Important week at Hong Kong Open
BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2010 Hong Kong Open | Preview | 17 Nov 2010
The world of tournament golf is less congested this week than it has been for much of this season but there are still two or three events that are important for their respective tours and the players involved.
One such event is the UBS Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, the penultimate event of the 2010 European Tour season, and with only next week’s Dubai World Championship to follow, then the race is on to finish inside the all important top 60 on the race to Dubai rankings who will gain access to next week’s lucrative season ending event.
The Hong Kong Open is a co-sanctioned arrangement between European and Asian Tours and with several of the European Tour’s best and certainly the Asian Tour’s actual best competing, this event promises to be a fascinating contest.
Four members of the European Ryder Cup team, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Miguel Angel Jimenez are in the field along with two of world golf’s brightest young stars in Noh Seung -yul and Matteo Manassero.
Two time winner of the event, Jimenez, is looking his fourth win on the European Tour this season. He has continued to play well in recent weeks and can be expected to give a very good account of himself again this week.
Ian Poulter finished 5th in this event last year and played very well last week in Singapore when looking to defend his Singapore Open title.
McDowell was third in Singapore last week and two three starts ago won at Valderrama. He has recorded top twenties in each of his last two starts in this event and he will surely be in the mix this weekend.
Noh Seung-yul leads the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2010 and despite missing the cut last week in Singapore he should do well this week. He has not played this event previously but is an outstanding talent.
Manassero continues to impress in 2010 having made the cut as an amateur at the Masters and then won in Spain recently. He has also recorded a runner up finish at the Rolex Trophy and finished third at the Omega European Masters. Make no mistake, he is very good.
The Australasian charge is headed by Marcus Fraser for whom a win this week could potentially win him the Asia Tour’s Order of Merit. With a difference between he and Noh of US$249,000 and with US$420,000 on offer to the winner this week and only four more events to play this season then a win for the Victorian would be very timely.
Only Fraser, Richard Green and Brett Rumford, the latter two of whom are not playing this week, appear likely to finish inside the top 60 in the race to Dubai although a top two finish by Andrew Dodt might just get the job done for him.
Other Australasians in the field however are Scott Strange, Rick Kulacz, Andrew Dodt, Scott Barr, Darren Beck, Mark Brown, David Gleeson, Gavin Flint, Tony Carolan, Brad Smith, Unho Park, Kunal Bhasin and Mark Purser.
