{"id":11097,"date":"2012-10-26T05:44:36","date_gmt":"2012-10-26T05:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=11097"},"modified":"2012-10-26T05:44:36","modified_gmt":"2012-10-26T05:44:36","slug":"asias-top-stars-ready-for-challenge-at-wgc-hsbc-champions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=11097","title":{"rendered":"Asia\u2019s top stars ready for challenge at WGC-HSBC Champions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Kuala Lumpur:<\/strong> Asia\u2019s leading stars led by current number one Thaworn Wiratchant and former Order of Merit champions Jeev Milkha Singh and Thongchai Jaidee will spearhead the region\u2019s challenge at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China next week.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>Eight players \u2013 Jbe Kruger of South Africa, Japan\u2019s Masanori Kobayashi, India\u2019s Gaganjeet Bhullar, American rookie David Lipsky, Bangladeshi Siddikur and Thailand\u2019s Prom Meesawat and Thaworn \u2013 qualified for the US$7 million event via the Asian Tour\u2019s Order of Merit.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Thongchai, the only player to win three Order of Merit crowns, earned his place in the elite field by virtue of winning the Wales Open in June while Singh, Asia\u2019s number one in 2006 and 2008, booked his spot after winning the Scottish Open. Australian Marcus Fraser, second on the Merit list, will also feature in the final World Golf Championships event of the year.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>The HSBC Champions will be staged at the Mission Hills Golf Club\u2019s Olazabal course in Shenzhen from November 1-4.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Title holder Martin Kaymer of Germany, the man who scored the winning point in the Ryder Cup last month, will headline a stellar field along with nine of his teammates including world number four Lee Westwood, fifth-ranked Justin Rose and Ian Poulter.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Masters Tournament winner Bubba Watson, two-time HSBC Champions winner Phil Mickelson and Open champion Ernie Els will also do battle at Mission Hills.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Since the tournaments\u2019 inauguration in 2005, Y.E. Yang of Korea has been the only Asian to win the HSBC Champions but with the current form of the Asian Tour stars, hopes will be running high for another winner to emerge from the Asian Tour.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>The 45-year-old Thaworn is the man in form. Despite his advanced age, the evergreen Thai has claimed three titles this season to rocket to top spot on the Order of Merit. He also holds the most Asian Tour wins with 15 titles, two ahead of Thongchai.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Thaworn finished tied eighth in the inaugural HSBC Champions in 2005, the year he became Asia\u2019s number one. He said age has not slowed him down in his search for more silverware.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>\u201cAs I\u2019m older now, I can concentrate better in my game. I\u2019m not getting angry about the things around me. I\u2019ve got more experience. As I\u2019m older, why do I need to get angry? If I get mad, I won\u2019t make a score. So I\u2019ve changed and it\u2019s good for my game,\u201d said Thaworn.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Although Thongchai now trails Thaworn in the most wins category, the former enjoyed a career milestone by winning his first title on European soil in June. He believes the Welsh win, along with Singh\u2019s triumph in Scotland in July, has reiterated the strength of Asian golf.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>\u201cIn golf, you\u2019ll never know who will win,\u201d said Thongchai. \u201cSometimes, if it\u2019s your week, if you don\u2019t make mistakes, you will have a chance.\u201d<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Singh is enjoying some of his best golf in recent times after staying injury free for most of the season. He became the first Indian to win the Scottish Open, winning a play-off against Francesco Molinari.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>\u201cIf you do the right stuff, good things will happen. That\u2019s what happened. I was working harder. The most important thing is that when a player is injury free, you can work harder. It gives you more confidence,\u201d said Singh.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Lipsky and Kobayashi will make their debuts in a World Golf Championships event after enjoying spectacular rookie seasons on the Asian Tour. They&nbsp; graduated from Qualifying School in January and went on to win a tournament each.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>The WGC-HSBC Champions is sanctioned and organised by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.&nbsp; The other World Golf Championships include the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, WGC-Cadillac Championship and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>The following marquee players have won the coveted WGC-HSBC Champions title;&nbsp; David Howell, Y.E. Yang, Sergio Garcia, Francesco Molinari and Phil Mickelson \u2013 the only one to have won the title twice \u2013 and as referenced above, Germany\u2019s Martin Kaymer became the latest to join that impressive roll of honour in 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kuala Lumpur: Asia\u2019s leading stars led by current number one Thaworn Wiratchant and former Order of Merit champions Jeev Milkha Singh and Thongchai Jaidee will spearhead the region\u2019s challenge at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China next week. &nbsp;Eight players \u2013 Jbe Kruger of South Africa, Japan\u2019s Masanori Kobayashi, India\u2019s Gaganjeet Bhullar, American rookie David Lipsky, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[517,466,147,1534,946,7085],"class_list":["post-11097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news","tag-gaganjeet-bhullar","tag-indian-sports-news","tag-jeev-milkha-singh","tag-thaworn-wiratchant","tag-thongchai-jaidee","tag-wgc-hsbc-champions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Asia\u2019s top stars ready for challenge at WGC-HSBC Champions - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News &amp; 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