Singapore: Newly crowned major winner Patty Tavatanakit is delighted to be back at Sentosa Golf Club for the US$1.6 million HSBC Women's World Championship, which tees off today.
The tournament returns to Singapore after the Covid-19 pandemic forced its cancellation last year and the star-studded event features six of the world's top 10 golfers in the 69-player field, including 2016 Olympic medal winners -- South Korea's Park In-Bee (gold), New Zealand's Lydia Ko (silver) and China's Feng Shanshan (bronze).
Patty, who held off Ko to win the year's first major at the ANA Inspiration this month, received a sponsor's invitation to the tournament.
The 21-year-old, along with compatriots Ariya Jutanugarn, Moriya Jutanugarn, Jasmine Suwannapura, and Pornanong Phatlum will make up the Thai challenge in the Lion City.
It will be a different experience for Patty as she returns to Sentosa Golf Club where she last played as an amateur at the 2018 Asia-Pacific Amateur.
"There's a little bit more attention given towards me. Obviously, I feel like I've got to manage my time a little better now. I have to work my way around that a little bit and manage my time a little better," said Patty, whose Thai name is Paphangkorn.
"It was overwhelming to the point where I didn't know that it was overwhelming because I had never really experienced that. Looking back, I was like really overwhelmed by the attention I got because I'm not really used to having to give so much energy to a lot of people, but I feel like going through that, I'm learning a little bit more."
Apart from the media glare, world No.13 Patty will have her movements restricted to going between the hotel and the venue because of the stringent safety protocols.
"I just wish we could do more things outside the hotel, but we're not allowed to due to the restrictions right now, which is fine. I'm just really glad that we're all back in Asia and playing again," said Patty, who missed the cut at last week's LA Open.
In the first two rounds, Pattya will play alongside Nasa Hataoka of Japan and Hannah Green of Australia.
While Patty is making her debut in the tournament, it will be Ariya's sixth appearance in Singapore.
Two-time major winner Ariya has had a good record in the tournament with four top-10 finishes, which included two runner-up spots.
"I am excited to return to the tournament where I first played as an amateur in 2013," said the 10-time LPGA Tour winner.
This week's competition is the first event on any international golf tour to take place on the world's most populous continent since the Asian Tour's Malaysian Open in March last year.
The Toto Japan Classic in November 2019 was the last LPGA Tour event on Asian soil.
Other players in Singapore include world No.1 Ko Jin-Young of South Korea, her compatriot and defending champion Park Sung-Hyun, Japan's Hinako Shibuno and Danielle Kang.
Meanwhile, Andrew Johnston, general manager at Sentosa Golf Club, is confident the club can be among the pioneers in representing the region's safe return to hosting major international sporting events again.
"This is probably the toughest championship I have to prepare for in my career. Everybody's watching and I hope this tournament will help to reset the stage for all of Asia so that we can all get back to business," he said. "This is a unique event where golf is secondary and country is first. The responsibilities are so much bigger in so many different ways this year."
