The Irish Golf Club Gazette: Zhang Lianwei

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12/04/2013

Fanling for Higgins Lawrie and Phelan

Getty Images

David Higgins, Peter Lawrie and Kevin Phelan are in actiuon at the Hong Kong Open joining defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez and Chinese players Zhang Lianwei, Guan Tianlang and Jason Hak at Fanling.

Jiménez last year became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he won at Hong Kong Golf Club aged 48 years and 318 days, in doing so completing a Hong Kong hat-trick by adding to the titles he claimed in 2005 and 2008.

The charismatic Spaniard had already begun amassing his 19 European Tour trophies by the time 15 year old Guan was born in 1998, and the teenager is one of China’s most promising talents, becoming the youngest player to make the cut in a Major Championship when he finished 58th at the Masters Tournament in April at the age of 14 years and 169 days.

Hak was also a teenage prodigy, setting a new record at the 2008 Hong Kong Open for the youngest player to make the cut in a European Tour event, aged 14 years and 304 days, which Guan’s effort at Augusta National bettered.

The pair will hope to follow in the footsteps of 48 year old Zhang, who blazed a trail for Chinese golf, becoming the first player from his country to play in the Masters, to break into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking and to win a European Tour event, the 2003 Singapore Masters.

The quartet kicked off the 55th edition of the Hong Kong Open, which boasts a rich history and is one of few golf tournaments to have been played at the same venue - Hong Kong Golf Club - every year since its inception in 1959.

The US$1.3million event is tri-sanctioned by The European Tour, the Asian Tour and the Hong Kong Golf Association.

Tom Phillips, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Golf Association, said: “Looking at our panel of star players this afternoon, we not only have stars of Hong Kong Opens past but also potential stars of the future in the form of Tianlang and Jason.

“I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to the captain and committee of the Hong Kong Golf Club and its members for playing such an important role in hosting and supporting the championship this year. Their support has been vital in bringing the tournament to fruition.

“I would also like to thank the M-mark committee for their continued support and recognition of the Hong Kong Open as one of Hong Kong’s premier sporting events.”

Sidney Cheng, captain of Hong Kong Golf Club, added: “We are very proud of the rich traditions and history surrounding the Open and we look forward to celebrating those traditions here this week.

“We are all delighted to see defending champion Miguel Angel Jiménez return to Hong Kong and we wish him the best of luck in adding a fourth Hong Kong Open title to his list of victories. He would become just the second player to achieve this if he prevails this week.”

Jiménez, who hopes to follow Hsieh Yung-yo in winning the Hong Kong Open four times – the Taiwanese player triumphed in 1963, 64, 75 and 77 – said: “I came here for the first time in 2004 (at the beginning of the 2005 season) and won. I love the city and I especially like the golf course.

“It’s an old fashioned course and you have to have a very intelligent and precise game here. It’s in super shape this year – the greens are firm and the fairways are immaculate.”

10/09/2013

Darren Clarke in Nanshan

OneAsia

Darren Clarke expects a tough challenge from some of the Asia-Pacific's top players when he tee's off in the Nanshan China Masters starting Thursday.

After a close look at the Montgomerie Course at Nanshan International Golf Club in coastal Shandong province on Wednesday, the pair Clarke and Charl Schwartzel said it was playing longer and tighter than expected, adding conditions would suit local players familiar with the links-style layout.

The latest stop on the OneAsia circuit comes with a U.S. $1 million purse -- the richest men's tournament in the Asia-Pacific this week -- and players are jockeying for position on the money list as the year draws to a close.

Several of China's top players -- including veteran Zhang Lianwei -- have spent over a week at the course preparing for battle, and if the wind picks up it could blow in their favour.

"It's actually tougher than I expected. The fairways are quite narrow and you've got to shape some shots," said Schwartzel, the 2011 U.S. Masters champion, who arrived late Tuesday after being part of the International Team that lost to the United States in the Presidents Cup at the weekend.

"I think if the wind comes up it will be a really tough test. Hopefully they'll cut the fairways down a little bit because they're fairly long. It'll help a little bit, because if you're hitting flyers out of the fairways, that's not nice."

Schwartzel, the world number 19, said he expected an easy transition from the mindset of playing team matchplay in Ohio last weekend to individual stroke play in Nanshan.

"It's tougher the other way around," the South African said. "We play a lot of stroke play and not much match play, so this way is a lot easier."

Northern Ireland's 2011 Open Champion, agreed the layout provided a stiff challenge.

"I think the course is very demanding. It's playing long because the fairways are soft and the greens have a lot of undulation in them.

"Off the back tees we're having to hit four irons, five irons, six irons … long to medium irons into the green to try and get to the flag. The greens are a little bit slow, but they're pure and I expect them to speed up by the weekend."

The pair of Major winners will not have it all their own way this week with all four of OneAsia's previous Order of Merit title winners in the field -- Scott Strange, Liang Wenchong, Andre Stolz and Kim Bi-o.

Kim won the inaugural Nanshan China Masters and Liang is the defending champion, although both editions were held on the nearby Danling Course, another jewel in the sprawling Nanshan International Golf Club's treasure chest which boasts an astonishing 279 holes in total.

Nanshan is also home to the China Golf Association's National Training Centre, which is grooming the next generation of stars -- including Guan Tianlang, who stunned the golf world by making the cut at the U.S. Masters in April at just 14.

Several young amateurs have earned slots in this week's field via qualifying, and Clarke said he was "very impressed" with the state-of-the-art facilities and the calibre of players being produced by China.

"The Chinese moving into golf en-masse has been a more recent development but with their proud history in the Olympics it looks like they've decided to try and win some medals in golf as well," he said.

"With the facility they have created there, I think the kids, the Chinese players of the future, will definitely be fighting for Olympic honours."