World Number 14 David Howell is back in China for the first time since his victory over World Number One Tiger Woods looking to maintain his 100 per cent record with victory in the TCL Classic at Yalong Bay Golf Club, Sanya.
Howell, the current leader of The European Tour Order of Merit, established himself on the world stage when he withstood the challenge from Woods to win the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai last November and is looking for another strong performance on the stunning island of Hainan.
“It is nice to come back to China for the first time since I won to try and defend my 100% record of winning in China,” said Howell. “It is going to be very difficult this week but I will give it my best shot.
“I had a reasonably slow start to the year but moved it forward a little the last two tournaments I have played and I am certainly looking for a good showing this week to keep the momentum going heading towards the Masters in three weeks time. It’s very important to keep the momentum going.”
Casey returns as defending champion following his play-off victory over Ireland’s Paul McGinley last year after the pair tied at 22 under par. A number of changes have been made to the course since then with new tees on the sixth and 14th holes adding 60 yards to the course, new bunkers built on the 18th and trees strategically planted throughout the course.
Whilst Casey accepts the changes may make the scores higher, it is the quality of the field that will make it tougher to successful defend his TCL Classic title.
“The changes to the courses and the weather and the pin positions the Tour set up won’t make the tournament any tougher to win. They might make the scores higher but what makes the tournament tougher to win are the likes of Howell and McGinley and five guys from the top ten in Europe. David Howell is ranked 14th in the World and he is the man to beat this week.”
Casey’s record in China may not be the same as Howell’s 100 per cent but two victories in five previous visits is still an impressive return.
“China has been very, very good to me,” added Casey. “I don’t know what the reason for that success is. I have always enjoyed myself here. People are always very hospitable. I am very relaxed here.”
McGinley came close to denying Casey the title last year after a stunning nine under par 63 in the final round took the contest into extra holes where Casey eventually triumphed. This time he is looking to make a fast start.
“It would be nice to get a 63 in the first round,” said the winner of last year’s Volvo Masters. “It would be nice to get myself into contention early instead of dashing for the line. I think you are going to have to get near 20 under par to win and you are going to see a lot of birdies and eagles. The aim is to play aggressive and shoot as low a score as I can.”
But after the victories by Singapore’s Mardan Mamat in last week’s OSIM Singapore Masters and Korea’s Charlie Wi in the Maybank Malaysian Open last month, McGinley was quick to point out that the Asian Tour players are more than capable of upsetting the form guide and winning another tournament co-sanctioned by The European Tour and the Asian Tour.
“There are a lot of strong players led, by China’s Zhang Lian-Wei,” added McGinley. “He was the first one to come across to Europe and play so he is a bit like Seve was to us in breaking new boundaries for us over in America. Zhang is doing the same for China and this part of the world in Europe.
“There are a lot of very strong players in Asia. I think the co-sanctioned events have helped the Asian players be more competitive and have more confidence in themselves. As they proved last week the Asian Tour is very strong and have a lot of players very capable of winning.”
