Five of the world’s best women golfers gathered at Sentosa Golf Club ahead of the 14th edition of the HSBC Women’s World Championship, taking place this week on The Tanjong course at Sentosa Golf Club from Thursday.
World No1 Jin Young Ko, defending Champion Hyo Joo Kim and World No.3, 4 and 10, Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Brooke Henderson lead field for 14th edition of ‘Asia’s Major’
Sentosa Golf Club, a pioneer of sustainability in golf and a two-time winner of ‘World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility’ category at the World Golf Awards, provided the perfect backdrop for the five Major winners to take time out from their preparations for the HSBC Women’s World Championship to celebrate being back in Singapore, surrounded by the blooming flora and fauna that the City is so famous for.
The much-loved Singapore championship has further enhanced its reputation as ‘Asia’s Major’ with an outstanding world class player line-up. A perfect blend of champions, legends and new emerging stars will showcase their remarkable talents on the demanding yet stunning Tanjong course, with Cavan star Leona Maguire making her first appearance in the event.
Maguire arrives to Singapore feeling like she belongs, sitting in 19th place on the Rolex Women’s rankings and returning to work off the back of her first LPGA Tour victory last month at the Drive On Championship.
“We have one win in the books but my caddie Dermot and I know the season is only getting started,” Maguire said, who plays in the company of Danielle Kang and Nasa Hataoka over the first two days.
“Yes, it was incredibly satisfying to win but at the same time, I want to win again, and I want to win as many times as I can. That’s why you play, that’s why you practice. You want to be in contention as much as you can. You live for those big moments.”
Outside of majors, few stages come bigger than this week in Singapore. Twenty nationalities are represented with 20 Major winners in the field, boasting a haul of 33 Major titles between them, along with 21 Solheim Cup players who have made a remarkable 51 appearances in total. Of the 66-player field, 40 have won at least one LPGA title and 26 have won LET titles, racking up a total of over 150 international career wins between them.
Defending Champion Hyo Joo Kim will be up against a star-studded field this week that includes all of the in-form winners of 2022 from the LPGA and LET Tours and seven past Champions.
She commented: “I’m very excited to back here at Sentosa to try to defend my title. I know it is going to be tough as there are so many great players in the field this week but, from the moment I arrived here at Sentosa, all of the positive memories from last year came back to me and I felt immediately more confident. I was so proud to win the title last year against such a strong field so I hope that I can put up a really strong title defence.”
World No.3 Lydia Ko, a two-time Olympic medallist and already a winner this season, said: “HSBC has been one of the LPGA’s longest standing and most committed sponsors and this is one of our absolute favourite stops on the Tour as they are also wonderful hosts.
“The course is always in absolutely perfect condition and everything from the set-up to the facilities, to the posters of us all over the city, to the field, make it feel exactly like a major week. I think the list of past Champions shows exactly why people refer to it as ‘Asia’s Major,’ with 11 of the 13 past Champions being Major winners, so it is definitely a title we would all love to add to our resumes.”
Two-time champion Inbee Park added; “I am not sure there is a more beautiful place on the planet to play golf than Singapore and here at Sentosa Golf Club. As we play this week, I think I will be especially thoughtful to appreciate not only the amazing flora and fauna, but all the ways Sentosa works to be the sustainability champion of the year and grateful to HSBC for their support for us and long-term commitment to women’s golf.”
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