Current and former world No's 4 Suzann Pettersen and Morgan Pressel will now join a star-studded cast teeing off on tropical Hainan island for China's inaugural LPGA event, the China Golf Association announced this week.
Norway's Petterson, who won last year's LPGA Championship, and Florida native Pressel, the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA major, will compete in the much-heralded Grand China Air event alongside world No 2 Annika Sorenstam and third-ranked Tseng Yani of Chinese Taipei, who committed previously.
The Oct 24-26 tournament now boasts three of the world's top four female players according to the Rolex Rankings plus one of the game's most exciting young talents in Pressel.
Hainan West Coast Golf Club in Haikou, capital of the island province of Hainan, will play host to 63 of the world's best players competing for a purse of $1.8 million - making this the richest tournament on the LPGA's end-of-year Asian swing.
It will be the first time the LPGA has staged an event in China, one of the world's fastest-growing golfing markets.
Pettersen will come to China as one of women's golf's fastest-rising stars, courtesy of a stunning breakthrough year in 2007 in which she posted five victories and finished second on the LPGA Money List with more than $1.8 million.
Her golden year started with victory at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill last May, the first triumph by a Norwegian on the LPGA Tour, before her second win and first major title came a month later at the McDonald's LPGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola. Birdies on two of the last three holes saw her sneak home with one shot to spare over Karrie Webb.
Pettersen's season got even better in October when she won three times in four weeks. First up was the Longs Drugs Challenge, where she defeated world No 1 Lorena Ochoa of Mexico in a play-off.
She then rattled off consecutive victories in Asia at the Hana Bank-KOLON Championship 2007 in South Korea (reduced to 36 holes due to inclement weather) and the Honda LPGA Thailand 2007, where she eagled the final hole to snatch victory from England's Laura Davies.
"As the first Grand China Air LPGA gets closer, all of us on Tour are getting more and more excited about the LPGA visiting China for the first time," Pettersen said.
"It is not often you get the chance to be a part of something that is so significant for the game, such as playing an elite event in a new country for the first time, and that is a very special privilege for all of us."
With her dual victories in Asia last year and another five top-10s so far in 2008, the 27-year-old will be considered one of the favorites for victory in Hainan, something she is eagerly anticipating.
"With my success in 2007, I definitely feel like I am one of the players to beat at most tournaments. That comes with the confidence of winning and knowing you can handle the pressure and conditions and come up with a victory. The fact that I was also able to win twice in Asia last year only adds to that feeling when it comes to the Grand China Air LPGA in October," added Pettersen.
Meanwhile, the ultra-competitive Pressel will be another elite contender to be the first player to have her name inscribed on a spanking new trophy - a feat she managed at the Kapalua LPGA Classic on Sunday.
Having set a number of records for excellence at an early age in her stellar career, the 20-year-old's most significant performance came in April last year when she became the youngest player ever to win a major title at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
After recording a final-round three-under 69, Pressel watched on as none of the other contenders could knock her from the top of the leaderboard and she secured a famous victory at just 18 years, 10 months and nine days of age.
"To be the first winner of the first event we have in China would be a very significant milestone in anyone's career," Pressel said. "I have always been driven to succeed when new opportunities arise and to win an event that one day could become one of the biggest we have on our Tour is very exciting.
"My excitement has only been increased after the Beijing Olympics. Having the chance to see so many elite athletes reach the top of their sport in the country has given great inspiration for all of us to try and become the first Grand China Air LPGA winner next month," she added.
The field for the event will comprise the leading 51 available players on the LPGA Money List as of Sept 28, 2008, plus eight Chinese professionals and four invitations.
(China Daily October 23, 2008)
