World No.1 Ko Jin-Young of South Korea will lead the challenge at next month's Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya, organisers said on Tuesday.
Other players in the 70-player field at the Feb 20-23 tournament at Siam Country Club include South Korea's Lee6 Jeong-Eun and Amy Yang, the defending champion; Nasa Hataoka and Hinako Shibuno from Japan; sisters Nelly and Jessica Korda of the US; and Feng Shanshan and He Muni of China.
The Thai contingent will be led by Ariya Jutanugarn, her sister Moriya and Jasmine (Thidapa) Suwannapura, the only three players from the Kingdom to have won on the LPGA Tour.
The other Thais in the US$1.6 tournament are veteran Pornanong Phatlum, rookie Patty (Paphangkorn) Tavatanakit, Atthaya Thitikul who turned professional recently, and qualifier Rina Tatematsu.
No local player has won the tournament but this could be Thailand's year.
"I am thrilled to have another opportunity to play in such a big tournament. I will do my best for the Thai fans," Atthaya, 16, told a press conference.
Pitak Pruittisarikorn, Chief Operating Officer of Honda Automobile (Thailand), said he was confident that this year's competition would again be an exciting one.
To mark the 14th year of Honda as the title sponsor of the tournament, there will be two hole-in-one prizes -- a Honda City RS worth 739,000 baht and a Honda Accord Hybrid worth 1.799 million baht.
For more information on the tournament and tickets, go to www.hondalpgathailand.com or facebook.com/lpgathailand.