The Korean-American cover girl's best hope of playing at the Tanah Merah Country Club was dealt a blow yesterday when HSBC announced that it was awarding its two sponsor invites to Malaysia's Lim Siew Ai and Thailand's Virada Nirapathpongporn.

The pair were the two highest-ranked Asean golfers in the 2007 year-end Rolex rankings.

Wie had previously been touted as one of the contenders for a sponsor's exemption to the LPGA-sanctioned tournament.

The four-day strokeplay event, with a field of 78 of the world's best women golfers, mirrors the annual HSBC Champions men's event in Shanghai.

Wie's last chance of qualifying for the elite tournament in Singapore now comes at the Feb 21-23 The Fields Open in Hawaii, where she earned a sponsor's exemption.

She must win that event if she wants to tee off with the likes of world No 1 Lorena Ochoa and LPGA Hall of Fame members Annika Sorenstam and Pak Se Ri in the Republic.

That scenario, however, looks unlikely. Wie's 2007 season was blighted by injuries, missed cuts, withdrawals and controversy.

While the American will be disappointed, the opposite is true for Lim and Virada, who could hardly contain their joy at being picked.

'Apart from the obvious of being given a sponsor's exemption for the US$2 million tournament, it's also an opportunity to play in a brilliant field,' said the 34-year-old Lim, who is ranked 235th in the world.

'It's not just an LPGA event; it's the top players from Japan, Korea, Australia and Europe who matter more.

'They are among the world's best players. It sounds like an awesome field.'

Those sentiments were echoed by Virada, who is ranked 236th.

'It's a fantastic opportunity to play with the best. It was such a nice surprise to be invited,' said the Thai, the 2003 US Women's Amateur champion.

'I heard that Natalie Gulbis called it the first Major in Asia. When you consider who has entered, you can really understand why.'

The qualification criteria for the tournament have reserved places for Major champions since 2005. They also include last year's LPGA tournament champions, Order of Merit winners from the world's other major tours and the champions of selected key tournaments worldwide.

limze@sph.com.sg