Anton Haig, part of a crop of new and exciting talent on The European Tour, will attempt to emulate his all-time golfing heroes Ernie Els and Retief Goosen once again this week when he lines up in the field for the Volvo China Open at the Shanghai Silport Golf Club.
Both Els and Goosen have enjoyed success in China in the past; Els capturing the 2005 BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, while Goosen claimed successive Volkswagen Masters titles in 2005 and 2006 in Sanya and Beijing respectively.
Now Haig will attempt to follow in the footsteps of the two giants of South African golf having already shown, elsewhere in Asia, that he has the game to compete with the best.
Six weeks ago at the Blue Canyon Country Club in Phuket, the 20 year old captured his maiden title on The European Tour International Schedule in sensational fashion, birdieing the 72nd hole and then the first play-off hole to win the Johnnie Walker Classic, a title also on the golfing CVs of Els and Goosen.
“When I was growing up back home I would watch the two of them play as much as possible and try and pick up the best of their traits,” said Haig. “Goose just never seems to give up while Ernie’s rhythm and swing are just immaculate.
“They are incredible people as well, not ones to brag or anything, in fact they are very down to earth. They are the ones that everyone wants to watch when they are playing in a tournament. Hopefully, for me, there will be more wins to come in the future so I can be as good as the two of them.”
Competitors in the fourth Volvo China Open to be tri-sanctioned by The European Tour, the Asian Tour and the China Golf Association will compete for a record prize fund of US$2 million, a massive 500 per cent increase since the inaugural tournament was staged on the Asian Tour in 1995.
To further emphasise the Volvo China Open’s growing stature, four qualifying events, offering 12 spots in total for the tournament, have been staged for the first time; an essential component in the quest to open the door to many aspiring Chinese golfers attempting to qualify for their national championship.
All will hope to emulate the legendary Zhang Lian-wei, who won the event in 2003, and the newest star in the Chinese golfing firmament, Liang Wen-chong, who claimed his maiden title on The European Tour a month ago with victory in the Clariden Leu Singapore Masters.
“All Chinese players dream of winning the Volvo China Open but you can never force it to happen in this game; if it is your time, then you’ll win,” said Liang. “But I am working hard and I will keep trying.”
Another young rising Asian star who, like Liang, took up Membership of The European Tour as soon as he claimed victory was Chapchai Nirat, the big hitting Thai golfer who boomed his way to success in the TCL Classic at Yalong Bay Golf Club in Sanya three weeks ago.
The 23 year old, with the gait and swing of a young John Daly, was a wire-to-wire winner on Hainan Island and is aiming for another victory in China to continue to repay the faith shown to him by his parents who backed him when he opted to turn professional at the tender age of 15.
“My father supported me financially when I started out, giving me money to play in regional events and my mother was also a source of inspiration and gave me loads of advice along the way,” he said.
“Ultimately though, my father, being a former top amateur golfer himself, gave me the best advice and that was when he told me that fear comes from within oneself. That is why I am not afraid of anything on the golf course.”
Nirat showed that with a swashbuckling style of play which yielded 25 birdies over the four days in Sanya, including 11 in his course record 61 on the first day. He will be looking to launch a similar assault on the 6792 yard Shanghai Silport Golf Club which, this year, will play to a par of 71.
