The TLPGA Tour swings back to its homeland Taiwan this week with the 2015 KENDA Tires TLPGA Open to be staged through Thursday to Saturday at the Taipei Golf Club. Reigning TLPGA Tour No.1 Kuo Ai-Chen (郭艾榛) and the recent CTBC Shanghai Ladies Classic winner Michelle Koh will be among the star attractions in an international field of competitors from nine countries.

With Kenda Rubber brand as title sponsor, the tournament keeps on improving its scale and finance status. The players will play in a 54-hole individual stroke play competition with a cut to the leading 50 professionals and those tied after the second round, to earn a share of the ever-expanding purse of NT$4 million, from NT$3 million in 2013 and NT$3.6 million in 2014. The winner will receive a check worth NT$800,000 and an additional prize of NT$200,000 from local businesses will be given if a home representative takes the title. Of course the Rolex World Rankings points will also be available in the official TLPGA Tour event.

As Kenda’s new ambassador, Kuo Ai-Chen is looking for her second TLPGA Tour title of the season. Yang Yin-Ming, President of Kenda Rubber, expressed his admiration of the skill set he witnessed from the young Taiwanese at the Taifong Ladies Open, where Kuo won. “The Taifong event was held in Changhua, where the story of Kenda begins. And I had the honor to watch Ai-Chen display her amazing golf and finally top the field to secure the victory for home fans. We feel very proud as a Changhua-based company and decided to team up with this inspiring young lady to tell our story globally,” said Yang. “Sport is a universal language. By holding the KENDA TLPGA Open, we hope to create more opportunities for Taiwanese female golfers and, at the same time, share the values and beliefs of our brand to sports fans around the world. We will continue to discover talents in this field and hopefully, we can pave a way for a better future for women’s golf.”

The roaster of former Kenda ambassadors sees current World No.26 Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) and four-time LPGA Tour titlist Candie Kung (龔怡萍), who both have now written impressive history for Taiwanese ladies’ golf and continue strong on the international tours.

2014 runner-up Chien Pei-Yun (錢珮芸), and the second runner-ups Yeh Hsin-Ning (葉欣寧) and Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒) will be among the top favorites at the 6177-yard Taipei Golf Club. Other home grown talents this week include Chen Meng-Chu (陳孟竺), Lu Ya-Huei (呂雅惠), Shih Huei-Ju (石惠如), and Tsai Pei-Ying (蔡佩穎).

Thailand’s 16-year-old Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul, the reigning Party Golfers' Open champion, will also tee off in tomorrow’s first-round play.

Hole-in-one prize of a carbon road bike (Masi PC1) will be up for grabs on the 11th and 18th provided by Kenstone Metal.