After last week’s hugely impressive field for the Honda LPGA Thailand, more of the world’s best players tee it up at Sentosa Golf Club this week in the tournament many dub ‘Asia’s Major’.
Among them is defending champion Jin Young Ko, who claimed her 13th LPGA Tour victory in 2022 following a two-shot win over In Jee Chun and Minjee Lee. That was the South Korean’s most recent victory in what was an injury plagued year for the two-time Major winner, coming off the back of five titles in 2021.
The World No.5 tied for sixth at last week’s event, indicating she could be returning to some of the best form. She will be hoping to build on that momentum this week. There is certainly recent history of success among South Koreans. Including the 27-year-old’s victory last year, six out of the last seven winners have hailed from the country, including World No.9 Hyo-Jun Kim, who won two years ago.
The two players Ko beat last year are back too, with World No.8 Chun playing her first tournament since her tie for 32nd at the Aramco Saudi Ladies International and World No.3 Lee hoping to bounce back from a disappointing finish of 67th last week.
The winner of that event was American Lilia Vu, and she will be hopeful of backing up her maiden LPGA Tour title with a second victory this week. To do so she will once again need to overcome the challenge of many more of the world’s best, including World No.1 Lydia Ko, World No.2 Nelly Korda and World No.4 Atthaya Thitikul.
Also like last week, the list of top-quality players runs far deeper than that with 18 of the world’s top 20 players competing. Once again, the only person missing from the top 10 is Lexi Thompson, who played in this week’s Seminole Pro-Member in Florida. So, look out for appearances from World No.7 Brooke Henderson and World No.10 Nasa Hataoka, too.
The player immediately outside the top 10, Leona Maguire, also plays, as does World No.13 Celine Boutier, who finishing tied for fourth in Thailand with Maja Stark, who is also in the field.
There is a string of talent elsewhere too, including Major winners Danielle Kang, Ashleigh Buhai, Georgia Hall and Anna Nordqvist as players compete for a $1.8m purse.
HSBC Women’s World Championship Prize Money
| Position | Prize Money |
|---|---|
| 1st | $270,000 |
| 2nd | $66,643 |
| 3rd | $120,888 |
| 4th | $93,516 |
| 5th | $75,270 |
| 6th | $61,584 |
| 7th | $51,548 |
| 8th | $45,162 |
| 9th | $40,600 |
| 10th | $36,951 |
| 11th | $34,213 |
| 12th | $31,932 |
| 13th | $29,925 |
| 14th | $28,101 |
| 15th | $26,458 |
| 16th | $24,998 |
| 17th | $23,722 |
| 18th | $22,627 |
| 19th |
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