DEREK Fung is aiming to reap the benefits from a week of hard labour when he tees-off in the 37th Hong Kong Open tomorrow.
The Hong Kong-born 26-year-old has spent the past seven days at the Fanling practice range where he has devoted the majority of his time to sharpening up his short game.
'I've been working on my chipping and putting in particular,' said Fung, one of the leading local prospects for the US$300,000 tournament, the second leg of the 1995-96 Asian Tour.
Although Fung's confidence has been boosted by a succession of encouraging recent performances on the Asian PGA Tour, he knows that there are no short cuts to success.
'You really have to work hard to do well at this game - especially on the short game. That is where tournaments are won and lost,' he said after posting a three-under-par 67 on the Eden Course in yesterday's Pro-Am.
A stalwart of Hong Kong's international teams in the early 1990s, Fung joined the ranks of the professionals in late 1993 after completing a three-year stint at Pepperdine University in America.
