World No. 1 and US Open champion Iga Swiatek speaks to CNN Sport
On the eve of the start of her US Open campaign, Iga Swiatek knows she has done everything she can to bring the title back to her beloved home
Iga Swiatek is back in action on the PGA Tour after a six-month break from the world’s top-ranked women’s golfers.
World No. 1 and reigning US Open champion Iga Swiatek is back on tour after a six-month break after missing the cut at the world’s biggest stage.
The 25-year-old from San Diego returned to the world stage with a bang on 12 August on the PGA Tour’s first-ever event on the West Coast – the San Diego Women’s Open – her second event after a stunning victory on the LPGA Tour in Japan last year.
Swiatek said she felt she had no choice but to return on the world stage as she wanted the opportunity to take the title back to her hometown.
At the same time, she wants to help raise money for a children’s charity and also wanted to play the US Open to showcase her game. Swiatek added: “I want to represent the region here again which is something that I don’t really have an opportunity to do in my golf career yet.
“I want to represent my home state of California in the US Open but I also want to raise money for the Kids & Families group to help more kids so that they, in turn, make it to the US Open. I want to have that opportunity of playing in the US Open and to get to know my home crowd a lot more.”
Swiatek has been named as the only female to compete in the US Open in the PGA Tour’s first-ever “tournament for girls” in San Francisco.
The US Open is the first time a women’s professional tournament has featured a tournament for girls in the US.
Swiatek, who won the Women’s British Open last year, had to wait until the PGA Tour decided to stage an event on the West Coast of the US before she made it official.
She said: “I think it’s a fantastic idea – a tournament for girls on the PGA Tour. That is
