This week could not have come quickly enough for Australian Wade Ormsby.

A two-time winner of the Hong Kong Open, Ormsby will be looking for a third Fanling triumph when he lines up in the inaugural World City Championship at Hong Kong Golf Club (HKGC).

The seventh leg of the 2023 Asian Tour season starts on Thursday on the Composite Course at HKGC amid much excitement as it is helping to celebrate the reopening of Hong Kong to international travellers.

For Ormsby, on a high after a welcome return to form following his victory at the International Series Thailand two weeks ago, the $1 million tournament offers an opportunity to further illustrate his love affair with the HKGC.

At the International Series Thailand, Ormsby overcame Thai Chonlatit Chuenboonngam at the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

His fourth Asian Tour title was the perfect preparation for what will be the first international golf tournament in Hong Kong for 38 months.

It was in the second week of January 2020 that Ormsby repelled the challenge of Major champion Shane Lowry to claim his second Hong Kong Open title by four shots. Within two months, the spread of COVID-19 prompted the imposition of travel bans and the cessation of sporting gatherings.

However, with the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, Hong Kong is once more ready to showcase itself as ‘Asia’s World City’ and a hub for major sporting events.

And no one was more delighted with that news than Ormsby who captured his first Hong Kong Open crown in 2017 by a single stroke.

“It’s great to back, it’s such a special place for me,” said the Australian.

“Had last week off, as I was a reserve in Tucson for the LIV event and won two weeks ago. So I am in a good place, I am playing well and can’t wait to get started. The golf course looks in great condition.”

When asked what the secret is to playing Fanling’s Composite Course he had a simple answer: “Hit it straight around this place! I have successful experience here and the offer of The Open spot is great.”

The Open spot he is referring to is The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in July, as this week’s event has the honour of being part of The Open Qualifying Series, with the leading four player not otherwise exempt earning a place in the game’s oldest major.

Poulter shot 60 in Hong Kong in 2010. Asian Tour.

Ormsby is not the only former Fanling champion teeing-off in the World City Championship.

Also in the field are England’s Ian Poulter and Australian Scott Hend, winners of the Hong Kong Open in 2010 and 2014 respectively.

“I feel like coming back home,” said Poulter.

“It is a golf course I have played many times, great memories shooting 60 on the golf course. It is a golf course that has been here for over 100 years with three great golf courses, wonderful members here and I have so many fans here, and Open places are on offer, hopefully I can earn one of those spots.”

He shot that 10-under 60 in the second round in 2010.

He said: “That was actually a funny day. I said to my caddie when I was travelling to the golf course, I think I have to shoot three-under for the first day, and I said, when we were travelling home in a car after the round, I will be 13-under and it will be the only time I shoot 60 and that is the only time I have called it, that I would shoot 60 after thousands of rounds of golf. It was a strange day, and it was a great day. Other things I remember most about coming to Hong Kong, is great food, great hospitality, wonderful golf course, I have made so many friends, I love coming to Hong Kong.”

A strong Thai presence at Fanling will be spearheaded by former OWGR top-50 players Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Jazz Janewattananond and also includes Sadom Kaewkanjana and Nitithorn Thippong.

Another notable Thai to watch out for is Ratchanon ‘TK’ Chantananuwat, 23rd in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

At the age of 15 years and 37 days old, TK won the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup last April, becoming the youngest male player to win on one of the game’s major tours.

At the World City Championship an extra layer of intrigue will be added by the fact that he’ll lock horns with fellow teenager Ding Wenyi of China, the reigning US Junior Amateur champion who is 16th in the WAGR.

While Taichi Kho, Matthew Cheung and Leon D’Souza are among the leading Hong Kong professionals taking part, there will also be eight local amateurs in the field, led by Alexander Yang.

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The pair were locked on 20-under after 72 holes at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, one ahead of Korean Yeongsu Kim and Micah Lauren Shin of the United States.

