2020 AIG Women’s Open Champion Sophia Popov one of 22 Major Champions in the line-up for 49th edition
PORTLAND, OR (September 8, 2020) – The 2020 Cambia Portland Classic field will be one of the strongest fields gathered on the LPGA this year as eight of the world’s top ten players are set to compete at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for the 49th edition taking place September 17-20.
Australian defending Champion Hannah Green will have her work cut out as she takes on a line-up that contains seven past champions, 32 of the world’s top fifty ranked players and 22 Major Champions with 42 Major titles between them along with 30 Solheim Cup players who have made almost 100 appearances.
Competing for an enhanced prize fund of US$1,750,00 the latest Major Champion, Germany’s Sophia Popov who won last month’s AIG Women’s Open, will return to competition for the first time since her surprise victory at Royal Troon, Scotland. Having arrived in Scotland ranked outside the top 300, she produced a stunning four days of golf, missing only three greens in regulation all week to become the first German of either gender to win a Major on British soil.
While Popov’s spectacular win qualifies her for the 2021 ANA Inspiration, it did not allow her qualification into next week’s re-scheduled 2020 edition so her arrival in Portland marks her first event playing as a Major champion.
Popov commented: “I literally can’t wait to get back out playing again. Winning the AIG Women’s Open feels like a dream and I don’t think I will quite believe it actually happened until I get back out on Tour and see everyone again. Before winning in Scotland, I wouldn’t even have qualified for the Cambia Portland Classic so it feels pretty amazing to know I don’t need to worry about my schedule for the rest of the year. I am so grateful to Cambia and to all our sponsors who are putting in such huge efforts to make sure we can keep playing and I can’t wait to tee it up for the first time as a Major champion in Portland.”
The tournament invites were awarded to Popov’s predecessor Japan’s Hinako Shibuno, the 2019 AIG Women’s Open Champion and America’s Cheyenne Woods, a winner on the Ladies European Tour, North Carolina’s Natalie Srinivasan who recently turned professional after a phenomenal college career and to amateur rising star, Portland’s Yvonne Vinceri.
Won last year by Australia’s Hannah Green, the 2019 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Champion, the 49th Cambia Portland will take place without fans this year following close consultation and collaboration with partners Cambia and the state and local health officials.
The event, which is known for standout winners with former champions including ten-time major winner Annika Sorenstam, hall of famer Lorena Ochoa, Solheim Cup hero Suzann Pettersen and, more recently, Canada’s most successful golfer, Brooke Henderson, is only one year shy of an incredible 50 years of staging and is set to secure another star-studded field this year.
For more information including volunteer registration, please visit www.PortlandClassic.com.
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