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Liang leaves Zhuhai legacy in his absence

Just as the first competitors were arriving to begin preparing for the Zhuhai Leg of the 2006 Omega China Tour, Liang Wenchong was heading in the opposite direction - out of his home province of Guangdong. The defending champion and winner of this season’s first leg, Liang made a brief appearance at the Golden Gulf Golf Club before leaving to fulfil his commitment to the Japan Golf Tour.

After winning the Omega China Tour - Hainan Leg last month, the 27-year-old was described by Zhang Lianwei as “the best golfer in China” on current form - the first time that Zhang had publicly conceded the number one status. That victory left the Zhongshan native two out of two in China Tour appearances, but a clash with Japan’s PGA Championship in Gifu this week, forced him to leave behind his apologies, his best wishes and some firm instructions for a young boy who may one day claim his throne.

“I would have really liked to have been in Zhuhai to defend my trophy, but my commitments to the Japan Golf Tour just wouldn’t allow it,” Liang declared before leaving for Japan.

“I am really proud of my two victories on the China Tour and I wish all players and spectators will enjoy this week’s tournament in Zhuhai.”

Before going he spent some time with 14-year-old Benny Ye Jianfeng, one of China’s up-and-coming talents, and told him to shoot for the stars.

“Liang Wenchong asked me to aim for the top five,” explained Ye, who made the cut in his only appearance on the 2005 tour at last year’s Zhuhai Leg, and practised alongside Liang before the tri-sanctioned BMW Asian Open in Shanghai last month.

“He thinks my swing is better than before and that I’m playing well so he told me to aim for that.”

Realistically Liang’s target is out of reach for a youngster who is being increasingly exposed to the professional game this year, but who is still far from reaching physical maturity. However, if his words were meant to be a morale booster for the Shenzhen schoolboy then they had the desired effect.

“It makes me feel confident,” said Ye, a fan of Tiger Woods and a member of China’s junior team. “It makes me think I can play better than before.”

Heading a field of 93, which will be augmented after a small one-off qualifying round, are Zhang Lianwei and last year’s China Tour Order of Merit winner Li Chao.

The pair finished a distant second and third behind Liang in Hainan last month, and were also Liang’s closest rivals in the 2005 Zhuhai Leg.

The 41-year-old Zhang, who started the year with 12th place at the European Tour’s Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, thought he putted better in Hainan than he had done for six months, but was unable to follow-up that performance as he missed the cut at both the Volvo China Open and the BMW Asian Open.

Li Chao is also having to bounce back after sandwiching his third place in Hainan between being the best Chinese player at the TCL Classic and the Volvo China Open. However he missed the cut at the BMW Asian Open and did the same, albeit narrowly, at The Crowns in his maiden appearance in Japan.

Who will challenge those two will depend on who can find some much-needed consistency. Yuan Hao showed a flash of his brilliance with a first round 66 in Hainan, but the 26-year-old only got into red figures again in the fourth round to claim fourth place. Wu Weihuang, a runner up in the China Tour’s inaugural event, carded a bogey-free 65 playing preferred lies on the final day at the Kangle Garden Spa, but also needs to put more than one good round on his card.

May 9, 2006