Liang targets majors after Singapore win
Liang Wenchong is targeting the majors after finally living up to his billing as China's coming talent with a breakthrough victory at the Singapore Masters.
The 28-year-old served notice of his improving form by finishing fourth at the Singapore Open and having four top-five placings on the Japan Tour last year.
Sunday's playoff victory was, however, by far the best result of his career and matched Chinese trailblazer Zhang Lianwei's sole European Tour triumph at the same tournament in 2003.
"I just kept saying 'it'll happen naturally'," Liang told Titan Sports Daily. "At the moment I won, I felt like crying."
Zhang was the first Chinese to appear at one of golf's four majors when he earned an invitation to the U.S. Masters in 2004 and, having earned a two-year exemption on the European Tour, Liang is determined to follow suit.
"I have several goals, trying to rank number one on the Asian Tour and taking part in more big tournaments to get myself into the grand slams," he told the paper.
Liang is a big fan of the China Tour, launched in 2005 with the aim of giving Chinese experience of tournament golf, and he won its final event of last year before offering to return the winner's cheque to help his younger compatriots.
He repeated the offer with the substantially larger $183,000 cheque he pocketed after beating Malaysia's Iain Steel on the first extra hole at the Laguna National Golf Club on Sunday.
"I offered to give away the prize money from last year's China Tour Championship, but the problem was that there was no organization to accept and manage that money," he said.
"So this time I'm going to give it to Zhongshan Hot Spring Golf Club to make it a base to help the Chinese golfers play abroad. I want to re-emphasise that the club raised me and I want to pay them back. I'm grateful."
The club, in Liang's home city which lies between Macau and Guangzhou in the southern province of Guangdong, was opened in 1984 -- the first course built in mainland China after liberation in 1949.
Agencies
(China Daily 03/13/2007 page22)
