MORE ASIAN GOLF NEWS Han Will Speak At IHT Sports Summit Volvik Agree With Asian Tour Over Sponsorship Memories Inspire Rai In Singapore Break Gives Mamat Route To Success Singapore Classic Welcomes Kia Motors PGA Malaysia Moves To OneAsia CCM Extends Sponsorship Of Impian Masters Faldo To Play In Pro-Am In Cambodia NEWS & TOUR TOP STORIES Nick Faldo receives his Knighthood LPGA wins Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge Mickelson raises expectations for 2010 Race to Dubai nears its conclusion Thousands follow Tiger Woods practice round Fans warned about fake Ryder Cup tickets

Yuan praises China Tour fast greens

Yuan Hao made the cut on the Asian Tour for only the second time in his career and the first time since 2004, and thanked the Omega China Tour for preparing him for it.

Yuan shot an even par round of 71 at the Macau Open for a two over par total of 144. The 26 year old from Guangdong joined Zhang Lianwei in securing weekend play at the Macau Golf & Country Club, the first time he's managed that since he finished 22nd in the 2004 Tianjin TEDA Open. And he said the demanding greens prepared for last week's Omega China Tour Zhuhai Leg helped him.

"I was happy that the greens were so fast in Zhuhai. Although it was tough, it was a good thing to do because the greens are around the same speed here," Yuan said.

"This is a breakthrough. I feel if play more in the Omega China Tour my performances will continue to improve and this will help me perform better in the Asian Tour."

Yuan, who finished sixth in Zhuhai, but would have done better but for an 86 in the winds of the third round, was also working on a new psychological approach suggested to him during the Zhuhai Leg, which Yuan says is helping him dwell less on his mistakes.

"I feel more stable in my golf," he said, "I feel I have played the same way I did in Zhuhai. I didn't win in Zhuhai because of the third day. So the discrepancy in my emotions is very large, but I have played about the same. I'm going to play in a relaxed manner over the weekend. It doesn't matter what the outcome is, I'll just go for it."

Zhang Lianwei, who won the Zhuhai Leg but was critical of the pin positions on the first two days arguing that they would dent the confidence of China's young players, shot a second round 70 for an even par 142.

Another of the young players, 24 year old Shang Lei, agonisingly missed the cut by one shot. Shang birdied the last hole for a three over par round of 74, having shot even par in far tougher conditions on Thursday, believing that it might be enough to keep him involved for two more days. However, the cut line rose to two over par just as he finished his round.
"It still hasn't been bad," he said after a fruitless wait in the hope that some of the late finishers would drop shots.

"When it was windy I found it easier. I found it harder to work out the wind direction in the second round. On the third day in Zhuhai, the windiest day, I thought I played my best golf that day. All my problems in this round were with my driver. I've been working on a new swing and if there's a problem I can't adjust as quickly. Before I changed my swing the problems were usually on the right. Now the problems are more on the left."

Shang stopped short of saying that the fast greens in Zhuhai helped him in Macau, but was optimistic that the tougher course set-ups on the Omega China Tour will lead to a general improvement.

"It's only one week of practice, but I'm positive that if we play on fast greens every time then we will improve," he said.

China's four other representatives - Huang Yonghuan, Qiu Zhifeng, Li Chao and Zheng Wengen - all missed the cut. At the top of the leaderboard Brad Kennedy, on nine under par, leads a trio of Australians.

May 19, 2006