LPGA to make Chinese debut at Beijing in October

MOBILE, Alabama (AFP) –

The LPGA Tour will stage its first tournament in China at Beijing’s Reignwood Pine Valley course from October 3-6, officials of the US-based tour announced.

The $1.8 million Reignwood LPGA Classic will be the first stop on a late-season Asian LPGA swing that includes stops in Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan before season-ending events in Mexico and the United States.

The Reignwood event will feature 81 players, including the top 62 players on the LPGA money list, the top 15 players from the China Ladies Professional Golf Association and four sponsors’ invitees.

“The achievement of Chinese golfers in the last few years gives us a glimpse of how fast this sport is growing in this part of the world,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said on Thursday.

“Many of our members are from Asia and their rise in the world of ladies golf is evident in the likes of Tseng Ya-ni and Feng Shanshan.”

Taiwan’s Tseng is the youngest man or woman to win five major golf titles while Feng became the first Chinese golfer to win a major crown when she won last year’s LPGA Championship.