World's top women commit to play in the ISPS HANDA Australian Open

Media Release:

The historic dual-gender ISPS HANDA Australian Open in Melbourne this summer is set to feature a sensational women’s field, after a bunch of top-flight players committed to the event this week.

With world No. 5 Minjee Lee and her Perth compatriot Hannah Green already entered for the 1-4 December Open at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath in Melbourne, another five world class female players have agreed to play.

Today’s additions to the field include World Golf Hall of Fame member Dame Laura Davies from England, a former world No. 1 player and dual major champion in South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, Chinese star and world No.16 Xiyu Lin, American world No. 33 Marina Alex and 10-year LPGA Tour veteran Jenny Shin.

Previously five-time Open winner Karrie Webb and growing Australian star Stephanie Kyriacou have announced that they will play for the Patricia Bridges Bowl in Melbourne, while the 25-year-old Lee will be the marquee attraction as the reigning US Women’s Open champion and current world top-five player.

The 2022 Women’s British Open victor Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa also is in the field this December.
Women will play alongside men in the historic dual-gender Open in 2022, the first national Open in golf to feature both sexes playing on the same venue at the same time, for separate trophies.

The men’s Open and the women’s Open will have equal prizemoney pools of $1.7 million as the Open returns to Melbourne for the first time in several years, also featuring the Australian All Abilities Championship for golfers with a disability.

The men’s field includes all the top-ranked Australians including Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott, Cam Davis, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee and Matt Jones as the Open roars back to international prominence after several years in abeyance caused by travel restrictions and the pandemic.

Long-hitting Davies, 59, is a legend of the sport, a winner of four women’s major championships as well as two Women’s Australian Open championships (2009 and 2004).

Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, Davies has won more than 80 tournaments worldwide and has been a regular visitor to the Australian circuit for more than 20 years.

The 32-year-old Ryu is a superstar of the sport who spent 19 weeks at world No. 1 in 2017. She is also a regular visitor to Australian shores, a six-time winner on the LPGA Tour including two major triumphs – the 2011 US Women’s Open and the 2017 ANA Inspiration.

Ryu came incredibly close to winning the Women’s Australian Open in 2015 at Royal Melbourne, ultimately falling to Jessica Korda in a six-player playoff, and will be determined to win her first championship on Australian soil.

Xiyu Lin, 26, is one of the best players on the LPGA Tour having jumped into the top 20 on the world rankings with a string of top-10 finishes in 2022 and a tie for 11th at the US Women’s Open behind the Australian Lee this year.

Alex, 32, is another growing force having won on the LPGA Tour this year in California, while Shin is a former US Junior Amateur champion and veteran of the main tour who won her maiden LPGA Tour event in 2016.

“This is fantastic boost for the tournament,” said James Sutherland, Golf Australia Chief Executive. “Having this calibre of player from overseas is only going to add to the excitement that the crowds in Melbourne are going to experience with our home-grown superstars Minjee Lee and Hannah Green playing at home for the first time in a while. 

“We’re delighted that some of the best players in the world have committed to our tournament at a time when we’re changing the look of the event and making it more inclusive. With all the top-ranked male players coming home as well and some DP World Tour players dropping into the field, we are very confident that this will be an Australian Open to remember for a long time.” 

The ISPS HANDA Australian Open from 1-4 December is supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria.

It features not only the men’s and women’s Opens but the Australian All Abilities Championship, contested by 12 of the best golfers in the world with a disability.

Update: November 3, 2022

Major champions add spice to ISPS HANDA Australian Open field

 Two more major champions have been added to the brilliant women’s field being assembled for the ISPS HANDA  Australian Open in Melbourne.

World No. 11 Jennifer Kupcho from the United States, who won her first major at the Chevron Championship in California earlier this year, and former world No. 1 Jiyai Shin of South Korea, a two-time winner of the AIG Women’s Open (previously known as the Women’s British Open) have both agreed to tee it up in the Melbourne sandbelt from 1-4 December.

Their presence bolsters a stunning field for the historic dual-gender Open at Victoria and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs next month.

Australia’s top-ranked players Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, five-time winner Karrie Webb and rising LPGA Tour star Stephanie Kyriacou, 2022 major winner Ashleigh Buhai from South Africa, Chinese world No. 16 Xiyu Lin and legendary Dame Laura Davies are all playing the women’s tournament.

The women’s field for the Open now includes four of the top 20 players in the world rankings – Lee (5), Kupcho (11), Lin (16) and Green (20) – which sets up the tournament for an outstanding return after the  2021 event was cancelled because of the pandemic and travel restrictions.

The Open, which will feature men, women and All Abilities playing at the same venues and at the same time, has adopted a new inclusive format for 2022. The men’s tournament is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour as well as the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

Kupcho, the 25-year-old American, emerged as a force in the women’s game with her first-ever major championship victory at Mission Hills in April, winning by two shots, in her fourth year on the LPGA Tour.

The NCAA Champion in 2018 while studying at Wake Forest University, she also won the 2019 Augusta Women’s Invitational event, and has since won three times as a professional, all this year.

Shin, 34, is another Australian fan-favourite, having won the Women’s Australian Open in 2013 at Royal Canberra. She was also beaten in a famous playoff with the immortal Karrie Webb at the Women’s Australian Open at Kingston Heath in 2008.

She was No. 1 in the world in 2010 and won the Women’s British Open in 2008 and 2012, before returning to her native Korea for family reasons, preferring to play on the Japanese women’s tour. But she remains one of the most formidable players on the planet with more than 60 career tournament wins.

The ISPS HANDA Australian Open is to be played from 1-4 December at Victoria and Kingston Heath Golf Clubs in the Melbourne sandbelt.

Women will play alongside men in the historic dual-gender Open in 2022, the first national Open in golf to feature both sexes playing on the same venue at the same time, for separate trophies. The men’s Open and the women’s Open will have equal prizemoney pools of $1.7 million as the Open returns to Melbourne for the first time in several years, also featuring the Australian All Abilities Championship for golfers with a disability.

The men’s field includes all the top-ranked Australians including Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman, Adam Scott, Cam Davis, Lucas Herbert, Min Woo Lee, Matt Jones and Kiwi Ryan Fox as the Open roars back to international prominence after several years in abeyance caused by travel restrictions and the pandemic.

“We couldn’t be happier with the field that we’re assembling,” said James Sutherland, Golf Australia Chief Executive. “Obviously we think the fans are going to be coming out to watch the likes of Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, our homegrown stars, but we have been able to add a cluster of international stars that significantly adds to our anticipation for the event.

"Jennifer Kupcho and Jiyai Shin are very much world class, and to have four of the top 20 players on the world rankings tells us that this event is going to create a lot of excitement in Melbourne next month.

“When you consider the fact that all the top-ranked Australian male players are in the field, including Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Min Woo Lee, Lucas Herbert and Cam Davis, plus Ryan Fox from New Zealand who’s had an enormous year, you are looking at an event that can’t be missed.”

The ISPS HANDA Australian Open is supported by Visit Victoria.

 

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