GLADSTONE, N.J., June 27, 2006 – Sixty-one of the greatest professional women golfers in the world earned berths in the prestigious 2006 HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship, July 6-9 at Hamilton Farm Golf Club. The players qualified for the $2 million event following the release of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, ADT Official Money List and the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit.
Fourteen countries are represented in the current field of qualifiers, led by the world’s number one player, Annika Sorenstam. Hall of Famers Karrie Webb, from Australia, and Juli Inkster (USA) joined the field as they rank Nos. 4 and 9, respectively, in the world. The hottest player this year has been LPGA money leader and World No. 3, Lorena Ochoa of Mexico. Ochoa has two wins and five runner-up finishes in 2006.
Sixty spots were given to the top 30 in the Rolex world rankings, the European Tour money leader and the top 29 from the ADT money list who had not already qualified through the world rankings as of today. The remaining three spots will be filled by this weekend’s U.S. Women’s Open champion as well as two sponsor exemptions to be announced this week.
All will be shooting to dethrone Colombian Marisa Baena, who won last year’s inaugural event after shocking the field with six consecutive match play victories as the No. 60 seed. Baena walked off with her first LPGA win and a first prize check of $500,000 of the $2 million purse. Only five LPGA events have a purse of at least $2 million
An impressive portfolio of American teenage phenoms has earned their stripes for the July 4 week extravaganza such as World No. 2 Michelle Wie, World No. 5 Paula Creamer and World No. 12 Morgan Pressel. Overall, 24 Americans have qualified for the Championship, the most from any nation.
The testament to Korea’s surge to prominence in women’s golf is evidenced by its 16 inclusions into the event. Amazingly, eight different Koreans have won the first 15 events of the 2006 LPGA Tour season after World No. 8 Jeong Jang won the Wegmans LPGA on Sunday.
Japan will be represented by World No. 7 Yuri Fudoh and World No. 10 Ai Miyazato, 21.
Gwladys Nocera will also make a rare trip stateside as she qualified for the Championship on the basis of her current No. 1 ranking on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit. She is one of three French women to qualify.
The 64 players will be seeded on Monday, July 3rd according to their standing on the Rolex World Rankings. The qualifiers are:
2006 HSBC WOMEN’S WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS
QUALIFIERS FROM TOP-30 ROLEX WOMEN’S WORLD GOLF RANKINGS (AS OF JUNE 27)
1. Annika Sorenstam Sweden 15. Brittany Lang…..USA
2. Michelle Wie USA 16. Seon-Hwa Lee…Rep. of Korea
3. Lorena Ochoa Mexico 17. Natalie Gulbis….USA
4. Karrie Webb Australia 19. Se Ri Pak……Rep. of Korea
5. Paula Creamer USA 20. Pat Hurst……USA
6. Cristie Kerr USA 22. Julieta Granada..Paraguay
7. Yuri Fudoh Japan 23. Jee Young Lee…Rep. of Korea
8. Jeong Jang Rep. of Korea 24. Meena Lee…..Rep. of Korea
9. Juli Inkster……USA 27. Liselotte Neumann…Sweden
10. Ai Miyazato….Japan 28. Michele Redman….USA
11. Hee-Won Han….Rep. of Korea 29. Catriona Matthew..Scotland
12. Morgan Pressel..USA 30. Shi-Hyun Ahn…Rep. of Korea
13. Mi Hyun Kim…Rep. of Korea
DEFENDING CHAMPION – Marisa Baena, Colombia
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR ORDER OF MERIT #1 AS OF JUNE 27 – Gwladys Nocera, France
ADT OFFICIAL MONEY LIST QUALIFIERS (MONEY POSITION DENOTED AS OF JUNE 27)
17. Sung Ah Yim Rep. of Korea 36. Marcy Hart USA
20. Joo Mi Kim Rep. of Korea 37. Sarah Lee Rep. of Korea
21. Sherri Steinhauer USA 39. Young Kim Rep. of Korea
22. Helen Alfredsson Sweden 40. Heather Young USA
25. Stacy Prammanasudh USA 41. Reilley Rankin USA
26. Wendy Ward USA 42. Patricia Meunier-Lebouc France
27. Laura Diaz USA 43. Brandie Burton USA
28. Angela Stanford USA 44. Karine Icher France
29. Gloria Hee Jung Park Rep. of Korea 45. Nicole Castrale USA
30. Kyeong Bae Rep. of Korea 47. Virada Nirapathpongporn Thailand
31. Brittany Lincicome USA 48. Lindsey Wright Australia
32. Suzann Pettersen Norway 49. Young Jo Rep. of Korea
33. Sophie Gustafson Sweden 50. Karen Stupples England
34. Aree Song Thailand 52. Rachel Hetherington Australia
35. Christina Kim USA 53. Il Mi Chung Rep. of Korea
54. Beth Daniel USA 56. Miriam Nagl Brazil
55. Nancy Scranton USA 58. Tina Barrett USA
Notes to editors:
The HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship takes place at Hamilton Farm on July 6-9. The field will include competitors drawn from the top 30 players in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings (through June 27), the 2006 U.S. Women’s Open winner, the top player on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit (through June 27), two sponsor exemptions and the leading 29 golfers on the ADT LPGA Official Money List (through June 27) who have not already gained entry into the tournament via the aforementioned criteria.
For further information on the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship and the HSBC global golf program, please visit www.hsbcgolf.com
Practice rounds will be held on Monday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 4. The HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship Pro-Am will be held on Wednesday, July 5 with a 7:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. shotgun start. Thirty-two first round matches will be held on Thursday, July 6 and sixteen second round matches will be held on Friday, July 7. Third round play will be held the morning of Saturday, July 8 and the quarter-finals will be held on Saturday afternoon. The two semi-final matches will be held Sunday morning, July 9 and the finals will tee off at 12:50 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-866-492-4722 and on line at www.hsbcgolf.com.
The Golf Channel will televise play Thursday, July 6 and Friday, July 7 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET and CBS will air live on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
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