(Taipei, July 22, 2014) After years of painstaking endeavor, Taiwan′s TLPGA announced today that it has received an official invitation from WWGR (Women′s World Golf Rankings) to become part of the official world ranking system TLPGA confirms that all of the tournaments on its official calendar from as early as August 2014 onwards will be included in the WWGR system, meaning that Taiwan′s women golf is finally aligned with the world, as Taiwanese lady golfers can also accumulate world ranking points when playing on home turf.


TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會，成為世界第十個巡迴賽組織，TLPGA理事長劉依貞十分開心

Liu, Yi-Chen, chairperson of TLPGA said, “Frankly, we have been eagerly anticipating this invitation for quite a while. The entry into WWGR means that TLPGA has finally gained full autonomy and will be able to hold tournaments anywhere in the world. “


TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織記者會前副總統蕭萬長（中）致詞，左為體育署長何卓飛，右為TLPGA理事長劉依貞

According to Liu, she has been trying to knock on WWGR’s door since 2012. However, as WWGR has strict criteria for membership, including minimum number of annual tournaments, average total prize money, number of professional players and tour members, as well as regular Q-schools and reserved quota for international players and reliable financial structure, TLPGA tried but came up short on some technical issues with its attempts to join WWGR in 2012 and 2013.

TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會教育部體育署長何卓飛致詞

記者會上82年次劉依貞代表選手致詞

TLPGA never relinquished and kept on trying. In 2014, TLPGA managed to expand its annual qualified tournaments to 12 while proving it is financially sound as the co-host of the 2014 Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship. Meanwhile, TLPGA tour also regularly holds Q-school events and opens its door to international players, finally winning the nod from WWGR last week and becomes part of the world ranking system. 

As a former professional golfer, Liu understands that Taiwanese players have been left holding short end of the stick as TLPGA tournaments are not eligible for world ranking points. Therefore, Taiwanese players have not been able to rack up any world ranking points even if they win at home-until now. Liu indicated that from as early as August 2014, all the official tournaments on the TLPGA tour will be recognized by WWGR and players finishing in the top 5 will be awarded world ranking points accordingly.


TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會TLPGA選手代表與貴賓們大合照

On the other hand, as the qualification criteria for Olympic golf tournaments are based on players’ world rankings, Taiwanese players will also be able to compete for Olympic berths on an equal footing as their counterparts from US LPGA, LET tour or Japan LPGA tour. In addition, thanks to TLPGA’s entry into WWGR, outstanding amateur golfers from Taiwan will also be able to build up precious world ranking points even before turning pro, just like New Zealand ‘s world number 2 Lydia Ko did before she joined the US LPGA tour.

WWGR was established in 2004 by founding members US LPGA, Japan′s JLPGA, Korea’s KLPGA, European LET, Australia′s ALPG, UK′s LGU and USGA. Symetra Tour, second-tier tour of US LPGA, European LET Tour’s LETAS and China’s CLPGA also joined WWGR in 2012. Taiwan’s TLPGA finally came on board in August, 2014. In order to be eligible for world ranking points, players need to finish in top positions in WWGR sanctioned events. A player’s world ranking is decided by her total world ranking points accumulated over the past 104 weeks, divided by the number of WWGR-sanctioned tournaments she played (minimum 35 events).

TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織，TLPGA理事長劉依貞將TLPGA旗幟插上世界版圖

TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會，TLPGA理事長劉依貞四年完成任務


TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會上三位貴賓左起體育署長何卓飛丶前副總統蕭萬長丶TLPGA理事長劉依貞


TLPGA成功納入世界積分組織宣布記者會上，年輕選手代表82年次劉依貞敘說爾後納入後最大受惠原因