The organizer of the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship said it hopes the Taiwan leg of the LPGA tour will be a springboard to greater success on the international stage for Taiwanese golfers.
Liu Yi-chen, the chairwoman of the LPGA of Taiwan (TLPGA), which is organizing the event, on Tuesday said that 20 Taiwanese golfers will participate in the tournament this year, the most in the four years the event has been held since its launch in 2011.
“For Taiwanese players, the event could serve as a springboard to the world’s top stage,” Liu said at a press conference.
She urged local golfers to take full advantage of the opportunity to improve their skills.
This is the fourth year that the LPGA Tour is making a stop in Taiwan, giving Taiwanese players a rare chance to compete against top-level competition, but it almost was not held this year because of funding and sponsorship woes, Sports Administration Director-General Ho Jow-fei said.
The Taiwan tournament had been hosted by the Sunrise Golf & Country Club in Taoyuan County since 2011 under a three-year contract with the US-based LPGA, but Sunrise chairman Hsu Tien-ya decided to not to renew the contract, citing financial considerations.
Ho said the agency had given up hope that the event, which requires a financial commitment of about NT$200 million (US$6.58 million), would be held again until Fubon Financial Holding Co stepped in and took over as the title sponsor.
Fubon Cultural and Educational Foundation chairman Jason Yuan said Fubon took over the sponsorship this year because it hopes to give Taiwanese players, most of whom compete on the Taiwan LPGA Tour, a chance to participate in a world-class event.
Ho urged people in Taiwan to support and attend the event, stressing that the administration is subsidizing transportation and other costs for schools if they bring their students to the tournament.
“We hope to organize this important tournament sustainably,” Ho said.
He added that he hoped the tournament could help Taiwan discover and train a large number of top golfers, as South Korea has done.
Phoebe Yao, a Taiwanese player sponsored by Fubon, admitted she was feeling pressure ahead of the tournament in Taiwan.
Yao, who won the Fujisankei Ladies Classic on the Japan LPGA Tour this year, said driving distance would be her biggest challenge this week, but she pledged to “go all out.”
The Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship will be held from today until Sunday at the Miramar Golf and Country Club in New Taipei. The world’s top seven players are all expected to compete.
World No. 4 Suzann Pettersen of Norway will be going for her third consecutive title.
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