If there’s one golf business event you
WWW.WORLDG
k GLOBAL GOLF CONFERENCE k GLOBAL GOLF TRADE SHOW k GLOBAL GOLF AWARDS k GLOBAL AGRONOMY SYMPOSIUM k GOLF TOURNAMENTS k GOLF TOURISM WORLD GOLF EXPO MARCH 15 - 19, 2021 MISSION HILLS, HAIKOU, HAINAN, CHINA
A GOLF BUSINESS CARNIVAL LIKE NEVER BEFORE. SIMPLY THE BEST!
u must attend in 2021, make it WGE!
GOLFEXPO.COM
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www.missionhillschina.com
ASIA PACIFIC GOLF GROUP ZZZ DVLDSDFLÆ“FJROIJURXS FRP
ISSUE When the search for a new golf international event was launched to take over from where the long running Asia Pacific Golf Summit had left off, the organisers were given a very important guideline: Go to the drawing board and come up with an event that will very quickly find its place amongst the true greats in the golf industry. As if that was not challenge enough, the organisers were handed a mandate to seek out a venue that would be befitting of a world class event and a venue that was endowed with all the qualities to make it the permanent home for the event. The search was quick and decisive. The venue was Mission Hills Haikou and the name for the event – the Inaugural World Golf Expo.
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APRIL 2020
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SPECIAL FEATURE 30 FINALLY, A GOLF ACADEMY JUST FOR WOMEN! The G2 Academy – it’s a spanking new all-women’s golf academy that has been established and is revolutionizing the junior golf boarding academy industry. It is the only programme of its kind that is centred around the training of young women pursuing their goal of playing collegiate golf at an American university.
46 THE REAL DEAL ROOKIE! Meet the young man who is destined for big things in professional golf. He is South Korea’s Sungjae Im, just turned 22. Judging from his performance so far, we’ve not seen his best yet. At the moment, he cannot believe he is the new No. 1 on the FedExCup points list ahead at the time of this report being written.
60 MCILROY – A PASSION FOR BOOKS AND HOT WHEELS
60
74
Rory McIlroy is a very wealthy young man. With the wealth that he has been able to amass he has been able to afford some of the finer things in life – like beautiful homes and luxury cars. While he has
FASHION TREND 38 THE DISRUPTER IS 10 YEARS OLD! The ECCO Golf Street which was first used by that super cool dude Fred Couples at the Masters in 2010 is ten years old. It sure was a head turner and it has carved a special niche for itself in the world of golf shoes. To mark that special occasion, the Danish footwear giant has launched the ECCO GOLF STREET 10.
EQUIPMENT FOCUS 52 ARE YOU READY FOR SOME DEADLY NEW DOUGH MAKERS?
38
We’re talking about Scotty Cameron putters, widely considered the most meticulously crafted putters designed to perform at the highest level. Some, even regard Scotty Cameron putters as a work of art and this applies to the master craftsman’s latest models! The newest Scotty Cameron putters are the Special Select putter line – a total of eight new models and all the new arrivals are beauties!
52 indulged in these trappings of the wealthy, he has remained committed to books. He loves reading and in this special report, the PGA Tour’s Cameron Morfit looks at McIlroy’s passion for reading and books.
74 TOKYO OLYMPICS – WILL GOLF TEE OFF? The IOC and the Japanese government seem determined to carry on, but a lot will depend of the state of the spread of the Coronavirus. At the time of writing, the show was all set to go on, but anything can happen. That said, let’s focus on how golf is getting ready for the Tokyo Games. Here’s a special report from the PGA TOUR’s Chuah Choo Chiang.
8 THE CANARY IN THE COAL MINE It is totally inexplicable how life changes in a fleeting moment. It was just weeks ago when the March edition of ASIAN GOLF was being put together and the issue was filled with stories of positivity and blue sky thinking about the future of golf. Now, as we head into April, everything has changed. And this momentous change has been brought about by something so small that it is not even visible to the human eye. It just goes to show how fragile life is especially if something as microscopic as a virus can throw some 150 countries into a state of total turmoil and panic.
GAME-IMPROVEMENT: ELITE COACHING 74 IT’S ALL ABOUT SELF IMAGE KIDDO! Meet Shawn Humphries, the Founder of Elite Performance Systems. Besides being recognized as a TOP 100 Golf Teacher in America, he is also a Consultant to the National Football League and the Major League Baseball in the U.S. For the next few months, Humphries will be sharing with our readers some of his unique teaching methods and some thoughts on the development of elite players in Asia. So, here’s Humphries first peek at what makes him special:
MISSION HILLS GROUP
www.missionhillschina.com
ASIA PACIFIC GOLF GROUP ZZZ DVLDSDFLÆ“FJROIJURXS FRP
Mike Sebastian
INTERNATIONAL ROVING EDITOR
Editor/Chief Executive Officer [mike@asiapacificgolfgroup.com]
Alan Campbell (China/Middle East) Correspondent
GLOBAL EDITORIAL ADVISORY PANEL
Angela Raymond
President [angela@asiapacificgolfgroup.com]
Gregg Patterson
President, Tribal Magic Inc.
