Golf: Ko aims for amateur title at World Ladies Championship

Lydia Ko. Photo /Getty Images

New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has overcome a brief illness, and is in China to attempt to add the amateur title at the World Ladies Championship this weekend to her growing list of accomplishments.

The world No 1 amateur will be one of eight competitors vying for the amateur title at the new championship.

Women golfers from around the world have gathered at Mission Hills Haikou for the unique three-in-one competition comprising an individual professional, amateur and team event over 54 holes on The Vintage Course.

The professional golfers are competing not only for the individual title but 19 pairs are also playing for their respective countries or regions with a US$500,000 purse for the individual stroke play and an additional US$100,000 team prize fund.

Ko will tee up against fellow 14-year-old Shi Yuting and 16-year-old Yan Jing, which is an exciting prospect for Chinese golf fans.

Ko has had a stellar start to the year winning the Australian amateur match play title and then becoming the youngest ever winner of a professional golf tour event.

She finished 32nd at the Gold Coast RACV Ladies Masters the following week, tied for 19th in the Australian Open and was equal 17th at the New Zealand Women's Open.

But fatigue set in after an exhausting stretch of tournaments and she withdrew from the recent Riversdale Cup in Melbourne, suffering from dizziness and nausea.

"I felt bad for a day but I'm fine. It wasn't a biggie,'' Ko said.

She is enjoying Mission Hills Haikou. "The resort itself is really nice. On the course I would say that the greens are really fast and design wise the course is very unique, the greens are rectangular and there are volcano shaped mounds. You don't really get that anywhere else and it's a special place.''

Yuting, who finished fourth at last year's China Ladies Open, has high expectations.

"I have improved my range and it's a new start for me. This is the first match of the year and I've prepared well so hope to get into the top ranking.''

The other amateurs in the field are Singapore-based Charlotte Thomas of England, 19, who won the inaugural Annika Invitational tournament in September, Australian Adriana Brent, China's Lisa Wu Sha, Yi-Chen Liu of Chinese Taipei and Dottie Ardina from the Philippines.

The leading amateur who makes the cut in the World Ladies Championship will be offered a spot in the Lalla Meryem Cup, a Ladies European Tour event starting on March 22 in Adadir, Morocco.

They will also receive an invitation to play in the China Ladies Open on the China LPGA Tour taking place during the second week of December.