Tour boost for Vic Open
Women’s tournament set to become attractive to world’s top players
THE Vic Open has received yet another boost ahead of next year’s event, with the women’s tournament gaining co-sanction status on the prestigious LPGA tour.
It will make the women’s event one of the most hotly contested in Australia, and means Thirteenth Beach will play host to even more of the world’s best female golfers from 2019 onwards.
Earlier this year the men’s event gained co-sanction status on the lucrative European Tour, but the change for the la- dies could see the likes of American star and world No.5 Lexi Thompson as well as Canadian young gun Brooke Henderson travel Down Under to compete.
Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt said the announcement was a significant show of faith in the way the Geelong community had helped make the Vic Open one of the best tournaments in the country.
“We are confident that more really highly-ranked players will now play on the Bellarine Peninsula and, with that, the exposure it generates around the world will be enormous,” Pitt said.
“The LPGA Tour has been a great boon for the national championship and we are absolutely delighted the Vic Open will now be part of its worldwide schedule.
“We’ve worked very hard with our sponsors and partners to attain the standards stipulated by the LPGA Tour when we first discussed this possi- bility. For a tournament that has become revered for its progressive thinking, we are excited to take it to the next level.”
Former Vic Open champions Minjee Lee (No.6) and Georgia Hall (No.8) are already in the top 10 on the Rolex women’s world golf rankings, but with six of the remaining top 10 players coming from Asian-based countries there is a strong possibility of luring them to the Vic Open now that the event has cosanction status on the LPGA Tour.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, the current world No.1, would be an obvious target for event organisers after she claimed the 2018 women’s US Open, while the South Korean trio of Park Sung-hyun, Ryu So-yeon and Inbee Park — who sit in second, third and fourth place on the world rankings respectively — would also be short priced to receive a call to come to Geelong next February.
In June this year the State Government announced it would increase prizemoney for the Vic Open to a total of $3 million – $1.5 million for both the men’s and women’s events – making it the richest tournament in Australia.
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