SPORTS> China
Liao confident of big finish at Omega Championship
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-07 09:56

Liao Guiming, Li Chao and Chinese Taipei's Hsu Mong-nan and Chan Yih-shin are among the pre-tournament favorites at this week's Omega Championship in Beijing, the Omega China Tour's season-ending event.

The purse of 1 million yuan ($146,000) is the biggest ever on the Omega China Tour.

Liao, 31, is looking to win his first Omega Order of Merit title and currently leads the list with 360,750 yuan. Third-placed Li, winner of this year's Dell Championship in Xiamen, is the only player who can leapfrog Liao, as second-placed Zhang Lianwei is not playing in Beijing.

Li, who has 215,500 yuan, would secure his third Omega Order of Merit in four seasons if the Beijing-born big hitter took home the 187,500 yuan winner's check and Liao finishes outside the top three, at the Beijing Longxi Hotspring Golf Club.

Liao, however, is quietly confident about his chances of holding onto the top spot as he looks to join Li and Zhang, the 2006 winner, as the only players to win the money list.

"Usually I end up with my back to the stage at the gala dinner and I have to turn my chair around to see the Omega Order of Merit winner, but this year I hope I'll have the best view of all," said a smiling Liao, whose confidence has grown following three successive top-two finishes on this year's Tour.

"Li Chao has won the Merit title twice and Zhang Lianwei has won it once, and I'd like to join that list. I've been playing very steadily this year. However, if Li wins the Omega Championship and overtakes me, then he'll deserve it."

Liao has topped this year's Omega Order of Merit since finishing runner-up at September's Luxehills Golf Championship in Chengdu. He won his maiden Tour victory at May's Sofitel Golf Championship in Nanjing, which followed a joint runner-up finish at the previous week's Shanghai Championship.

Hsu was the winner in Shanghai, one of four events this year won by Chinese Taipei invitees, who are not included on the Omega Order of Merit. Lu Wen-teh won in Kunming in April, while Tsai Chi-huang won in Chengdu and Tianjin last month.

Hsu, 34, and Chan, 31, both finished joint runners-up to Zhang at the season-opening Guangzhou Championship, while Chan finished third and Hsu fifth in Xiamen two weeks later.

Two weeks ago, Hsu had another solid showing to finish third in Tianjin behind Tsai and 18-year-old James Su Dong, the teenager who made headlines by leading for the first three rounds.

Su, who finished school in Canada last year, also bagged two third-place finishes in his previous three events on the Tour and continues his quest to secure his first victory in a professional tournament in China.