Can Spanish add to Hong Kong success?

BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2008 Hong Kong Open | Preview | 19 Nov 2008

The Hong Kong Open is the first full field event of the 2009 European Tour in what has become known as the Race to Dubai.

The event first became jointly sanctioned between the Asian and European Tours in 2002 and has been won by a Spaniard on four occasions since.

Of interest this year will be whether one of the Asian Tour players can win the event for the first time under the co-sanctioned arrangement. The growing strength of the Asian Tour and the increasing quality of the play of its members could well see an Asian Tour regular claiming the title and in doing so leapfrog his way onto the European Tour.

A win will not be easy with such a high quality field that includes defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Michael Campbell, last week’s Singapore Open winner Jeev Milkha Singh, Oliver Wilson, Rory Sabbatini and recent Volvo Masters winner, Soren Kjeldsen.

The Australasians are well represented with Michael Campbell perhaps the most credentialed of those in the field but many would figure they have a chance of a big week including the inform David Gleeson who, in finishing 4th last week in Singapore, earned by far his biggest cheque in golf.

Gleeson a former Australian Amateur Champion and a member of the victorious 1996 Eisenhower Trophy team, earlier won the Macau Open and often plays well in this region having won the 2002 Volvo China Open. His form of late has been a revelation and it will be interesting to see how he follows up this week.

Mark Brown lost his lead on the Asian Tour money list last week when Jeev Milkha Singh won in Singapore but he could still confirm what has been his best year in the game with a win this week. His form of late has been well below that of earlier in the season so he will need quite a reversal if that is to be the case.

Scott Strange, Marcus Fraser, Adam Blyth, Scott Hend, Peter O’Malley, Rick Kulacz, Gary Simpson, Scott Barr, Marcus Both, Tony Carolan, Gavin Flint, Danny Lee, David Bransdon and Richard Lee are amongst the many other Australsians in the field.