2005 China Tour Beijing Leg - Round 3: Masterful Li takes first China Tour trophy

The China Tour crowned a worthy first champion, when Li Chao completed a wire-to-wire victory in emphatic fashion, dominating the field on the final day to record a crushing nine-shot victory.

The amiable 25-year-old crushed his opposition right from the onset of the third and final round of the Beijing Leg, carding four birdies in the first five holes of Langfang's Elephant Golf Club on his way to a five-under-par round of 67 and a 10-under-par total of 206.

It was an impressive win, that brought barely a grunt of acknowledgement from the man who spotted the talent of a raw 16-year-old footballer and inducted him into the Beijing 77 sports school; the Deputy Secretary General of the China Golf Association Song Liangliang.

"I was happy about his performances a long, long time ago. It's no surprise now. He should be winning," Song said.

"I brought him to golf. He joined the professional golf school I was president of."
Whatever Song saw in the teenage Li Chao, it came to fruition in dominating style. Yet despite setting yet another course record, having a RMB150,000 (US$18,750) cheque in his pocket and the silverware tucked under his arm, the Beijing golfer claimed his round was anything but a walk in the park.

"I felt free to make mistakes but the freer I felt the worse I did," the champion declared.
"I was a little nervous to begin with. Even though I was four shots ahead I was worried. Even when I got the birdie on nine I was shaking over the putt. I realized I had to calm down and stay conservative. Fortunately I had such a good lead, I was able to relax."

By the turn most of Li's potential rivals had stumbled in their attempts to hang on to his coattails. The eventual runner-up Wu Weihuang ran up the white flag at the turn and was able to recover his composure enough to claim the biggest payday of his professional career.

"On the first nine I played very badly. After that I knew I was so far behind Li Chao, I felt it better to play it safe, keep the runner-up spot and not push too hard. That helped me calm down. I was three under par for the back nine because my mind was relaxed," revealed the 36-year-old from Fujian who was the only other player under par for the tournament.

The RMB800,000 (US$100,000) purse also provided paydirt for the third place finished, 24-year-olds Xing Xiaoxuan, from nearby Tianjin, and Liu Xin, a professional coach who instantly jumps to full tournament professional status thanks to the China Golf Association that rewards any such top three finish.

"I'll become a real pro now," said a delighted Liu.

"I missed the pro Q-school this year by one shot, but it gave me enough experience to stop giving myself too much pressure. I only got my coaches licence last year and only played in one tournament, the Tianjin Classic and came sixteenth. I entered the three Asian Tour events in China this year and missed the cut every time. My mentality was normal, nothing different. I didn't feel much pressure."

None however handled the pressure better than the winner Li Chao who had said at the start of the tournament that he had the ability to average 69 for each round and was only one shot wrong. It was virtually the only mistake he made all week, and worryingly for the rest of China's golfers he has already set winning the Order of Merit as another goal.

"I really hope I can be the champion of the whole tour, but it's too early to talk about that, but the China Tour has given me so much confidence. I'm playing in two Asian Tour events next - the Volkswagen Masters in Beijing and the Singapore Open and I'm going to feel more confident for those."

Li then promised he would be down in China's southwest for the Kunming leg; the second stop for the China Tour, but refuted the suggestion that he was destined to dominate the field there too.

"Everyone wants to win, but you have to work hard. I won by a large margin, but it doesn't mean much for the next leg. There are always outside factors like the weather and the conditions," he said.

China Tour - Beijing Leg

Leading third round scores (Par 72)

206 - Li Chao 68-71-67
215 - Wu Weihuang 73-70-72
218 - Liu Xin 74-73-71, Xing Xiaoxuan 71-73- 74
219 - Gu Cuilin 77-73-69, Liu Guojie 70-76-73, Xia Zhengrong 71-75-73
220 - Liao Guiming 73-76-71, Qi Zengfa 71-73-76, Zheng Wengen 76-73-71
221 - Qing Sanyong 73-76-72, Xu Qin 73-76-72
222 - Yuan Hao 74-73-75
223 - Qiu Zhifeng 73-75-75, Tan Guoha 75-75-73, Xiao Zhijin 78-72-73
224 - Cheng Fei 78-75-71, Huang Yonghuan 75-77-72, Liu Anda 74-76-74
225 - Song Zhiqiang 72-78-76, Zhong Yongguang 75-74-76
226 - Fu Xin 75-80-71, Shang Lei 75-73-78, Wang Huiqiang 74-76-76, Ye Pengfei 69-73-81
227 - Meng Qingpeng 73-79-75, Shi Ningjie 72-80-75, Tang Jinchang 74-79-74, Tan Yongzong 76-78-73
228 - Liu Junfeng 79-77-72 Liu Qiang 75-81-72 Liu Xiao 76-77-75 Sun Peng 77-77-74

August 19, 2005

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