Kerr & Pettersen Promote Golf in Brazil


LPGA Tour members Suzann Pettersen and Cristie Kerr are helping to promote golf in Brazil. The 2016 Olympics will be played in the South American country and include the sport for the first time since 1904.

In addition, the tour will visit Brazil for the first time in late May for the HSBC Brasil Cup at Itanhanga Golf Club in Rio. A field of 30 players will vie for a share of the $720,000 purse.

"We're on a mission," said Pettersen, a Norwegian with six LPGA victories. "We need sports fans in Brazil to know who we are and how good we are and we need to build their desire to see us in five years' time."

Despite its limited field, the Brasil Cup will be an important step in golf coming to the fore in the soccer-loving nation, said Giles Morgan, head of sponsorship at HSBC.

"It's going to take the sport to a much broader audience and into countries that haven't previously embraced golf," Morgan said.