Rancho Mirage, CA (Sports Network) - Lydia Ko, the top-ranked amateur in the world, was one of nine players invited to this year's Kraft Nabisco Championship on Thursday.
"Providing the future stars of women's golf the chance to play alongside their professional heroes in the first major championship of the year has always been a point of pride for the Kraft Nabisco Championship," said David Blake- Thomas, Executive Director and Chairman, Kraft Nabisco Championship. "We are proud to be able to provide these great young players from around the world with this important step in their careers, and look forward to joining golf fans in cheering them on."
Ko won two professional events last year. First, she titled in Australia and later in the year she won the Canadian Women's Open on the LPGA Tour.
The 15-year-old will be joined in the field at Mission Hills by Georgia Hall, Alison Lee, Doris Chen, Lindy Duncan, Camilla Hedberg, Isabelle Lendl, Stephanie Meadow and Ashlan Ramsey.
Hall, who is from England, is the fourth-ranked women's amateur in the world and will be making her first tournament start in the United States. Lee, ranked seventh in the world amateur rankings, will make her second straight Kraft Nabisco start and fifth start in a major, as she has also played in three U.S. Women's Opens.
Chen was an All-American as a freshman last year at the University of Southern California and won the PAC-12 Championship. Duncan, a three-time All-American, is the reigning NGCA NCAA Player of the Year.
Hedberg is the top-ranked amateur in Spain and was the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2012. Lendl already has seven amateur and collegiate titles to her credit.
Meadow clinched the Curtis Cup for Great Britain & Ireland last year and also claimed the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship. Ramsey, who is a senior in high school, was named a Rolex Junior All-American the last two years.
