Taiwan will put its name on the world's golfing map this week with the US$1.5 million BMW Asian Open starting tomorrow.
Asia's richest golf tournament outside Japan, the Asian Open at the Ta Shee Golf and country Club, near Taipei, is packed with top-class players from around the world.
A strong contingent of European Tour professionals have arrived for the event, which is jointly sanctioned by the European Tour and is also the 17th stop on this year's Asian PGA circuit.
PHOTO: AFP
Led by winning Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, other squad members teeing off tomorrow are Irishman Padraig Harrington, England's Paul McGinley and the man tipped to be the next European Ryder Cup captain -- US Masters winner Ian Woosnam from Wales.
Harrington said yesterday he felt he was in reasonable form. "I played the skins [in Singapore] on Sunday and I finished second again, as usual.
"I need a bit more practice as I'm not quite there. I just need to do a few things and I'll be okay."
He said it was his first time in Taiwan. "I was expecting it to be warmer! I didn't bring any sweaters and will have to get some jackets.
"When I was flying in, I was surprised to see so much agriculture land over here. In many respects, it was like flying home over Ireland," Harrington said.
The top three finishers from last year will once again do battle, as Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal and currently Asia's finest player Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand will try to outmuscle last year's winner Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden.
Joining the fray are Malaysia's Danny Chia, who is having a breakthrough season and cleared up at the Acer Taiwan Open earlier this season. Mynamar's Kyi Hla Han, who was an early leader at the same event will hope to go all the way this time.
Crowd favorite "Long" John Daly -- so-called because of the length of his drives -- will aim to repeat his success at the BMW International Open in Germany last year, when he won his first major event in six years.
The US player has struggled with off-course distractions but said he was happy to be a contender yesterday after touching down in Taiwan.
"I've had my ups and downs, but I've got through them and I'm fine with where I am now," Daly said.
He also talked about his debut album, which will be released Nov. 25. "My Life is not a sad song, it's about life, it's a broken song.? You will know what it's about when you listen to it."
Locally, all eyes will be on Chen Tze-chung of Taiwan, who has been doing well on the lucrative Japan Tour. Tsai Chi-huang (
Also teeing up for Taiwan will be Yeh Wei-tze (
Asian PGA Tour top-10 leaders Arjun Atwal of India, David Gleeson of Australia and Rick Gibson of Canada, are also lined up for the Open.
Jaidee heads the rankings after a second-place finish to Colin Montgomerie of Scotland in the recent US$1 million TCL Classic in China.
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