Reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Joohyung Kim from Korea and current number one Sihwan Kim from the United States and past Merit list winners from the Ladies European Tour (LET) South African Lee-Anne Pace and Becky Brewerton from Wales are just some of the leading players who will make up the elite field for next week’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup.
The ground-breaking tournament – which marks the first time the two Tours have jointly sanctioned an event – will take place on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club from April 7-10 and will be followed the week after by the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, at the same venue.
Both events will feature 60 Asian Tour players and 60 LET players, along with 24 sponsor invitations, playing for the same prize fund and trophy. Each tournament will offer a prize fund of US$750,000, along with Official World Golf Ranking points, and they will count towards the Asian Tour Order of Merit and LET’s Race to the Costa del Sol.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, winner of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard last week on the Asian Tour, will also compete along with many of his distinguished compatriots including Jazz Janewattananond, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sadom Kaewkanjana and Pavit Tangkamolprasert.
Australian Scott Hend, winner of 10 titles on the Asian Tour, and nine-time champion Gaganjeet Bhullar from India have also entered along with American John Catlin and Shiv Kapur from India, who have both won on four occasions.
Thailand’s golf phenom Ratchanon Chantananuwat, popularly known as “TK”, has also been invited to compete. The 15-year-old amateur star has not missed the cut in the six events he has played in since the Asian Tour restarted at the end of last year and finished third in The Singapore International.
There will be 14 LET winners and two Race to Costa del Sol champions in the field of 60 female competitors.
Pace and Brewerton will be joined by fellow Tour veterans Marianne Skarpnord of Norway, Lydia Hall of Wales, Kylie Henry from Scotland, Sweden’s Jenny Haglund and English pair Felicity Johnson and Florentyna Parker.
Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, ranked fourth on the current Race to Costa del after two top-10 finishes in her first three events of the season, including a tie for second in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, will also compete as well as sixth ranked Kim Metraux of Switzerland, eighth ranked Nicole Garcia of South Africa and LET winners Alice Hewson and Maria Hernandez of Spain, who are tied for 10th respectively.
Rising star Maja Stark from Sweden, who started last year as an amateur but ended the year with three professional wins – two of which were on the LET – will be making her season debut in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup. After turning professional last summer, the 23-year-old won on her home course to secure her maiden title on the LET Access Series and then won the Creekhouse Ladies Open and the Estrella Damm Ladies Open on the LET. The former PING Junior Solheim Cup player finished sixth on the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol Rankings despite having played in just six events as a member.
Other leading players in the field include Sanna Nuutinen of Finland, who finished fourth on Tour last year after nine top-10 finishes, former winner Diksha Dagar of India and two-time LET champion Meghan MacLaren from England, making her LET season debut.
The Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge will be held the following week, from April 13-16, and will feature a very similar line-up of players.
