Anna Nordqvist will headline the star studded field

Queensland can boast a piece of golfing history following today’s confirmation that the 2010 ANZ Ladies Masters has secured the strongest field ever assembled for a golf tournament in Australia. The prestigious event, to be contested at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on Queensland’s Gold Coast between the 4 and 7 March has confirmed the appearance of three of the four major champions from 2009.

This marks the first time in Australian golfing history that three current major champions will contest the same event on Australian soil. Kraft Nabisco Champion, American Brittany Lincicome, Women’s US Open Champion, South Korean Eun Hee Ji and McDonalds LPGA Championship winner and World No. 7, Swede Anna Nordqvist, will headline the star studded field.

Supporting and challenging the current major champions will be a plethora of top 20 players from the Rolex Women’s World Golf rankings. These include World No.3 Suzann Pettersen, World No. 6 Yani Tseng, South Korean Na Yeon Choi (No.12), our own World Golf Hall of Famer and six times Masters Champion Karrie Webb (No.13), South Korean Song-Hee Kim (No. 14), European No.1 and World No. 18 Sophie Gustafson.

The international players do not stop there, South Koreans Hee Young Park (36), Hee Kyung Seo (No. 42) and M.J Hur (No. 45), Americans Stacey Lewis (No. 47) and the flamboyant Christina Kim (No.48) are all heading to the magnificent RACV Royal Pines Resort, most for the first time.

A field comprising 8 of the top 20 and 15 of the top 50 world ranked players, is also unprecedented statistic for an Australian professional golf tour event.

Three Australians have previously won the ANZ Ladies Masters. Webb is a six times champion, Jane Crafter won twice in the 90’s and Katherine Hull is the defending champion. Hull, Webb and fellow compatriots including World No. 28 Lindsey Wright, Nikki Campbell and Tamie Durdin, both of whom won on the LPGA of Japan in 2009, three time LPGA tournament winner Wendy Doolan, LET multiple title winners Nikki Garrett, Joanne Mills and Karen Lunn will be fighting to keep the title in Australian hands.

The established players will however need to look over their shoulders, as the tournament has a reputation of uncovering a rookie star who upstages the stars. Young Australian rising stars including Kristie Smith, Rebecca Flood, Leanne Bowditch, Kate Combes and Sarah Oh will be keen to repeat the efforts of 2006 champion, 16 year old Amy Yang, as they relish in the strongest field on the biggest stage of their fledgling careers.

No one will discount former World No.1, winner of over 70 titles worldwide including three Ladies Masters titles, reigning Women’s Australian Open Champion and crowd favourite England’s Laura Davies, who will be as keen as ever to add another title to her unparalleled list of international victories.

ANZ Managing Director Strategy and Marketing David Lindberg said ANZ was looking forward to its tenth ANZ Ladies Masters and welcomed elite golfers from here and around the world. “With some of the world’s top ranking female golfers competing, the 2010 ANZ Ladies Masters looks set to be one of the most thrilling tournaments yet.

It’s not difficult to see why it is now firmly established as one of the key features of the international golf calendar,” Mr Lindberg said.

ANZ is proud to continue its support of the ANZ Ladies Masters which reflects not only our commitment to women’s golf, but also our commitment to Queensland and the Gold Coast, as a thriving global destination.

Queensland’s Acting Premier Andrew Fraser is pleased at the news. “This is a great result for a great Queensland based event. The ANZ Ladies Masters is synonymous with the Gold Coast and Queensland and I am impressed at the quality of the field that has been announced today,” said Mr Fraser. “There is no better place to play a tournament of this nature and to have a field that is this strong is a testament to the event itself and its organisers. The Queensland government is pleased to be a major supporter of this event through our own Queensland Events.”

Tournament Director Ben Tuohy stated “This is definitely the one to watch. The 2010 ANZ Ladies Masters will showcase the best field – in men’s or women’s golf - ever assembled in Australia. Sports fans should grab this opportunity with both hands, either come and watch the girls ‘live’ at RAVC Royal Pines Resort, or at home ‘live’ on Channel 10 and ONE HD.”

The tournament will be shown on ONE HD on the Friday, then on Channel 10 on Saturday and Sunday and broadcast internationally to a reach of over 160 million households.

Tickets now on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets. ANZ Ladies Masters proudly supporting the National Breast Cancer Foundation.