Two-time LPGA winner Jennifer Rosales and reigning Queen Sirikit Cup champion Dottie Ardina team up for the first time as they vie in the inaugural World Ladies Championship firing off Friday in Mission Hills, Haikou, China.
The 54-hole tournament, jointly organized by the Ladies European Tour and the China LPGA Tour, features 108 players from 25 countries and dangles a total prize of $600,000.
Rosales, with Fil-Am partner Dorothy Delasin, won the women’s World Cup in 2008. The five-time Philippine Ladies Open champion has struggled with injuries, however, and she finished joint eighth in her last tournament, Thailand Ladies Open, three weeks ago.
She picked Ardina as partner in the upcoming event owing to the top ICTSI campaigner’s form. Ardina is also girding for her defense of the Queen Sirikit Cup title next month.
“Though she has struggled the last few years, J-Ro is ready for this event, and with Dottie in good form, I think the team has got what it takes to contend for the crown,” said Rosales’ mentor and ICTSI coach Bong Lopez.
South African Lee-Anne Pace, the money list leader in the 2010 European Women’s Tour, and Lydia Ko, a 14-year-old amateur from New Zealand head the elite cast.