Hong Kong Open key to Dubai hopes
BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2011 Hong Kong Open | Preview | 29 Nov 2011
The penultimate event of the 2011 European and Asian Tour seasons, the Hong Kong Open, is played this week at the Kong Kong Golf Club at Fanling in the New Territory of Hong Kong, the event boasting a high quality field as those involved position themselves for next week’s restricted field Dubai World Championship.
Only the leading 60 players on the Race to Dubai money list get to tee it up in the season ending event next week in Dubai so the race is on to either make it into that field or improve positions in order to secure the significant bonus monies available next week.
In the absence of Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, both of whom are playing the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa this week, the tournament favourite will no doubt be the leading world ranked player in the field, Rory McIlory.
McIlory has been in great from in recent weeks and finished in 6th position in this event last year. He has had two other runner-up finishes in the event in recent years and everything points to him to being the winner. It is hard to go past him to at least be in contention.
Justin Rose has been inside the top ten in each of his last two starts in Singapore and Shanghai and won on the PGA Tour in Chicago two months ago. That form alone gives him a good chance.
Defending champion is Ian Poulter who defeated Matteo Manassero and Simon Dyson by one shot last year. Poulter’s second round of 60 gave him a lead he never relinquished although in the end it was only a small margin between the Englishman and the runners-up.
Dyson is another who plays this course well and who is coming towards the end of what has been a great season for him. His recent starts have not been quite so good but earlier in the year he won twice and was regularly in the hunt.
Former winner Padraig Harrington is a shadow of the player he was when winning in 2004 but there have been sufficiently encouraging signs in Malaysia and Scotland of late to suggest that he could yet win his first event since the 2008 USPGA Championship.
The event is co -sanctioned between the European and Asian Tours and as such many Australasians get the opportunity to improve their standing on respective money lists.
Richard Green, Marcus Fraser, Andrew Dodt, Danny Lee, Scott Strange, Matthew Zions, Mark Brown, David Gleeson, Marcus Both, Rick Kulacz, Darren Beck, Scott Hend, Scott Barr, Tony Carolan, Unho Park, Kunal Bhasin, Gavin Flint and Brett Rumford are all currently entered.
Fraser is currently in 72nd position on the European money list and following the good form he displayed last week at the Australian PGA Championship when beaten in a playoff for the title he arrives needing perhaps a top four if he is to make it to Dubai.
Richard Green is another on the outside looking in and he too needs a good finish if he is to advance from his current 66th position to make it to Dubai. Green likely needs a top ten or better finish if he is to make it through.
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