Entries have now closed for the Ricoh Women’s British Open with defending Champion and Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng heading the field of 144 players at the Carnoustie Links in Angus, Scotland, 28th to 31st July, 2011.
The field contains all of the World’s Top 15 players, 49 of the top 50 on the LPGA Official Money List and 29 of the leading 30 players on the LET Henderson Money list. With 20 players still to be confirmed – 16 through the Final Qualifying and the leading three LET members from the 2011 Finnair Masters, the 125 players qualified thus far present no end of challengers for the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open crown.
As the only women’s Major to be played outside of the USA, it always boasts the most international of fields and already there are 22 nations represented in this year’s entry. Yani Tseng re-confirmed her position as favourite by adding the recent Wegmans LPGA Championship to her haul of four Major titles. At the age of 22 years 5 months 3 days, Tseng is the youngest player ever- male or female – since Young Tom Morris in 1872 to amass four Majors. Next week she will be going for a career grand slam as she attempts to add the US Open to her trophy cabinet.
Catriona Matthew, the Ricoh Women’s British Open Champion in 2009, gave her thoughts on Yani saying, “I’ve played with her out in Asia this year, and then again at the Kia Classic and she’s very impressive to watch. Her ball‑striking is phenomenal, really. She’s just about getting like Annika where, if she putts well, she’ll be hard to beat every week. She hits it long and she hits it straight, which is obviously a great advantage. I think she’s beginning to be more of a crowd favourite. Now that she’s winning more events, people are seeing her as the World No. 1.”Scotland’s leading player, speaking from the US last week, went on to highlight the building excitement amongst the leading players on the LPGA Tour about tackling the famous links, saying, “A lot of players over here are talking about coming to Carnoustie and asking me what it’s like and if I’ve played there. They are certainly all excited about coming over and playing it. Obviously they have watched the men play there the last couple of times. So I think you always like coming to courses that well known and that have had big tournaments on before.”
Shona Malcolm, the Ladies’ Golf Union’s CEO added, “We are absolutely delighted with the entry for this year’s Championship and looking forward to seeing which up and coming players make it through qualifying to complete the field. With one month to go all our preparations are going well as we feel everything is in place for one of our best Championships to date.”
Last year was the first time fans were able to watch the BBC’s extensive coverage of the Ricoh Women’s British Open in HD (high definition) underlining the significance of the Championship in the BBC’s sports portfolio.
The Ricoh Women’s British Open was founded by the LGU in 1976 and is staged in conjunction with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company. The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001.
Ricoh, the leading technology provider of Managed Document Services and Production Printing, has been the title sponsor of the Ricoh Women’s British Open since 2007.
