Becky Brewerton from Wales leads the field

(SUZHOU, CHINA — 27th October 2009) – The Ladies European Tour is set for a fortnight in Asia as it prepares for this week’s Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.

After an enormously successful inaugural edition in 2008, the event is in its second year and will once again be played at the 6320 yard, par-72 Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club in Suzhou Taihu National Tourism & Vacation Zone, Jiangsu Province.

Former world number one Annika Sorenstam secured her very last worldwide victory against top Chinese Player Li Ying Ye a year ago but has since stepped away from competition to start a family.

A week after her 27th birthday, Welsh golf star Becky Brewerton heads the field and will be aiming for her second victory of the season after cruising to victory at the Open de Espana Femenino in July.

On the back of a terrific season so far, which has seen the Solheim Cup star into third spot on the Henderson Money List and only €59,000 behind Sophie Gustafson in top spot, Brewerton now has a chance to overtake the Swede with back to back victories in China and Korea over the next two weeks, where there are first prizes of 30,000 and 40,000 Euros respectively.

She has further reason to celebrate after she broke into the top 100 on the Rolex rankings, the official world rankings for women’s golf, last week.

Statistically, she leads the LET in stroke average (70.97), number of eagles (10) and number of birdies (245) and also recently claimed the prestigious Golf Union of Wales (GUW) Welsh tour professional of the year 2009.

Joining Brewerton will be 44 other players from the Ladies European Tour, including two-time winner this season Marianne Skarpnord, ranked fourth in Europe, who is fresh off a victory at the Carta Si Ladies Italian Open in Milan a fortnight ago.

Right behind her is Frenchwoman Jade Schaeffer, who claimed her maiden win in Germany and her compatriot, last year’s European number one Gwladys Nocera, who will be looking for her first victory of 2009 on the LET and 11th overall.

All four of the above mentioned players are visiting China for the first time hoping to follow in Sorenstam’s footsteps.

Skarpnord arrived in Shanghai on Monday and wrote on her blog: “The hotel is located on the course we are playing. It is very nice here, fresh rooms and a very nice spa;-) We just got back from an hour of massage and it was extremely good for the body after the long flight… Well, not much else to report from China yet, going down to the restaurant now and see if we can get some food. If I know myself correctly I think I will end up eating well fried chicken and noodles or rice.”

Australian Karen Lunn, who was equal third in 2009, added: “The course is nice, the food is great and the people are friendly. It’s just a really nice tournament. It has a nice atmosphere and I’m looking forward to the week.”

As well as 45 players from the LET, the 106 woman field features 35 players from the China Golf Association (CGA), 22 from the Ladies Asian Golf Tour (LAGT) and 4 invitations.

Next week the LET will head to Cypress Golf Club on Jeju Island in South Korea for the Daishin Securities Tomato Tour Korean Ladies Masters 2009.