Liang Eyes History Afters Superb Second Round in Hong Kong

Liang Wenchong stepped up his bid to become the first mainland Chinese golfer to win the UBS Hong Kong Golf Open by grabbing a share of the second round lead on Friday (13 November).

China’s No.1 delighted the galleries at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling with a sizzling five-under-par 65 that left him tied with three other players at the top of the leaderboard.

Liang’s bogey-free effort – including birdies on the final two holes – put him on nine-under 131 for the tournament.

“I’m in a good position and I know that the next two days will be crucial,” said Liang. “If I continue to play as well as I’ve been doing the past two days, this will be a very good week for me.”

Liang claimed a lone birdie at the par-four seventh on the front nine but really hit form after the turn.

Back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th sent him moving up the leaderboard and he picked up another shot at the par-four 17th.

He finished with a flourish, rolling in an eight-foot birdie putt to complete an excellent afternoon’s work. “I tried to take it slowly and not get too impatient with my game,” said Liang.

“It wasn’t easy on the front nine. Luckily I got a birdie on the seventh that got my game going. I’m really happy with my back nine as I managed to get four birdies.”

Tied with Liang on nine-under were South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel (66), Holland’s Robert-Jan Derksen (68) and Frenchman Grégory Bourdy (67).


No mainland Chinese player has won the Golf in Hong Kong Open in the tournament’s 50-year history.

Liang, aged 31, is not only seeking victory at Fanling, he is looking to overtake Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee in the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit race.

With just three ranking tournaments remaining, including Hong Kong, he is second on the money list with earnings of US$740,544 – trailing leader Thongchai by US$197,114.

The UBS Golf in Hong Kong Open – joint-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours – carries a first prize of US$416,660.

Liang is bidding for his second European Tour victory to go with his triumph at the 2007 Singapore Masters. That same year he became the first player from China to win the Order of Merit.

Earlier in the day, Yang Yong Eun showed signs of the form that made him Asia’s first Major winner as he surged up the leaderboard with a 67 that left him on seven-under 133.

Yang – who became the first Asian player in history to win a Major when he triumphed in the PGA Championship last August – said he had struggled with Friday’s cooler temperatures at Fanling after a warm opening day.

But he was still content with his second round in which he mixed five birdies with two bogeys.

“The temperature was a surprise to me as I wasn’t expecting this kind of weather in Hong Kong,” he admitted.

“I had a hard time warming up and I had some difficulties trying to find my distance. It was a bit dark this morning and the greens were fast, probably because of the moisture today, so it was hard to judge the distance.

“I think I’ve a fair chance this weekend. I’ve been playing well since the last round in Shanghai and hopefully I’ll perform well this weekend, too.”

Yang was one of five players on seven-under, including Golf Hong Kong Open defending champion Lin Wen Tang of Chinese Taipei, who carded a 69.

Among the tournament’s big guns, Rory McIlroy (68) and Ian Poulter (66) remained firmly in contention at six-under while world No.4 Lee Westwood was four-under after an even-par 70.

First round leader Udorn Duangdecha of Thailand struggled on the second day, adding a 74 to his opening 62 to stand at four-under.

Westwood Seeks Instant Impact Golfing in Hong Kong

Lee Westwood is in Hong Kong golfing and is concentrating on victory rather than prize
money as he seeks to win the UBS Hong Kong Golf Open at his first attempt. The English ace heads the European Tour’s Race To Dubai with season earnings of €2,404,579 – a lead of €52,320 over Rory McIlroy with just two tournaments remaining.

But Westwood is determined not to let that enter his mind as he makes his golf in Hong Kong debut. “I’m not thinking about the money list this week, I’m thinking more about the UBS Hong Kong Open as it is a very old and prestigious tournament and one I’ve never won,” he said.

“I’d like to win all the titles I haven’t won before, in fact all the tournaments I play, although it doesn’t work that way. But the goal is to win this week.” Westwood is one of the title favourites for the US$2.5 million UBS Hong Kong Open, which tees off this Thursday at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.

As world No.4, he is the highest ranked player to appear in the historic tournament since the Official World Golf Ranking system was introduced in 1986. Westwood has enjoyed plenty of success in Asia with victories in Japan, Malaysia and Macau and would love to add Hong Kong to his list.


“I’m obviously looking forward to my first appearance here,” he said. “I’ve been to Hong Kong a couple of times before, just flying through, but this will be the first time playing golf here so I’ll be interested tomorrow morning to see what the course is like and get to know it a little bit.

“I had things to do yesterday and today so tomorrow I’ll play the pro-am and get to know the course, although I’ve watched the tournament on TV over the years.

“It’s very tight and tree-lined but it’s the same as most other courses we play in that if you hit it straight, get it in position and hole a few putts, you generally do well.”

Westwood is delighted to be playing some of the best golf of his career and said getting back to No.4 in the world gave him particular pleasure.

A dip in form in 2001-02 saw him slip down the world rankings and it was a long road back to the top for the Ryder Cup star. He capped his resurgence with victory in last month’s Portugal Masters, his 19th European Tour title.

“My previous highest world ranking was fourth in 2000 so to come through a slump and get back to fourth again means a lot, probably more than anything else I’ve done this year,” he said.

“You look at some people who go through a slump and you don’t see them again, they just drift away. So it says something about my mentality.

“It’s a long way back when you’ve been very successful and then can’t do it to the standard you want. It’s a grind to keep going out on the range and not seeing any improvement and gradually working your way back.”

World No.17 McIlroy – runner-up in the UBS Hong Kong Golf Open last year – is also in this week’s line-up together with Asia’s first Major winner, Yang Yong Eun, and world No.13 Ian Poulter, the recent winner of the Singapore Open.