Former LIV Golfer Ormsby overcame young Chonlatit on the first extra hole to claim the crown. The 42-year-old triumphed after holing a 12-foot birdie putt while Chonlatit missed his birdie attempt from eight feet.

Ormsby trailed Chonlatit, the clubhouse leader, by one with three to play but made a birdie on 16 to get to the playoff.

It’s the fourth Asian Tour victory of Ormsby’s career and the first since his win in the Hong Kong Open in 2020.

He will now be looking to play his way back onto the LIV Golf League series, having played all seven events of the inaugural season.

The $2 million International Series event — which offers the best performers players an avenue into the LIV Golf League — was wide open on the final day with dozens of players in with a chance before Ormsby and Chonlatit edged ahead.

Behind Yeongsu and Shin was Ormsby’s fellow Aussie Kevin Yuan in fifth.

“I can’t believe I am here,” said Ormsby. “I had a tough week down in New Zealand last week. I was so annoyed with myself as I knew I was playing well. I worked so hard with my coach Grant Field. I am so stoked.

“I hit a good putt on the last to win it, but it didn’t turn right, the grain was hard off the left. It didn’t go in, all you can do is try and hit a good putt. So, I went to the range to get ready. I got a little bit unlucky on the play off hole to find the bunker, but I holed the 12 footer when it mattered.

“The Asian Tour and International Series are high up on my priority list, I’d love to get back on LIV, I just have to try and manage it all. I just so happy I have won an International Series event especially here at Black Mountain, I love the place.”

Chonlatit was diplomatic in defeat.

“I did my best, and I’m super happy with the result and my performance today and this week,” the 24-year-old said.

“My first priority was to keep my card on the Asian Tour, but this week I’m very happy with my performance so I now would like to win one. I’m sure I can, and I will try.”

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The 42-year-old was thrilled to welcome Cameron Smith as his team captain for the Boston event two weeks ago and, along with the arrival of Marc Leishman to the all-Australian line-up, results have rapidly improved. Punch were last in Portland and 11th out of 12 in Bedminster, before the new-look side vaulted to sixth in Boston. And Ormsby is sure a spot on the podium is theirs for the taking this time around at Rich Harvest Farms.

“It was great for Team Punch to have a nice boost with a couple of superstar players,” the three-time winner told his Asian Tour. “They have a huge pedigree. Cam comes in fantastic form and Leish is a fantastic player. So, along with Matt Jones, who is playing good golf, I have three really strong guys as part of my team.

“Straight away, you can see Cam is a world-class player. He is right there at the peak of his powers. That just gave us a huge boost.”

Ormsby finished 43rd out of 48 in Boston, while Smith was T4 and Leishman and Jones both T26.

“I would have personally liked to play a fraction better than I did,” Ormsby added. “But the game is coming back around now. So hopefully, I can be of more help.”

Wade Ormsby

Ormsby is understandably delighted to have Smith on board, despite the storm that came with his fellow Aussie’s arrival from the PGA Tour.

“There’s a lot going on around Cam,” he said. “He is such a huge signing for LIV. So, there is that pressure as well, apart from whatever else good or bad is being said about him. But, I think once he gets inside the ropes and plays golf, he’s still playing tournament golf.

“I wasn’t surprised at all that he showed up and performed straight away. He has obviously got a lot of good stuff in there. He is a great ball striker, he has got fantastic mental processes going on, and then there is his short game and putting … he is the best in the game there is.

“It’s nice being in the team box when someone’s playing as well as Cam is. It’s always nice to be around such people. There’s a lot of good stuff happening, a lot of good energy coming off them. As a team, we will try to feed off Cam. It’s only good when you’re around guys like that.”

Team contributions are key to success for Ormsby, with Leishman and Jones also adding to the bigger Punch picture.

“Mattie is the same age as myself and we came through Australian golf at the same time and turned pro,” he said. “Marc has had an amazing career, and he’s just a really good guy overall. I think all three of them are so down-to-earth, which makes it easy. There are no massive egos in the team, which is fantastic.

