Catriona Matthew looking for Europeans to get in Singapore mix

European captain Catriona Matthew is looking for some of her Solheim Cup contenders to maintain a strong start to the season in the biggest event of the year so far - the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Georgia Hall joins Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie, So Yeon Ryu and Ariya Jutanugarn in a strong field for the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore. Picture: Getty Images

Matthew, who secured an invitation for the $1.5 million event Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, has been pleased with some of the early-season form being produced by players bidding to make her team for September’s match at Gleneagles.

“It was great to see Celine Boutier win in Australia. That was a real boost,” she said of the Frenchwoman claiming the Vic Open.

“Carlota Ciganda obviously played well last week (when finishing third in the Honda LPGA Thailand event) and Marianne Skarpnord won (the Australian Ladies Classic) on the LET.

“There’s been a lot of good performances, including Charley Hull also winning in Abu Dhabi, so it is looking good.”

Matthew has been paired with English star Hull, as well as Korea’s In Gee Chun, in the opening two rounds as the North Berwick woman makes her tenth appearance in the event.

The field also includes Women’s British Open champion Georgia Hall and Swedish pair Anna Nordqvist and Pernilla Lindberg, two others currently sitting in automatic qualifying spots for the Solheim Cup.

Twelve months on from a disappointing runner-up finish after being in the lead heading into the final round, American Nelly Korda is oozing confidence as the hottest player on the LPGA Tour.

In her last six starts, she has won twice while posting three other top-10s. Her worst result during this sizzling run was a tie for 19th at the TOTO Japan Classic in November.

“I definitely feel more confident,” said Korda, who is aiming to be on the US side that will be defending the Solheim Cup in Perthshire.

“It was a little disappointing (here last year) but I finished second and I had a good run. I realised that, you know, I can compete with all these top girls out here, so really, I took a lot of positives away from it, as well.”

Minjee Lee enters the event as world No 3 on the Rolex Rankings - her highest position in four years on the LPGA Tour.

“I’m coming off a pretty good week last week, so I’ll probably just try to take the momentum from last week into this week,” said Lee, who finished runner-up in the Honda LPGA Thailand event. “I’m hitting it pretty solid and putting it pretty solid.

“I really know what I need for myself now and what works best for me. I know where I stand and what I need to improve on to try to make it to world No 1.”