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Time ripe for Zhang to try filling in the blanks

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Timing is everything in golf. And there could not be a more appropriate occasion than the Omega Hong Kong Open for Zhang Lianwei to break his Asian PGA jinx.

For all his pioneering achievements since turning professional at the end of 1994, there is one glaring omission in the curricu lum vitae of China's number one.

Although he is 25th in the Davidoff Tour's all-time money list, with earnings of US$260,443, the Shenzhen professional is surprisingly still waiting to record his first victory in an Asian PGA strokeplay event.

In the six years since the inauguration of the Asian PGA, Zhang has competed in 38 of the 114 tournaments. With no fewer than 15 top-10 finishes and 10 top- fives to his credit, he's been close. To date, however, his runner-up efforts in the 1997 Kuala Lumpur Open and 1998 Myanmar Open remain his best performances.

One of Asia's most feared competitors in head-to-head showdowns, Zhang's solitary Asian PGA triumph came in Jakarta in 1996 at the season-ending Volvo Matchplay Championship, which does not count on the official money list.

Zhang's matchplay expertise has again been highlighted this year with a famous defeat of Zimbabwe's former world number one Nick Price in October's Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews, and four out of five points in last week's Straits Cup contest between the mainland and Taiwan.

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