Pace trying to regain European No.1 ranking in China

With Laura Davies taking the week off, Lee-Anne Pace has a unique opportunity to take the No.1 spot on the 2010 Ladies European Tour Henderson Money List this week at the inaugural Sanya Ladies Open in China.

Pace, currently ranked second with three wins this season, is bidding to become the first South African in the Ladies European Tour’s 32-year history to win the Henderson Money List, (previously known as the order of merit).

The former University of Tulsa collegian has posted seven top-10 finishes, including three wins, on the LET this season and is just €4,038 behind first placed Davies. The first prize this week is €30,000.

The contest to be crowned Europe’s number one player is about to heat up with the top three players, Davies, Pace and Melissa Reid, all travelling to Asia over the next month.

Pace climbed to a career high of first on the Henderson Money List following the Aberdeen Scottish Open earlier in the season, but was overtaken by Davies, who claimed her fourth victory of the season at the Open de Espana Femenino.

Pace, 29, from Mossel Bay, is determined to return to the head of affairs over the next fortnight before Davies resumes her challenge at the Korean Ladies Masters. She has not taken much of a break, having breezed through the first stage of the LPGA’s Qualifying School in late September.

Current European No.3 Melissa Reid

Joining her will be Scotland’s Vikki Laing (ninth with €114,538), England’s Florentyna Parker (11th with €110,230), Christel Boeljon from the Netherlands (13th with €102,686), South African Ashleigh Simon (14th with €100,769) Becky Brewerton from Wales (17th with €90,942) and Australian Karen Lunn (20th with €87,746).

There are now five tournaments remaining on the 2010 Ladies European Tour schedule, starting with the inaugural Sanya Ladies Open at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Sanya City from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th October. The next stops on the schedule are the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open, from October 29-31, the Korean Ladies Masters, from November 5-7, the Hero Honda Women’s Indian Open, from November 11-13 and the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, from December 8-11. Following the season-long competition for the Henderson Money List title, the winner will receive a €20,000 bonus and a 10-year exemption to the Ladies European Tour.