2005 China Tour Leg - Round 1: Li ahead again but half field still to finish

A four-hour break forced by electrical storms and heavy rain, couldn't prevent Li Chao from again stamping his authority on the China Tour field. The 25 year old winner of last month's inaugural Beijing Leg took the China Tour Kunming Leg by the scruff of the neck, carding a six under par 66 in the first round. Although slightly less than half of the field have to complete their rounds on Friday morning, Li's three shot lead still looks impressive after he recorded seven birdies and just one bogey over the short but tricky Kunming Country Golf Club course. Yet Li, who won the first China Tour trophy by nine shots, wasn't even convinced he'd had a good day.

"It was only so-so. The tournament is not over yet. My putting really helped a lot today. And I succeeded in saving par on 7 and 8, though it was quite hard. On the back nine, I saved par many times. The whole round, I only had 27 putts, probably because of the rain in the morning, which slowed the greens down. When the sun came out in the afternoon, it got a lot faster. So, on the 16th, 17th and18th I played quite conservatively." Li's closest challenger in the clubhouse is Richard Qiu Zhifeng, a 26 year old from Guangdong, who like the leader was less than enamoured with his round.

"I don't think it was too good. Two or three under par is only a normal score on this course," said Qiu, who learned the game while caddying at Guangzhou's Nanhu Golf Club.

"I hoped I could get to 5 under, because at 5 under par, the second and third rounds would be easier. But on the 14th I got a bogey and on the 15th I missed a birdie putt from two feet, so there will still be some pressure." Winless after five years as a professional, Kunming's 6,884 yards might represent one of Qiu's best chances to break his duck, as he not the most prodigious of hitters in the field, but he admits to be struggling on the longer par fours on the inward nine.

"The back nine is very difficult, especially number 14, a long uphill fairway. I'm not a long driver, so the last couple of days I got bogey on this hole, but I still have confidence," Qui said.

"Even yesterday before I went to sleep, I went through the yard book in my mind to consider my strategy for the first round. I really want to win. I appreciate Tiger Wood's passion and drive and I do like Goosen's way of hitting the ball. I dream about hitting the ball that well."

Qiu admitted his lack of success, and the dearth of tournaments for China's professionals, even had him consider quitting the sport, but he says the birth of the China Tour has renewed his enthusiasm.

"At one time I thought of changing my career, but now we have so many opportunities in the China Tour, so now I only focus on playing tournaments. From this June, I restarted my emphasis on playing golf, and my goal is to play overseas," he said.

"I've played four-and-a-half years, but the China Tour is the best tournament in the history of golf in China so far. Every player cares about this tournament very much. The operation is very good. It makes every player feel relaxed."

Those players stranded on the course might not be so relaxed about their 7 o'clock start. Among them is at least one more potential challenger to Li Chao in Liao Guiming. A 28 year old from Fujian, the neighbouring province to Guangdong, Liao was also three under par. However he had only reached the turn when darkness forced play to end for the day.

China Tour - Kunming Leg

First round clubhouse leaders (Par 72)

66 - Li Chao
69 - Qiu Zhifeng
70 - Liu Xiao, Chen Yong
71 - Cheng Fei, Huang Mingjie, Liu Qiang, Liu Anda, Lai Yuanlang, Wang Wei, Xu Qin
72 - Liu Junfeng, Sun Yiping,
73 - Gu Cuilin, Shang Lei, Song Zhiqiang, Zheng Wengen, Li Zhengfang, Zhou Xunshu
74 - Fu Xin, Liu Peiguo, Nie Hong, Ye Pengfei
75 - Feng Xu, Liu Xin, Xiao Chenghan
76 - Fu Tai, Shi Ningjie, Xia Zhengrong, Zhang Jun

September 22, 2005

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