Hong Kong players to rub shoulders with the stars as they vie for glory at Fanling

Thirteen local players will have their shot at glory at this week’s Hong Kong Open as the home contingent gets ready to rub shoulders with British Open champion Shane Lowry, American ace Tony Finau and Thai maestro Jazz Janewattananond among others in the 120-player field at Fanling.

Hong Kong will be represented by a string of local talent headed by rising professional Jason Hak Shun-yat, who first rose to prominence at the national Open when he made the cut as a 14-year-old prodigy. The now 25-year-old has enjoyed considerable success on the China Tour and will be eager to do well in one of his favourite tournaments.

Hak will be joined by Matthew Cheung, Isaac Lam, Terrence Ng and Lou Tan Chi Hin – all qualifiers for the original November date. Also representing the Bauhinia flag are Motin Yeung, Ben Wong, Leon D’Souza, Taichi Kho, Alexander Yang, James Stewart, Derek Fung and Wilson Choy, who received invitations to compete in the 61st edition of the tournament at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

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Joining the 13 are Alan Gibson and Shinichi Mizuno. While playing under their respective national flags of Scotland and Japan, both are long term members of the Hong Kong golfing community.

D’Souza, Kho and Cheung are home-grown talents to keep an eye on. D’Souza finished in an impressive 41st place in his last Open outing in 2017, while Cheung will be looking to go one better than 2018, when he also made the cut into the weekend.

All eyes will be on 32-year old Lowry, who claimed his first major at the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush last year, taking his total tally of European Tour wins to five. With prize money winnings of over US$15 million to date, the Irishman will fancy his chances at Fanling and can be sure of a strong following at Hong Kong Golf Club.

World No 16, Finau will also be looking to leave his mark on Hong Kong’s longest standing professional sporting event. At six foot, four inches (1.93m), the powerful American is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour but, making his tournament debut, he will have to master the classic, tree-lined Championship Course if he is to add the Open to his record.

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Meanwhile, Jazz returns to Hong Kong in a rich vein of form having wrapped up the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit before the end of a season that saw the Thai break into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, with wins at the SMBC Singapore Open, Kolon Korea Open, BNI Indonesian Masters and Thailand Masters.

Hosted by Hong Kong Golf Club, the Hong Kong Open is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and Hong Kong Golf Association. Organised by the European Tour, the 61st edition of the tournament sees players representing 23 countries compete for their share of the tournament’s US$1 million prize purse.

Tickets are available to purchase via Ticketflap – https://www.ticketflap.com/thehongkongopen

The tournament is free to attend on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 January for all. Under 21s go free for all four tournament days. For more information see www.thehongkongopen.com