HONOLULU -- Ai Miyazato, who secured an LPGA tour card for
this year with a record 12-shot margin victory at last month's
qualifying tournament, will play at the Fields Open in Hawaii,
tournament officials said Wednesday.
The $1.1 million Fields Open is a new golf tournament to be
played Feb. 23-25 at the Ko Olina Golf Club on Oahu's west coast.
Miyazato, 20, has won 12 times on the women's pro tour in her
native Japan, including six times last year.
Michelle Wie, the 16-year-old Hawaii golf phenom, has already
committed to playing in the tournament.
The event is sponsored by Fields Corp., a Tokyo-based maker of
pinball-like games called pachinko that are popular in Japan.
Last month, Miyazato finished 12 shots ahead of Libby Smith and
Lee Ann Walker-Cooper at the LPGA qualifying tournament in Florida,
the largest margin of victory at LPGA Q-school since it began in
1973.
Miyazato had no trouble on the Legends course, building a
seven-shot lead after three rounds and expanding that to 12 shots
going into the final day.