Ghei sees Japan Tour Championship as step up to next level

With his confidence sky high after a superb start to the 2007 season, India’s Gaurav Ghei firmly believes this week’s UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship is the first step in taking his burgeoning career to the world.

Ghei, who received a sponsors’ invite from UBS to the event in recognition of his play this year, is currently placed seventh on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit after his victory at April’s Pine Valley Beijing Open. He has posted two further top-10 finishes and more than US$210,000 in earnings so far.

Those results have Ghei confidently approaching this week’s tournament, considered the ‘players championship’ of Japanese men’s golf.

Said Ghei: “I have been working hard on my game with my coach (Claude Harmon) and in the last year or so things have started falling into place. I have still got a long way to go with my swing, but at least can see that I am on the right track.

“I have been working hard on my short game and especially in Beijing and at the Johnnie Walker I putted well, so that was a big key. I have just been working hard on all aspects of my game and that has helped me play a little more consistently,” he added.

Appropriately then, he has started to look to further test his game. “My win in Beijing has given me a couple more years of exemption on the Asian Tour, so next year I can try and go out and play a few different Tours. I have been thinking about Europe and Japan and I think I am playing well enough to play on the bigger Tours as well now.”

Ghei is joined by Asian Tour colleague Zhang Lian-wei as the second of UBS’s sponsor invitations for the championship. The Chinese veteran has finishes of tied 10th at the Pine Valley Beijing Open and fifth at the Macau Open in his last two Asian Tour events, which have pushed Zhang into 43rd position on the UBS Order of Merit, complementing back to back wins at the Qingdao and Guangzhou Legs on the Omega China Tour.

The decision by UBS, one of the world’s leading financial organisations, to invite both players comes as part of the bank’s support of golf across Asia Pacific, a portfolio that also includes the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit, currently led by Zhang’s compatriot and protégé Liang Wen-chong, and the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Also entered in the field are Frankie Minoza from the Philippines and Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng, bringing to three the number of the UBS Order of Merit’s top-10 players competing at Shishido Hills.

SK Ho, Yeh Wei-tze, Lin Keng-chi, Chawalit Plaphol, Thammanoon Srirot and Prom Meesawat are also all currently entered, completing a 10-man Asian Tour contingent at the tournament.

Along with the rest of the 132-man field, they will have extra incentive at one of Japan’s highest-profile events with the winner receiving entry into the US$8 million Bridgestone Invitational. The World Golf Championship, to be played from August 2-5 at Firestone Country Club in the United States, was won by Tiger Woods for the fifth time in 2006.

However, for Ghei, his focus remains on a bigger prize than just this week’s tournament.

“Jeev (Milkha Singh) and Jyoti (Randhawa) have both had success in Japan and have gone on to play really well in Europe. I was talking to Jeev and he was saying that playing in Japan with the kind of courses they have here really makes you a good player. You become a very good driver of the ball and it teaches you to play in different weather conditions and on different golf courses.”

However, this week there is the matter of the Shishido Hills layout, ranked one of the toughest on the Japan Golf Tour. “It is a fantastic course and it is in immaculate condition. It is going to be a great test of golf and I think the guy who wins this week will be absolutely be in control of all aspects of his game.

“It is really long and you really have to drive the ball well. If you miss the fairway you are going to have a tough time even making bogeys because the rough is so thick. Even if you hit the fairways you will have some testing second shots.

“I am looking forward to it though. I have been driving the ball well, so hopefully I can continue to drive the ball well this week and just keep it in play and keep making pars. It is going to be tough making birdies out here.

“Visually it is also a bit intimidating when you are standing on the tee and looking at these tight fairways and thick rough. It is going to be a good challenge mentally also, just focusing on going through with your shot and not focusing on all the trouble.”

The UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship is being played over the West Course at Shishido Hills Country Club, located about 90 minutes northeast of Tokyo, and offers a prize purse of ¥150 million (about US$1.25 million).

June 27, 2007

Bookmark page with: