A 13-year-old Taiwan schoolboy has become the youngest winner of the Hong Kong Golf Open tournament.
Teenage prodigy Lo Shih-kai beat a field of adult competitors to claim the Hong Kong Men's Open Amateur Championship on Saturday, according to the Sunday Morning Post newspaper.
Lo was lagging far behind his rivals as he went into the start of the fourth and final round on Saturday but came out with five birdies to win the tournament.
He finished with a 4-under par 66, the best round of his life, and ended two shots ahead of Hong Kong rival Jason Kardachi.
Iain Valentine, chief executive of the Hong Kong Golf Association, told the newspaper Lo was the youngest winner in the tournament's history.
Lo is so good he often plays against 18-year olds and is said to be the future of golf in this country.
Golf officials have said the local game has declined recently and no new young players were coming through.
But Lo's victory will give them some heart, particularly now a scheme to develop the game at the grass-roots level has been instituted in Taiwan. The junior golf program has been set up at over 30 clubs and gives 14- to 18-year olds the chance of playing a round of golf for NT$600, along with regular competitions and rankings.
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