LADIES GOLF UNION FIND NEW

SPONSOR FOR WOMEN'S

BRITISH OPEN

Edinburgh-based golf writer Lewine Mair has pulled off another women's golf scoop for her newspaper.
Lewine writes in today's "Daily Telegraph"
In an exciting coup for the Ladies' Golf Union, Ricoh will sponsor the Women's British Open. Ricoh have taken over from Weetabix in time for this year's historic event at St Andrews, which is the first time the women professionals have played the Open links course.
Lesley Burn, pictured right, the chief executive officer of the LGU, said: "Ricoh have joined us at a fantastic time. The profile of the Women's Open continues to rise and, with the backing of such a successful company, the future is even brighter."
'Kirk' Katsumi Yoshida, the chief marketing officer of Ricoh, who specialise in digital office solutions, explained that the reason he opted for a women's event is that women golfers in his part of the world are the more admired.
"The women's game is stronger than the men's and more popular," he said.
The Japanese men's tour is struggling, while the television viewing figures for women's golf in Japan are 50 per cent higher, save when it comes to the men's majors.
Where 15 years ago Asian parents yearned for their daughters to become concert pianists, they now favour golf as there is more room at the top. Japanese and Korean women practise for up to eight hours a day, while Ay Miyazato is seen as the equivalent of a Tiger Woods.
Michelle Wie, Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer will be among those doing duty at St Andrews from Aug 2-5.
Scotland will have a strong contender in Catriona Matthew who, earlier this year, came close to winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Matthew said: "Winning an Open at St Andrews would be a dream come true."
Like Annika Sorenstam, Matthew is a former winner of the St Rule Trophy, an amateur strokeplay championship played annually over the Old Course and the New.
Creamer was the first American to fly over for some practice. She arrived a fortnight ago and fitted in four rounds over the course which, at 6,638 yards, is 641 yards shorter than the version played by Woods and the rest in the 2005 Open. She was introduced to Hell Bunker and the Swilken and, once she had holed out at the 13th, to pop singer Justin Timberlake who was lining up his putt on the other side of that double green.