Canadian teenager Brooke Henderson awarded special exemption by Championship Committee
Scotland July 1, 2015
The 2015 Ricoh Women’s British Open field is set to be strongest and most international Major of the year as entries have now closed for this year’s Championship at Trump Turnberry Resort, Scotland, July 30 to August 2.
All of the current top 20 on the Rolex World Ranking, along with all of the current top 20 on both the LPGA Race to the CME Globe and the LET Order of Merit, are in the field for the 39th edition of the Championship, competing for a prize fund of £1,990,266 (US $3 million).
Mo Martin, the 2014 Champion, has the tough task of defending her title against a field including all of the world’s best players. The entry list reads like a who’s who of women’s golf and includes World No.1 Inbee Park, World No.2 Lydia Ko, World No.3 Stacy Lewis, World No 12 Lexi Thompson, defending US Open Champion Michelle Wie, Ricoh Ambassadors Paula Creamer and Charley Hull, Scotland’s Catriona Matthew, the 2009 Champion and English legend Dame Laura Davies.
The star-studded field is also the most international of the five women’s majors with 23 nationalities already represented in the field to be finalized at the conclusion of final qualifying on Monday 27th July at Irvine Golf Club.
Seventeen year old Canadian Brooke Henderson turned professional at the end of 2014 and, with only limited playing rights, has stormed up the rankings and currently sits at No.46 on the Rolex Rankings. Henderson’s impressive professional debut has resulted in the Championship Committee awarding her a special exemption into the 2015 Championship.
Henderson commented, “I am so excited to play in my first Ricoh Women’s British Open and I am very grateful to the Championship Committee for granting me this opportunity. I played in the 2012 Ladies British Amateur at Carnoustie and I absolutely loved visiting Scotland so I am super excited to be heading back there again. I really enjoyed the different challenges of playing links golf in Scotland and, now that I have gained a little more experience, I think I will enjoy it even more. I can’t wait to get to the Trump Turnberry Resort.”
Australian veteran Karrie Webb won the Women’s British Open in 2002 when the Championship last visited at Turnberry.
The Ricoh Women’s British Open was founded by the LGU in 1976 and is staged in conjunction with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company, since 1984. The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001.
Ricoh, a global technology company specializing in office imaging equipment, production print solutions, document management systems and IT services, has been the title sponsor of the Ricoh Women’s British Open since 2007.
For further information please visit www.ricohwomensbritishopen.com
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