Golf
Liang has high hopes for Luxehills Chengdu Open
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-01 10:06
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CHENGDU, Southwest China - China's Liang Wenchong has reached many milestones during his impressive career and on the eve of the $1 million Luxehills Chengdu Open, OneAsia's opening event of 2010.
Aged 31, he is approaching his golfing prime and with at least another decade of golf at the highest level ahead of him he wants to capitalise on his wonderful gift for the game.
"I want to make my mark overseas and of course have the opportunity to compete in Majors," said Liang.
The Luxehills Chengdu Open tees-off on Thursday at Luxehills International Country Club.
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"It is a strong field this week with many top Australian players and also the number of good young Korean and Chinese players here is something we have to look out for. To win this week I will have to play some of my best golf but this is exactly the kind of competition I want to face," added Liang.
The golfer from Zhongshan won the Midea China Classic last year to become the first player from his country to win on OneAsia.
The trophy takes pride of place in his cabinet alongside his two other treasured pieces of silverware from his wins in the 2008 Hero Honda Indian Open and the Singapore Masters, which he claimed in 2007.
"I still have time on my side but I do feel I need to start achieving many more things in my career over the next few years. I am proud to have won some big titles and I want to win more. Winning this week on home soil in such a big event is very important to me," added Liang, who was ranked Asia's No. 1 player in 2007.
Liang has been grouped with Australian Scott Strange, who won last year' s OneAsia Order of Merit title, and rising Korean star Kim Kyung-tae.
"I think there's a slimmer chance of winning the opening OneAsia event this year compared to last year, when I won the Volvo China Open. I injured my right hand in December and we had a baby girl in January, so I'm not in the same form I was last year.
"There's a good chance of an Australian winner because we've got a really strong group of players this week, including the likes of Craig Parry. However, as you can see with the likes of Liang Wenchong, Shigeki Maruyama and Kim Kyung-tae, it's a really formidable field, so whoever wins this week is going to have to play really well to lift the trophy."
In one of the other high-profile groups China's Zhang Lianwei, Shigeki Maruyama from Japan and Australian Craig Parry have been paired together.
Other pre-tournament favourites include Australians Andre Stolz, Mitchell Brown, Brad Kennedy and Scott Laycock, Simon Yates from Scotland, and Chinese Taipei's Yeh Wei-tze.
