
  • Sunday, Aug. 13: Final round 
    • 7 a.m.-12 p.m. ET — USA Network
    • 12-2 p.m. ET — NBC and Peacock