Ricoh ambassador Paula Creamer won her first Major title at the US Women's Open by four shots on Sunday and is already looking forward to the 35th Ricoh Women's British at The Royal Birkdale Golf Club, 29th July to 1st August.
Winning in only her fourth tournament back to competitive golf after having surgery on her thumb at the end of March, the 23 year old will now be one of the hot favourites for the Ricoh Women's British Open having finished in the top 10 in the last three Championships.
As she looks ahead to the final Major of the year, the nine time LPGA tournament winner, enthused, "I am delighted that my pre tournament press conference at the Ricoh Women's British Open won't contain the question, 'how come you've never won a Major?' I knew my time would come and that I just had to be patient but I am glad to have finally answered that one!"
"I am really looking forward to returning to the UK, I finished third last year at Royal Lytham and I really feel like I've learnt a lot about playing links golf since I finished 15th at Royal Birkdale back in 2005. I am going to take some time off this week but I'm sure I'll be picking up a few new ideas watching the Open Championship at St Andrews on TV!
She continued, "My thumb is still limiting my practise time and is not a 100% pain-free but none of that will stop me trying to win the final Major of the year. It would be an awesome thank you to my sponsors, Ricoh."
Javier Diez-Aguirre, Director, Corporate Communications at Ricoh Europe Plc added, "Paula is a wonderful ambassador for Ricoh and we are delighted that she has won what we hope will be her first of many Major titles. She has showed such remarkable fortitude through her injuries last year and her recovery from thumb surgery that she thoroughly deserves this victory. She recently filmed a TV advert for Ricoh in New York where she not only demonstrated her passion and professionalism - but also her expertise and innovation, qualities which make her stand out from the crowd and why she such is a perfect ambassador for Ricoh."
Paula is an active advocate for Ricoh's Gift Campaign (Green Initiative For Tomorrow) which was launched last year ahead of Ricoh Women's British Open to encourage people to make changes to their everyday lives to reduce their carbon footprint. (www.ricohwomensbritishopen.com/gift)
Paula will face stiff competition from the world's best women players at this year's Ricoh Women's British Open. With entries closed, all of the World's Top 20 are in the field including world Number One, Cristie Kerr, defending Champion, Catriona Matthew and 2008 Champion Jiyai Shin.
For the first time this year fans will be able to watch the BBC's extensive coverage of the Ricoh Women's British Open in HD (high definition) underlining the significance of the Championship in the BBC's sports portfolio.
The Ricoh Women's British Open was founded by the LGU in 1976 and is staged in conjunction with IMG, the world's largest sports marketing company. The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001.
Ricoh, the leading technology provider of Managed Document Services and Production Printing, has been the title sponsor of the Ricoh Women's British Open since 2007.
For further information please contact:
Michele Mair, PR Manager, IMG
Mobile: 07990574184
Email: Michele.mair@imgworld.com
About the Ladies' Golf Union ("LGU")
Founded in 1893, the LGU is the encompassing body for ladies' amateur golf in Great Britain & Ireland. The LGU Executive Council includes representatives of ladies' golf's national governing bodies in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Operational activities are undertaken by a wholly owned subsidiary, LGU Championships Limited ("LGUCL"), which in particular owns and runs the Ricoh Women's British Open, founded by the LGU in 1976 and one of the four Major Tournaments for Professional Women golfers. LGUCL also has responsibility for running British Amateur Championships and Home International events, and preparing the Great Britain & Ireland teams for representative matches, such as the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy.
Further information about the LGU is available on www.lgu.org.
About Ricoh
Ricoh Company, Ltd ("Ricoh Company") is a global technology leader, specialising in the office and production printing markets. Ricoh works with organisations around the world to modernise work environments and optimise document efficiency. With over 108,500 employees worldwide, it operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan.
Ricoh Europe Holdings PLC is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands.
In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2010, revenues from Ricoh's EMEA operations totalled over YEN 458.5 billion. Ricoh Company's worldwide sales totalled over YEN 2,016 billion during the year ended 31 March 2010.
More information about Ricoh is available at: www.ricoh-europe.com
More information about Ricoh sponsorship activities is available at:
http://www.ricoh-europe.com/about-ricoh/events-and-sponsorship/sponsorship/index.xhtml
About IMG Sports & Entertainment
Operating in 30 countries, IMG Sports & Entertainment's diverse businesses include: consulting services; event ownership and management; fashion events and models representation; licensing; golf course design; and client representation in golf, tennis, broadcasting, speakers, European football, rugby, cricket, motor sports, coaching, Olympic and action sports. IMG Academies are the world's largest, multi-sport training and educational facilities, delivering world-class training experiences to more than 12,000 junior, collegiate, adult, and professional athletes each year.
More information about IMG is available at www.imgworld.com
