2008 Pine Valley Beijing Open - Event Preview: Fujita leads strong Japanese presence at Pine Valley

Hiroyuki Fujita is among a powerful line-up of Japanese stars who will search for success beyond their shores at the US$1 million Pine Valley Beijing Open which tees off on Thursday.

Fujita, a five-time winner in Japan, claimed the top spot at the 2003 Okinawa Open which was the first Asian Tour and Japan Golf Tour sanctioned event.

With a knack of making headlines in historical events, the 38-year-old Fujita will be hoping to notch another successful outing at the Pine Valley Beijing Open which will for the first time be sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Japan Golf Tour and China Golf Assocation.

“Playing outside of Japan provides the Japanese players with an opportunity to compete on the Asian Tour. This event is also special as it is located near one of the world’s top historical sites, the Great Wall.

“This is a Nicklaus-designed course so the layout is great and I’m looking forward to an exciting week. It would be great to win here as I would then earn full playing rights on the Asian Tour as well.

“It will provide me with an opportunity to compete in all Asian Tour events including the sanctioned tournaments with the European Tour. So I am ready to try my best and strive for a solid result,” said the Fukuoka-born star.

Fujita will join a list of proven winners from the Land of the Rising Sun who include Tetsuji Hiratsuka, Sushi Ishigaki, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Tatsuhiko Takahashi and Hideki Kase.

They will face a strong Asian Tour field led by Chinese star Zhang Lian-wei and Asian Tour winners Filipino Angelo Que, who won the Philippine Open, and Asian Tour International champion Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei. India’s Gaurav Ghei will defend his title this week.

Japan’s Ishigaki, 34, is also relishing his return to the region especially when he plied his trade on the Asian Tour for several seasons. “I am happy to be playing here as I have a lot of old friends. I’ve played in Asia before and it’s great to be back.

“I haven’t enjoyed a good run in Japan but I hope this week will bring something special. This is a first step for the Japan Golf Tour to stage an event outside of our country and I hope it will be signal for more tournaments to follow,” said Ishigaki, who finished fourth at the Volvo China Open in 2001.

In-form Korean youngster Noh Seung-yul will be hoping to extend his rich vein of form after securing his third runner-up finish in the GS Caltex Maekyung Open last weekend.

“I really like this course. I had a practice round on Monday and felt comfortable. The course is wide and long, just the way I like it. I enjoy playing on these wide fairways as I can really strike it solid. The course is great and with my steady game, I hope to achieve my goal of winning one tournament on the Asian Tour,” said Noh, who has one last chance of becoming the Asian Tour’s youngest winner before his 17th birthday on May 29.

Noh lost in a play-off battle to compatriot Hwang Inn-choon but is upbeat ahead of the Pine Valley Beijing Open, which has doubled its prize money to a record US$1 million this week.

“I am not at all disappointed with what happened on Sunday. I’m just very happy to finish strongly in front of my home fans. It was an entirely different experience there,” added the former Korean amateur number one.

Big-hitting Australian Scott Hend, the Tour’s 2006 Rookie of the Year, was amongst the new Noh fans. “Noh is a young kid and for him to play that well last week was great especially in front of his home fans. Looking at the way he is handling himself so far this year, he will be a player to watch out for here,” said Hend.

“I’m also happy to be back as the conditions here is fantastic. I’m winding up to play good this season unlike last year where I fell off in the middle of the season due to injuries. If I can get my driver going a decent distance, it would make it easier for birdies, that’s my plan,” added the former US PGA Tour player.

May 6, 2008

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