Date: November 30, 2010
Author:

Liang ready for battle at The Lakes

China&aposs No. 1 Liang Wenchong continues his Order of Merit chase as he heads Down Under for the Australian Open and the Australian PGA Championship presented by Coca-Cola, co-sanctioned by OneAsia and the PGA Tour of Australasia this week. Liang, the highest-ranked Chinese player in the world, is OneAsia&aposs most successful player with three championship victories to his name. He was OneAsia&aposs first Chinese champion when he won last year&aposs Midea China Classic, and has triumphed twice this season at the Luxehills Chengdu Open – OneAsia&aposs 2010 season opener – as well as the Thailand Open. Currently second on OneAsia&aposs Order of Merit with winnings of US$520,200.00, the determined 31-year-old is confident of putting up a good fight at both The Lakes and the Hyatt Regency Coolum, in order to overtake Korea&aposs Y.E. Yang who took the lead after winning the Kolon Korea Open in October. Liang has had a frenzied globetrotting season, playing in Europe, the United States, as well as all over Asia with seven top ten finishes on the PGA Tour, Japan Tour and OneAsia. His performance at the US PGA Championship in August boosted his confidence, when he finished eighth in an elite field after shooting a course record eight-under-par 64 in the third round. “I am looking forward to playing my best at these tournaments. It is coming to the end of the season so I&aposve been feeling a bit tired. But I hope I will be able to cope with the mental challenge,” said Liang. He added, “And as for the OneAsia Order of Merit, I had set my sights on it before and I will try my best to win it.” The Australian Open will be played at The Lakes in Sydney from December 2 to 5, offering a prize purse of AU$1.5 million (approximately US$1.48 million). The tournament will be showcased on OneAsia&aposs television platform with live coverage for four hours a day across all four tournament days, and broadcast to over 260 million homes in more than 40 countries.