PATTAYA: Six local stars, led by sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn, will try to become the first player from the country to win the Honda LPGA Thailand this week.
The other four are Pornanong Phatlum, Saranporn Langkulgasettrin, Benyapa Niphatsophon and Supamas Sangchan.
They will play in the 12th edition of Thailand's premier women's golf tournament which tees off tomorrow at Siam Country Club.
No Thai has won the tournament, which was launched in 2006.
World No.8 Ariya, who has won seven LPGA tournaments, is among the contenders, so is her older sister Moriya who has come close to securing her breakthrough title on several occasions.
Ariya, 22, looked set to win in Pattaya in 2013 when she held a two-shot lead with one hole left.
But a final-hole meltdown handed the title to South Korea's Park In-Bee as the young Thai burst into tears following the heartbreak.
"I am looking forward to playing against the best in the world again and receiving good support from Thai fans as always," Ariya said recently.
Both Ariya and world No.21 Moriya finished in the top 10 in Pattaya last year.
Pornanong has played at the course several times while Benyapa finished first on the Symetra Tour's money list last year to earn back a spot on the LPGA Tour.
The Honda LPGA Thailand is for the top-60 players on the 2017 LPGA money list plus 10 sponsor invites.
The current top-six players will be among those who vie for the winner's cheque of US$240,000 from the total purse of $1.6 million.
They are No.1 Feng Shanshan of China, No.2 Park Sung-Hyun of South Korea, No.3 Ryu So-Yeon of South Korea, No.4 Lexi Thompson from the US, No.5 Anna Nordqvist of Sweden and No.6 Chun In-Geen of South Korea.
In all, 17 of the world's top-20 players are in Pattaya this week.
South Korea's Amy Yang will try to become the first player to win the tournament three times, having been crowned champion in 2017 and 2015.
The other two past champions in the field are Thompson (2016) and Nordqvist (2014).
Several big names will make their season debuts this week, including Nordqvist and Park Sung-Hyun, the 2017 rookie of the year. Sandra Gal, who is coming off a back injury, will also make her first start as will Jessica Korda, who had offseason jaw surgery. Other notables making their season debuts include six-time LPGA winner Kim Sei-Young Kim, two-time winner Lee Mi-Hyang and two-time champion Hur Mi-Jung.
Since it is a limited field event, there are just two rookies -- South Korea's Ko Jin-Young and Solheim Cup star Georgia Hall.
Ko made history last week in Australia by becoming the second player to win an LPGA event in her first start as a member.
Brittany Lincicome, who won the first event of the season in the Bahamas, is also in the field. Among the sponsor invites is Lee Bo-Mee of South Korea who is a top-60 player in the world and has starred in Japan where she is residing since 2012.
Nicknamed "Candy Smile", she has 19 wins on the LPGA of Japan since 2012, including seven in 2015.
Meanwhile, Honda Automobile (Thailand) invited four players to participate in a CSR event at Wat Khao Pho Thong School in Chon Buri.
The quartet -- Ariya, Saranporn, Yang and Kim Ha-Neul -- handed sports equipment to the students besides conducting other activities.
Ariya said: "It is my pleasure to be part of such a special programme. I realise that the tournament is not all about seeking glory on the course but also doing some good deeds off it."