A Wie incentive - Ladies Irish Open moves to August

Michelle Wie is the top target for next year's Ladies Irish Open.

The event will be played from August 6-8 - almost certainly at 2011 Solheim Cup venue Killeen Castle - the week after the Women's British Open at Royal Birkdale.

And the presence of Wie - winner of her first professional title just two weeks ago - is guaranteed to draw a huge crowd.

The first week in August is a free week on the 2010 LPGA calendar and organisers of both the Ladies Irish Open and the 2011 Solheim Cup are hoping that the cream of the LPGA's American stars will make the short trip across the Irish Sea from Birkdale to Dunsany in Co Meath.

The Ladies Irish Open venue will be officially announced at Killeen Castle on Tuesday along with the identity of Europe's 2011 Solheim Cup captain.

It makes no sense to go anywhere else but Killeen Castle.

The Ladies Irish Open was revived after a four year absence in 2008 in an effort to create excitement and "brand awareness" in Ireland ahead of the country's first hosting of the Solheim Cup from September 23-25, 2011. 

If nothing else, it will give die-hard golf fans and the merely curious a chance to find out exactly where Killeen Castle is on the map.

The "new" Ladies Irish Open was played for the first time at Portmarnock Links two years ago with a prize fund of €450,000.

Sponsored by AIB and Failte Ireland, it is believed that six figure appearance fees were paid to world No 3 Suzann Pettersen and No 14 Morgan Pressel to tee it up.

Pettersen won the title but did not return to defend it at Portmarnock Links again this year, when the prize fund was increased to €500,000.

Organisers had hoped to attract Wie to north Dublin but the American earned full playing rights on the LPGA Tour last year. That meant that English veteran Laura Davies and the Cavan twins Lisa and Leona Maguire grabbed most of the headlines despite the presence of most of the Ladies European Tour's leading players.

Changes to the 2011 Solheim Cup qualifying process are also expected. 

A few weeks ago the Ladies European Tour published an intriguing piece, hinting that Ireland's Rebecca Coakley would be especially pleased with the new criteria