“It just makes it easy for anyone just to rock up and get along, even though I spend most of my career in Europe and Asia. It’s nice to click straight away as a team.”

Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith in Boston

Ormsby is disappointed at the DP World Tour’s attempt to block LIV golfers — where he first player in 2004. He now spends most of his time on the Asian Tour and is quite happy with how things are progressing on the continent thanks to contributions and promotion form Golf Saudi.

“We’ve got an amazing new partner in Golf Saudi, and we all know how much they have supported the Asian Tour,” he said. “I think it’s the most exciting time the Tour has ever seen. I’m just happy to be part of it. I’m happy to be over there a lot more.

“And it’s close to home. That’s fantastic for me. Any combination between LIV Golf and the (Asian Tour) International Series, and the fact that individual events on the Asian Tour continue to become stronger, is a very exciting schedule for me going forward.

“The Asian Tour is going to be high on the priority list for a lot of players around the world to come and play as it continues to evolve into a new, stronger Tour. The International Series is such an exciting addition to the existing Asian Tour. I know it’s going to be an enviable Tour worldwide.

“It’s been nearly 20-odd years I’ve played in Europe, so that’s kind of sad in a way that you’re not gonna go that way, but nothing is forever. There’s always got to be an end. I guess I am lucky that I have got these new opportunities and I’m really excited about it.

“We’re all in different phases of our life. I’ve got a young daughter and I want to be closer to her and see her grow up, but I still want to play world golf. I’m trying to compete at the highest stage I possibly can. I feel like the balance is back in my favour.”

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The Asian Tour waited 20 months to resume play post the COVID-19 outbreak. Chan Shih-chang’s patience was tested even longer.

By Kent Gray
When Chan Shih-chang won back-to-back Asian Tour events in Asia (keep reading for globe-trotting context) in mid-2016, it seemed Chinese-Taipei had unearthed a potential world-beater.

The victories at Thailand’s King’s Cup in June (then co-sanctioned by the European Tour) and two months later at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup (a tournament still co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour) propelled the pint-sized Taiwanese player to a career-high 164th in the OWGR by years end. In between those two heady weeks, Chan made the trek to the OMEGA European Masters in Switzerland for another duel Asian-European Tour stop at famed Crans Sur Sierre, the useful T-49 finish contributing to an eventual fourth-place finish on the 2016 Asian Tour Order of Merit with $542,820 in earnings.

Golf was easy and life was good. With five (of now six) Asian Development Tour wins, Chan had served his apprenticeship and was on his way at the elite level, the world his oyster. Until golf happened that was. You know, that sport where the only guarantee is absolutely no guarantees whatsoever.

Fast-forward 1890 days bouncing between various circuits with varying success and Chan became an Asian Tour winner once again on Sunday. A fittingly topsy-turvy closing 68 got the job done at the $1 million Blue Canyon Phuket Championship, securing victory by a stroke from exciting Korean 19-year-old Joohyung Kim and Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana who might just be the fastest player in professional golf, a trait that should be celebrated nearly as much as Chan’s brilliant Sunday display.

That winning feeling ???#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/aIaM5yF3rd

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 28, 2021

The Asian Tour was paused the best part of 20 months by the pandemic and this absorbing Phuket comeback  – including a noteworthy T-15 finish for 14-year-old Thai amateur Ratchanon Chantananuwat – almost made the enforced wait worth it. For Chan, who recovered from two bogeys in his opening seven holes on the Canyon course Sunday to eventually post a winning score of 270 (-18), there was no almost about it. What’s an extra 20 months when you’ve been waiting, grinding and hoping for five years?

“It’s impossible, it’s amazing!” said Chan, 35, who banked US$180,000 for this third Asian Tour triumph to rocket 20 places up the 2020-21 Asian Tour OOM to second place behind Aussie Wade Ormsby.

