Liang targets home victory in Volvo China Open

Chinese sensation Liang Wen-chong is dreaming of hoisting the Volvo China Open trophy next month at the venue which vaulted him onto the big stage some eight years ago.

The 28-year-old has a close affinity with his national Open after a memorable fourth place finish as an amateur in the 1999 edition at Shanghai Silport Golf Club, which will host this year's Championship from April 12-15.

For many years since that eye-catching performance, Liang has been hailed as the next big thing for Chinese golf after trailblazer and mentor, Zhang Lian-wei. Two weeks ago, he finally lived up to his potential with a gutsy play-off victory in the co-sanctioned Clariden Leu Singapore Masters, an event that Zhang also won in 2003.

"All Chinese players dream of winning the Volvo China Open but you can never force it to happen in this game," said Liang. "If it's your time, then you'll win."

"I’m hard working and I will keep trying. The last two years I have accepted whatever happens happen and now I’m looking towards the future," he added.

In the 13-year history of the Volvo China Open, which will offer a record US$2 million in total prize money this year, only two Chinese players, Cheng Jun (1997) and Zhang (2003), have delivered victory on home soil.

Liang is hoping that history can repeat itself as Zhang's triumph in the Volvo China Open came in the same year that he won the Singapore Masters.

The tenacious Liang is relishing a return to the challenging Shanghai Silport. "I remember the final round in 1999 where it was raining very hard throughout the day and I started with a triple bogey on the first hole," said Liang. "But I fought back to shoot a 71 and finished fourth. That was a good experience."

After being handpicked to learn the game as a 16-year-old student at Zhongshan Hot Spring Golf Club, which was China's first modern-day golf course, Liang developed into a fine amateur by winning his national amateur championship on three occasions.

He later spent his formative golfing years on the Volvo China Tour where he befriended Zhang who took him under his wing. "Zhang has done so much for golf in China, not just for me," said Liang, who is presently second on the Asian Tour’s UBS Order of Merit. "Zhang has been a big brother to me. He's helped my game when I first started out as a professional.

"I believe my game has improved over the years and playing on two tours (the Asian Tour and Japan Tour) have helped me gain a lot of experience. I've been in the final group for about five to six times now over the past year or so, and while it was frustrating not to have won (until Singapore), it was a good learning curve," he said.

Now that he has emulated Zhang by winning a co-sanctioned event, Liang intends to follow closely in his mentor's footsteps but more importantly, he hopes to inspire a new generation to excel in golf.

"I hope that my win in Singapore can now inspire the next generation of golfers in China," said Liang, who donated all his winnings in Singapore to the development of golf in his country.

"When I was picked to learn the game, I didn't know what the game was about but I stuck to it. I started playing on the Volvo China Tour during the mid-1990s and the competition was good experience and I got to know Zhang.

"Hopefully, I can win the Volvo China Open one day. You can't predict when this will happen, you just have to keep trying which is what I'll do," he said.

Over the years, Liang has developed a unique but trusty golf swing where he has a baseball-like follow through. Television commentators have cringed over his unorthodox style but in recent years, it has become better and, more importantly, reliable.

"I do not believe in seeing coaches," said Liang. "If you see someone like Butch Harmon, I do not see much point in it if you only work with him once in every few months. I've relied a lot on my brother to look at my swing as he knows my game well and I also use a video camera to check out my own faults. It's worked out well so far.

"The swing is a lot better now, it used to be much worse. I had it for the past eight to 10 years, so it’s hard to change but I’m still working on it," he added.

Zhang, who will turn 42 in May, also aims to sparkle at Shanghai Silport as he looks to roll back the years for his upcoming appearance in the Volvo China Open. He said his young compatriot deserves the accolades following his breakthrough victory in Singapore.

"It's his own hard work which has finally paid off ... I think he is the hardest worker out there right now. You can see that this guy is always focusing on what he's doing. That is why he's won a big tournament at the age of 28," said Zhang.

March 22, 2007

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