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Stars looking for Asian hat-trick at TCL Classic

The stars from the Asian Tour will shoot for a hat-trick of victories at the TCL Classic which begins on Thursday.

Following impressive triumphs by Anton Haig of South Africa and China's Liang Wen-chong in the last two co-sanctioned events with the European Tour, the best players from the region will be out to sparkle once more at the Yalong Bay Golf Club.

Local hero Liang will lead a strong line-up from the region which features seven of the top 10 players on the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit. The Chinese ace is ranked second following his play-off victory over Malaysia's Iain Steel in the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters.

The 28-year-old from Zhongshan will be determined to extend his rich vein of form, which includes two other top-10s in Qatar and the Philippines this season. In fact, his confidence will be fuelled by the fact that he jointly holds the course record of 10-under-par 62 shot during last year's TCL Classic.

Other big name players tipped to contend include Filipino legend Frankie Minoza (pictured), fifth on the UBS Order of Merit, Indian duo Shiv Kapur (sixth) and Gaurav Ghei (seventh), Korea’s Suk Jong-yul (ninth) and Englishman Simon Hurd (10th).

Yalong Bay, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, played host to three Asian Tour tournaments last season and one of the tournament winners, Thai teen titan Chinarat Phadungsil will relish a return to the popular venue.

The 18-year-old Chinarat (pictured) claimed a wonderful play-off victory at the Crowne Plaza Open last year for his second Asian Tour title and all eyes will be on the wonder kid this week for a repeat performance.

Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, Asia's number one in 2005, is also in the field together with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, who has two victories under his belt in Asia.

The first three co-sanctioned tournaments in Qatar, Malaysia and Indonesia were won by European Tour players but the big-hitting Haig delivered the Asian Tour's first success with an impressive victory at the star-studded Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket two weeks ago before Liang's heroics on Sunday.

Asia's best will also be determined to win the TCL Classic for the first time. In the inaugural event in 2002, Colin Montgomerie of Scotland claimed victory. That year, Liang finished third and played his way into the history books by shooting the Tour's 100th hole-in-one.

After a two-year lapse, England’s Paul Casey triumphed in the second edition in 2005 after prevailing over Paul McGinley in a play-off while Swede Johan Edfors took the title 12 months ago.

Europe's challenge will be carried by Ryder Cup heroes Ian Woosnam (pictured), Paul McGinley and Lee Westwood this week. Woosnam captained Europe to their record-equalling 18½-9½ Ryder Cup victory over the United States at The K Club in Ireland last September while Westwood and McGinley were key members of the team.

Also in the field will be Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara, winner of last November’s UBS Hong Kong Open, and England’s Nick Dougherty, winner of the 2005 Singapore Masters and one of the best young players on the European Tour.

The TCL Classic is once again co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours and promoted by Parallel Media Group.

March 13, 2007