“I am so happy to be back after the problems everyone has had with COVID. My front nine was not very good but an eagle on nine turned things around.”

That deftly drained eagle putt on the reachable par-5 saw Chan turn in 36 strokes – even par for Canyon’s outward nine – but still three shots adrift of playing partner Sihwan Kim, the lanky American who played a pivotal role in Sunday’s narrative before slipping to a share of fourth.

Sihwan Kim.

At least Chan’s backwards momentum had been reversed though, the eagle triggering a run of four successive birdies from the 13th. There was shot after impressive shot down the cliched stretch, the most impressive of them a laser beam to five-feet on the nerve-jangling 14th where water overpowers grass on the island green par-3, at least to the naked eye from an elevated tee pushed back to an extra intimidating 197 yards on Sunday.

Sadom Kaewkanjana.

Chan had a decent look for a fifth straight birdie on 17 as Sihwan Kim’s challenge ended with a bogey and Kaewkanjana, who contributed so much so quickly to the final threesome, hung tough with a gritty par save. It sent the final round drama to the 72nd hole where a pulled drive and resulting tree trouble saw Kaewkanjana send his approach long and left of the green. Chan, meanwhile, also tugged his tee shot left to avoid the water right, and was only able to advance his second shot to just shy of the green from a gnarly, ball-swallowing lie. From there (after Kim missed a decent birdie attempt that might have forced a playoff had Chan and Kim both bogeyed) Kaewkanjana slightly undercooked another knee-knocking par save following a delicate chip across and down the final green. The stage was set for Chan who had pitched to three feet and he didn’t disappoint, calmly nailing the putt to avoid any chance of overtime. The lottery of extra holes is not something you spend five years grinding for. The door was opened and Chan quickly slammed it shut, leaving all challengers behind him.

“I always enjoy coming to Thailand. I feel very relaxed playing here. Actually, I feel less pressure playing here than playing back home,” said Chan who warmed up for the season resumption by finishing second at the Yeangder TPC on home soil last week, an event normally part of the Asian Tour schedule but this year scuppered by COVID-19 restrictions.

Mission accomplished

Chan Shih-chang closes out his third Asian Tour victory at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship ??#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/ax0Jpp2VB5

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 28, 2021

“It’s my second win since my baby boy arrived eight months ago. I guess its baby luck!”

Fatherhood has indeed been kind to Chan who has risen from 1366th to 428th in the latest world rankings and has taken his season earnings to $211, 775. That’s just a whisker more than $25,000 behind Ormsby (T-23 at Blue Canyon) as the field contemplate the 19km journey sou-west to this week’s $1 million Laguna Phuket Championship. It’s the second of four events the Asian Tour has been able to tack onto its 2020-21 schedule to deliver a meaningful season that, ironically, won’t climax until early January 2022 after the just confirmed $1 million Singapore International (Jan. 14-17 at Tanah Merah Country Club) and the $1.25 million SMBC Singapore Open (Jan. 20-23, Sentosa Golf Club).

The great news for Chan? A top-30 finish in the OOM is now guaranteed, meaning a start in February’s Saudi International, the Asian Tour’s new $5 million “flagship” and 2022 season opener, is assured. The world, though vastly different from five years ago, is at Chan’s feet once more.

The post The Asian Tour resumption proves a timely re-set for a Chinese-Taipei journeyman appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Shane Lowry is intent on taking a blinkered approach to the new season after the year of his career in the hope of continuing his giddy golfing ride all the way to September’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.

The Open champion knows a clichéd shot by shot, round by round focus will likely take care of his future dreams, well-documented goals that include an Olympic Games debut in Tokyo a month before his pal Padraig Harrington captains Europe in the biennial matches for the Samuel Ryder trophy in Wisconsin.

That laser-like focus begins at the 15th Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA where the 32-year-old Irishman will open his defence of the Falcon trophy in the company of world No.1 Brooks Koepka and two-time champion Tommy Fleetwood at 7.40am today.

