Eight local stars, led by sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, will be vying to become the first player from the Kingdom to win the Honda LPGA Thailand title at the 13th edition of the tournament in Pattaya next month.
The 70-player event at Siam Country Club, Old Course from Feb 21-24 features the top 57 LPGA players -- including Thailand's Ariya, Moriya, Thidapa Suwannapura and Pornanong Phatlum -- and the winners of the season-opening Tournament of Champions (South Korea's Ji Eun-Hee) and the upcoming Vic Open and Women's Australian Open as well as nine invited players and one qualifier.
Among the invited players are Thailand's Atthaya Thitikul, Pajaree Anannarukarn and Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras, US star Paula Creamer and China's Muni He.
Thailand's Benyapa Niphatsophon earned a spot at the Pattaya tournament as winner of the qualifying tournament.
The big names in the field for the US$1.6 million event are defending champion Jessica Korda, South Koreans Park Sung-Hyun and Ryu So-Yeon, who are second and third in the world rankings respectively, No.5 Lexi Thompson of the US, No.6 Minjee Lee of Australia, No.7 Nasa Hataoka from Japan, and No.9 Brooke Henderson of Canada.
The other participants include former world No.1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, Michelle Wie of the US and Britain's Georgia Hall, who beat Pornanong to win the 2018 Women's British Open title.
Sine the tournament was launched in 2016, no Thai player has won the title.
Ariya came close to claiming the crown in 2013 when she held a two-shot lead only to suffer a triple bogey at the final hole to hand the title to South Korea's Park In-Bee.
Now the top-ranked player in the world, the 23-year-old Thai, who has won 10 LPGA Tour titles, is among the favourites to lift the trophy on Feb 24.
Moriya and Thidapa will be seeking their second LPGA title after their breakthrough wins last year.
"We are confident that this year's Honda LPGA Thailand will be fun and exciting," Honda Automobile (Thailand) COO Pitak Pruittisarikorn told a press conference yesterday.
The tournament is being held under the theme 'Dream Big' to inspire golfers of all backgrounds and skill levels to pursue their dreams of playing on the world stage.
Pannarat said: "The Honda LPGA Thailand is an opportunity for all Thai golfers to gain experience in an international event. Through this event, the Thai golfers can identify their strengths and weaknesses and polish their skills."
