Chinese golfer Muni He has joined a stacked field for the Women’s British Open at Carnoustie, including Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games gold medallist Nelly Korda and US Open winner Yuka Saso, after coming through qualifying.
The Chengdu born 22-year-old is the only player representing China at the final major of the year after Liu Yu withdrew from the tournament, which is now known as the AIG Women’s Open.
Several of China’s biggest hitters on the LPGA Tour have chosen to stay away as they prepare for next month’s National Games, for which He’s Sichuan province team did not qualify.
Chinese No 1 Feng Shanshan and No 2 Lin Xiyu returned to China after the Tokyo Olympics to quarantine ahead of the golf tournament in Shaanxi province.
Liu has also returned to China for the National Games and has been replaced by Annabell Fuller at Carnoustie.
He, who is also known as Lily, is currently 93rd in the Race to CME Globe standings with the top 100 at the end of the season guaranteed a tour card.
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She will tee off her opening round at 9.42am in Scotland (4.42pm Hong Kong time) along with India’ Pajaree Anannarukarn and Celine Herbin of France.
Joining sometime model and Instagram celebrity He in the main draw after qualifying is Taiwan’s Cheng Ssu-Chia, with the 23-year-old at 99 in the CME top 100.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng won the British Open the last time that it was held at Carnoustie back in 2011, finishing four strokes clear of the field.
American teen Rose Zhang is also in the field with the 18-year-old winning back to back Mark H McCormack medals for being the top ranked female amateur.
US Open champion Yuka Saso is among those in the field at Carnoustie, and she gave her first impressions of the Scottish course.
“Difficult! Obviously the golf course is very beautiful. It has a lot of bunkers. Major tournaments are very special for me and this type of golf tournament will be very challenging. I’m really looking forward to it,” she said.
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The AIG Women’s Open runs from August 19-22 with a total of US$4.5 million in prize money to be shared.
