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China Tour winners to get HSBC Champions invitation

The China Golf Association (CGA) has declared that every winner in the inaugural season of the China Tour will automatically qualify to play alongside the world's top golfers in Asia's richest-ever golf tournament. The CGA has chosen to dedicate up to four of the eight places allocated to Chinese players at November's US$5 million HSBC Champions Tournament to the China Tour's champions.

The immediate beneficiary is Li Chao, the 24 year old whose victory in August's China Tour Beijing Leg guarantees him a berth at Shanghai's Sheshan Club, the venue for the Champions Tournament in November, and Li's golfing home.

"It's another excellent development for the China Tour," said Nick Mould, Senior Vice-President of World Sport Group - the CGA's partners in the new series. "The China Tour's primary aim is to create more opportunities for China's tournament players. Giving our winners a place in the Champions Tournament presents them with an opportunity to build on the new-found confidence they will get from winning on the China Tour."

Li has witnessed first hand how such success breeds more success. The youngster immediately followed his China Tour win at Langfang's Elephant Golf Club with his best ever performance on the Asian Tour. His ninth place in the Volkswagen Masters at Beijing's Jinghua Golf Club equalled his highest ever finish in Asian competition, but this time it was achieved in a field that included US Open winners Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell, and he put it all down to the self-belief that winning the China Tour's first event gave him.

"Absolutely! My best result achieved at the VW Masters is based on my previous experience in the China Tour," said Li who has described that victory as the "start" of his career, and whose play at the VW Masters led Campbell to describe him as "a huge talent".

"The valuable experience obtained on the China Tour helped me to perform so well in the VW Masters. It is another significant achievement. It is also a milestone at my career development."

Li acknowledges that, on the other hand, the promise of a free pass into the HSBC Champions Tournament will make his bid to record back to back wins at next week's Kunming Leg - the second stop on the China Tour - even harder.

"Of course, it isn't easy for everyone to win at the other legs, because the condition of each course is quite different, the player has to face the challenge of the different course and show their capabilities with full confidence," Li said before considering the benefits of having the achievements of the China Tour's winners recognised in an elite field that will include Tiger Woods.

"Certainly, if the China Tour is linked with some famous international tours, it will be helpful to strengthen the awareness of the China Tour, as well as enabling Chinese golf players to compete with world-class professional players."

September 16, 2005