Liang Wen-Chong eyes Volvo China Golf Open, expects competition by Sergio Garcia, Pádraig Harrington
China's top seed Liang Wen-Chong is eyeing a victory at the Volvo China Open, which will take place at the Luxehills International Country Club in Chengdu from April 21 to April 24.
The 32-year-old addressed a press conference in Chengdu where he expressed his aim of winning the China Open. He said, “Every player from whatever country dreams of winning his national open golf championship and of course, I am no different. For me, winning
the Volvo China Open would be like winning a major title and my preparations will be geared up to playing my very best golf at Luxehills, where I have great memories from winning there in 2010 on my way to the OneAsia Order of Merit title.”
To fulfil the bid, Wen-Chong will have to battle Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Pádraig Harrington of Ireland for the $3-million event. No local has won the title in the last five years. The last time a Chinese won the tournament was Zhang Lianwei in 2003. The
event was soon made part of the European tour.
Wen-Chong, OneAsia Order of Merit winner, knows that he will be facing tough resistance from the two veterans ranked among the top 100 players of the world. Harrington is 36th in the world and is the winner of three major championships whereas Garcia is
ranked 82nd, and has won seven titles on the Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour.
Wen-Chong greeted the two contenders warmly, saying that they were great golfers and he welcomed them to his country and to “my golf championship”. He also welcomed other world class golfers. He said he knew that if he was to win the event, he would have
to beat the very best golfers of the world.
Wen-Chong has strong stakes on winning the title due to the familiarity he has with the course. He won the Luxehills Chengdu Open and the Thailand Open on the same venue a year ago, which backs him for another victory. Apart from winning on home ground,
Wen-Chong has had the honours of seizing the 2007 Singapore Masters.
The player is ready for another victory, which will push him from 72nd spot into the top 50 golfers on the Official World Golf Rankings.
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