“I think I need to just bring it back to basics and back to what I do best, and that’s just being the best version of myself every day, that’s all I can do,” the world No.19 said when asked how he intends to back up his stellar 2019.

“We talked about it a lot last winter and we talked about it a lot this winter again, just going out to shoot the best score I can every day. Look, I go out tomorrow, might be 72, it might be 62, but I know it’s the best I can do and I’ve prepared as well as I can.

“I think if I do that for the whole season, I’ll get to where I want to be.”

Lowry has arrived in Abu Dhabi fresh from a runner-up finish to Aussie Wade Ormsby at last week’s Hong Kong Open, a confidence boosting return on a four day practice investment in Dubai just after Christmas. The blistered hands that resulted have clearly healed sufficiently, importantly so for one of the best short game exponents in the game.

“I basically had my trainer with me, and we were in the gym at 7am every morning and we went to the golf course, practiced all day and went to the gym again. We probably left the gym at 7, 8pm that evening and went for dinner and went to bed. It was like a little mini boot camp, but it was fine. It was good fun, actually. I really enjoyed it.”

Lowry certainly seems ready for the congested year where the Race to Dubai and FedEx Cup are other targets. There were lessons learned last year too after he went into the DP World Tour Championship with a shot to finish the season European No.1 before settling for fourth place in the final Race to Dubai standings.

Shane Lowry high fives Future Falcon Geeve Gill during the Pro-Am ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

“With the back end of last season, I probably tried a little bit too hard in The Race to Dubai. Probably forced it a little bit too much and put a bit too much pressure on myself.

“As regards winning here and winning The Open last year, I think I dealt quite well with it. Look, obviously there’s a little bit more attention on you. Obviously I’m here this week as defending champion and I’ve got a great group tomorrow, Tommy and Brooks. It’s exciting to be in those pairings. It’s nice to be playing with those guys and be playing with the top players in the world. It’s where I see I am at the minute with my game.”

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By Ryan Herrington
Golfers often have trouble sleeping the night before the final round of a tournament. Wade Ormsby was concerned about getting any rest after the conclusion of the UBS Hong Kong Open, when the 37-year-old Australian who has been to Q school four times since first getting his European Tour card, finally pulled out a victory in the opening event of the 2017-’18 season.

“It means a lot to me,” said Ormsby after finally winning in his 264th Euro Tour start. “I’ve played a lot of golf in Europe, everywhere, and a few bumps along the way but it’s pretty cool to get a win this late in your career. … I probably won’t sleep too much on that flight on the way to Oz tonight.”

Ormsby shot a closing two-under 68 at Hong Kong Golf Club to finish at 11-under 269. His victory came with some help from his fellow competitors. India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia, the 54-hole leader was four strokes ahead of Ormsby at one point on Sunday only to make a triple bogey on the ninth hole and bring most of the field back into the event.

After shooting an even-par 34 on the front side, Ormsby birdied three of his next eight holes to take a two-stroke lead. But a three-putt bogey on the par-4 18th looked like Ormsby’s nerves might cost him the outright title. With a chance to force a playoff, however, eventual runners-up Alexander Bjork bogeyed the 18th and Paul Peterson and Julian Suri couldn’t birdie the home hole.

The last pursuer with a chance to catch Ormsby was Rafa Cabrera Bello, who birdied the 17th to match the Aussie at 11 under. On the 18th, however, the Spaniard hit his approach shot into a bunker and left himself a 10-foot par putt to match Ormsby, only to miss it right.

Among the other notable finishers in the European Tour’s season-opener: Tommy Fleetwood, crowned a week prior as the Race to Dubai champ for 2016-’17, closed with a one-under 69 to finish solo sixth; Miguel Angel Jimenez made seven birdies for a final-round 63 to jump into a tie for seventh; and Justin Rose claimed a T-10 showing with a closing 68.

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