Former British Open champions Mark O’Meara and Ben Curtis are making their debuts in the tournament while last year’s winner, Lin Wen Tang of Chinese Taipei, is back to defend his crown.

The UBS Hong Kong Open – Hong Kong’s oldest professional golf sporting event, having started in 1959 – is once again co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours.

Anirban Lahiri gets call-up for Hong Kong Golf Open

IANS 9 November 2009, 06:30pm IST

NEW DELHI: Soon after young golfer Anirban Lahiri won his second professional title at the BILT Open on Sunday, he received a call that he has found a berth in the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Lahiri, who is counted in the group of promising youngsters to hit the Asian golf scene in the last one year or so and received a similar late call for Singapore Open last year, was overjoyed at the Hong Kong call-up.

"This is indeed a bonus, getting a berth into the Hong Kong golf Open, which is joint-sanctioned," said Lahiri, while leaving for golf in Hong Kong on Sunday. This is Lahiri's first joint-sanctioned event since Singapore Open last year.

"I am in good form right now, with the Hero Honda Indian Open third place and the BILT Open win, so getting a chance to play a big event is indeed welcome. I am looking forward to it."

The 22-year-old Lahiri turned professional in 2007 after six wins in amateur golf between 2006 and 2007. This is his first full season this year after coming through the Asian Tour Q-School, where he was tied 33rd and earned the card right on the line, as 40 players earned the playing rights and meaning he can play golf in Hong Kong more.

After a couple of modest finishes, he tied for fourth at Black Mountain Masters in Thailand. Then he had a ninth place in Queen's Cup, but it was at the Hero Honda Indian Open last month, where he tied for third that he secured his card for 2010. He followed that up with a ninth place in Iskandar Johor Open the week after Indian Open.


In between Lahiri won the PGTI event in Panchkula for his maiden professional title and then followed that up with another win in BILT Open, the richest ever event on Indian domestic Tour.

"After finishing second in BILT Open behind Jyoti and tying with Jeev, gave me a lot of confidence. But it was after the win in Panchkula that got the monkey off my back," said the Eagleton pro Lahiri, who learnt much of his golf in Bangalore.

In 12 starts Lahiri has earned $125,908 and is currently 28th on the Asian Tour Order of Merit. "After last year's Singapore Open, I have not been able to get into any joint-sanctioned events, so the Hong Kong Open ought to be a good experience," said Lahiri, who is also planning to play the Cambodian Open and the season-ending King's Cup in Thailand.

Original Article Here

Turning £1,000 Into US$2.25 Million at The UBS Hong Kong Golf Open

It was back in 1958 that Hong Kong Golf Club member Kim Hall wrote to an Australian professional, Eric Cremin, asking if any of the Australian players due to take part in the 1959 Philippines Open would be interested in coming to golf in Hong Kong afterwards.

Cremin enquired what money was on offer so Hall approached the South China Morning Post and asked it to sponsor a professional tournament at Fanling. The Post agreed to put up P1,000 in prize money and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then, the Hong Kong Open has grown into one of the SAR’s biggest annual sporting events and one of the jewels in the crown of Asian and Hong Kong golf.

Hugh Staunton, a member of the HKGC since 1958 and club captain in 1999 and 2000, has watched more Hong Kong Opens than most and can recall the early years. "It was a small tournament to begin with, but it was still very exciting because it was the first professional sports event in Hong Kong," he says.

"We were very much cut off from sporting events in other parts of the world, so to be able to watch great players like Peter Thomson and Kel Nagle was a wonderful experience. They were golfing heroes.

"I remember one particular round by Nagle on the New Course when he had five twos – he made a birdie at every par three, which was quite exceptional. It was also less formal back then. Some of the pros stayed at the clubhouse and spent quite a bit of time with the members. And there were more amateurs playing."

At that inaugural Hong Kong golf tournament in 1959, the highly rated Australian contingent duly arrived, only to be eclipsed by a young Taiwanese player, Lu Liang Huan, who secured a one-shot victory. The same player would become the HKGC’s resident professional from 1962-64 before gaining worldwide fame as the pork-pie hat-wearing "Mr Lu" who finished runner-up to Lee Trevino in the 1971 British Open. He returned to Fanling in 1974 to regain the Hong Kong Golf Open crown.


Following Lu's initial success, Australians dominated the Hong Kong Open, winning seven tournaments in the 1960s, with four-time British Open champion Thomson leading the way on three occasions.

Taiwanese players won the event five times in a row in the 1970s, including two successes for Hsieh Yung Yo that took his total to four, which remains a record. The Taiwanese run was interrupted by a young Australian called Greg Norman, who won his first Hong Kong Open title in 1979 and added another four years later. Another landmark arrived in 1987 when Welshman Ian Woosnam became the first European winner.

Until this point, the Hong Kong Open had always been held in February, which left it at the mercy of the weather. Norman’s second victory came when the tournament was reduced to 36 holes due to rain and the 1990 edition, won by American Ken Green, was almost washed out. After that, it moved to its present December slot.

The winners' roster in the Nineties included Major champions Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson before another significant change in 2001 when the European Tour began co-sanctioning the Hong Kong Open. And 2005 saw a new era dawn as UBS began a four-year title sponsorship that brings with it a significant increase in prize money.

From humble beginnings – a simple letter from a member of the HKGC to an Australian professional – the Hong Kong Open now boasts global status. As Hong Kong Golf Association chief executive Iain Valentine summarises: “The UBS Hong Kong Open is one of a select few world-class sports events held annually in Hong Kong and it has a history and heritage that other golf tournaments in the region cannot match.

Prestige, tradition and location – the UBS Hong Kong Golf Open truly has it all.

Follow all the action of Golf in Hong Kong at www.golfinhongkong.com