Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin top the all-star

cast for HSBC Women's Champions 2010

NEWS RELEASE
Winners of the HSBC Women’s Champions 2008 and 2009, Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin, will return to Tanah Merah Country Club (TMCC), Singapore from February 25-28, 2010 to challenge for the top honours once again.
HSBC made the announcement today, underlining the prestige and allure of ‘Asia’s Major’ to the best female golfers in the world.
World number one and the inaugural ‘Champion of Champions,’ Lorena Ochoa of Mexico will make her third appearance in Singapore and look to continue her fine form at the start of her eighth year on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
The Rolex Player of the Year for a fourth consecutive season in 2009, Ochoa is a strong force leading the way in ladies' golf and enjoying strong support from her fans around the world.
Ochoa is excited to be going back to Singapore, saying, “I am very much looking forward to returning to Tanah Merah and trying to win a second HSBC Women’s Champions title. Singapore is a fantastic city to visit and I am sure that we will have another excellent tournament in February.”
Defending champion and world number two, Jiyai Shin enthused, “I have had an amazing year and it all started when I won the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore in March. The confidence I took from both playing my final two rounds in 12 under par and coming out on top of such a strong field of the world’s best players, really kick-started my season and definitely played a big part in helping me reach a career high of Number 2 in the World Ranking. I am very excited to return as defending champion.”
In her first full year on Tour, Shin topped the LPGA Official Money List for 2009 with three titles and an additional nine top-10 finishes and won the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award.
With her remarkable victory at the HSBC Women’s Champions, after a second successive six-under par 66 on Sunday, she also became a Rolex First-Time Winner.
The 63 player line-up of the world’s top female golfers will go to Singapore for only the second event on the 2010 LPGA schedule. They will be refreshed after the winter break and ready to tackle the Garden Course at TMCC, playing for a share of the US$1.3million prize purse.
More star players confirmed to make an appearance in Singapore will be announced in the New Year. Along with two sponsors invites, the field will be completed by the winning Singaporean amateur or professional of a two-day local qualifying tournament taking place at TMCC on 20-21 January.