Sat, Jul 21, 2001 page16

• Scott Hoch signs up for Taiwan Open golf event

  • By Jules Quartly / CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
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  Continuing a tradition of inviting top players to the Taiwan Open, top five PGA Tour money list golfer Scott Hoch has agreed to play at this year's event.

  The 47-year-old was narrowly beaten by Sergio Garcia in last month's Buick Classic, but has run into a vein of good form recently, with victories at the 2001 Advil Western Open and the Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

  Organizers at a press conference yesterday said they were hoping that the streak continues at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club tournament, near Taoyuan, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

  Club president Hsu Dien-ya (許典雅) said, "In the past few years we have worked hard to invite well-known professional golfers and they have all performed well in Taiwan.

  "Last year Vijay Singh won the 200 Taiwan Open, in 1999 Australian Craig Parry set the current course record of 63, and New Zealander Frank Nobilo came third in 1998.

  "If Hoch can continue the form he has shown throughout the first half of this year, we believe he will put some real pressure on the rest of the field this year."

  Yeh Wei-tze (葉偉志), one of Taiwan's best young golfers -- who narrowly missed a chance to play in the British Open -- will get a chance to test his skills against the best the USPGA can offer, along with domestic players Lin Keng-chi (林根基), Hong Chia-yuh (洪家煜) and Wang Ter-chang (汪德昌).

  "This is a great opportunity for young or emerging talent in Taiwan to compete against the best the sport has to offer," said John Cappo, international vice president of IMG in Taiwan.

  "We invite top players every year for this reason. It gives local players a chance to measure themselves against the stars."

  Cappo said last year's Taiwan Open attracted the best field of any event in Asia and played up this year's event.

  "It will be a great family occasion," There will be lucky draws, golfing clinics and a chance to pick up tips from the top players, he said.

  Following Acer's decision to back the Taiwan Open, it has put in over US$300,000 to ensure the event is a success.

  For the first time there will be two instructors from the David Leadbetter golf academy coming to the Open.

  They will be giving lessons and assisting aspiring professional golfers from Taiwan with their swing, putting and other elements of their game.

  Organizers said they were trying to get Scott Hoch's wife to accompany her husband to Taiwan.

  Hoch has not played in the country before, but has had some outstanding successes in Asia, including wins at the Korean Open in 1990 and 1991, and the Casio World Open in Japan in 1982 and 1986.

  As an interesting aside, organizers revealed that they had been trailing Retief Goosen -- this year's US Open and Scottish Open winner -- in the hope that he would play at the Taiwan Open.

  "But with the kind of success he has been having," Cappo said, "you want to keep the streak going. We will see again next year if he can come."
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