Andrew Wood Founder/President, Legendary Marketing
James Cronk
Raquel Arcega
Executive Creative Art Director [raquel@asiapacificgolfgroup.com]
President, Cronk Group
Digital Services Tech-Know Integrators
Alice Ho
Business Executive [alice@asiapacificgolfgroup.com]
INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES
Alice Ho
Email: alice@asiapacificgolfgroup.com
Myra Paras
Accounts Executive [myra@asiapacificgolfgroup.com]
ASIA PACIFIC GOLF GROUP(2014) PTE LTD Singapore Post Centre Post Office, P.O. Box 532, Singapore 914018 Tel: +65 6323 2800 | Fax: +65 6323 2838 Company Registration No.: 201405689G
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of Asian Golf may be reproduced in any other publications, printed or published without the written permission of the publisher. Opinions in Asian Golf are the writers’ and are not necessarily endorsed by Asian Golf. Asian Golf accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, transparencies or other materials. Manuscripts, photographs and artwork will not be returned unless accompanied by appropriate postage.
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It is totally inexplicable how life changes in a fleeting moment. It was just weeks ago when the March edition of ASIAN GOLF was being put together and the issue was filled with stories of positivity and blue sky thinking about the future of golf. Now, as we head into April, everything has changed.
A
nd this momentous change has been brought subjected to a total lockdown which has forced the closure of about by something so small that it is not even golf clubs. One does not need to be a student of rocket scivisible to the human eye. It just goes to show ence to figure out the plight faced by golf clubs with closures how fragile life is especially if something as dictated by governments. microscopic as a virus can throw some 190 With reduced revenue comes the spectre of loss of incountries into a state of total turmoil and panic. come and job termination. Note that the golf industry in Asia The Corona virus, small as it may be, has proven to be is a multi-billion-dollar industry that provides employment to deadly. At the time of writing (March 30), thousands of people. A cessation in busithis pandemic had ravaged big and small ness will be extremely painful to caddies, CESSATION IN with the toll standing at over 800,000 maintenance crews, waiters, cooks and BUSINESS WILL infected and 40,000 deaths. A scourge that general help at a golf club. These are BE EXTREMELY PAINFUL TO people who live literally from pay-check started in China and spread virtually unchecked, is threatening the very existence CADDIES MAINTENANCE to pay-check and they are the ones who of humankind including the most powerful ensure that thousands in Asia can enjoy CREWS WAITERS COOKS nation on the Planet – the United States their game of golf. of America. The damage done by closures or reAND GENERAL HELP AT A The scale of loss in terms of busiduced play will take some time to mend. GOLF CLUB nesses being affected, jobs lost and As golfers, we implore all golfers to money just vaporising is unprecedented and the doomsday support their golf clubs and the game of golf and play more pundits of all shades and political leanings are having a field rounds and more frequently. This is an excellent way to help day feeding off this global calamity. As businesses both big golf clubs tide over the misfortunes that have befallen them. and small across all industries are mercilessly ravaged by The Corona virus was not something that they asked for. The the rampaging virus, it’s perhaps a good time for all of us in clubs were not given an option – they were taken by surprise! the golf industry to take stock of the situation and see how Anyway, as the virus plays out its course of mayhem, we can strategize to come out of the plunder without being this is a call to all golfers in Asia to make a concerted effort mauled too badly. to do whatever they can to support their clubs and the game The golf club industry in Asia so far has received quite a of golf. There has never been a time when clubs have needed brutal hammering. Already hampered by a golfing public that the undivided support of their patrons than now. is dead scared to hit the fairways, some countries have been C’mon Asia! Play Golf!
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When the search for a new golf international event was launched to take over from where the long running Asia Pacific Golf Summit had left off, the organisers were given a very important guideline: Go to the drawing board and come up with an event that will very quickly find its place amongst the true greats in the golf industry. As if that was not challenge enough, the organisers were handed a mandate to seek out a venue that would be befitting of a world class event and a venue that was endowed with all the qualities to make it the permanent home for the event. Both directives were tall orders but to be amongst the world’s best, there would be no room for compromises. With the brief, the organisers settled on the World Golf Expo as the event’s name and Haikou, the capital city of Hainan as the show’s permanent home-base. There was no doubt in the minds of the organisers that they had struck gold – the realization of a truly global event in an equally enchanting global venue!
THE UNIQUE “GOLF AND MORE” PROGRAMME IS SPECIAL AND ITS CENTRAL GEM AND SHOWCASE IS A FACILITY KNOWN AS CENTREVILLE, LOCATED IN HAIKOU. CENTREVILLE IS A VERY TRENDY INTERNATIONAL LIFESTYLE URBAN COMPLEX THAT COVERS A VAST AREA
240,000-SQUARE-METRES, COSTING US$ 1.6 BILLION. THIS WORLD-CLASS PROJECT IS DIVIDED INTO FIVE DISTINCT AREAS AND WITHIN THE “ENTERTAINMENT ZONE”, IT FEATURES THE LAN KWAI FONG BAR STREET; A MUSICAL WATER SHOW AT QUARRY LAKE; CHINA GROVE, FEATURING AN OUTDOOR SHOPPING ENVIRONMENT AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES; THE HAINAN DUTY FREE SHOPPING MALL; AND A FIVE- STAR HOTEL GROUP WHICH MANAGES THE HARD ROCK GROUP, THE RITZ-CARLTON AND RENAISSANCE HOTELS. OF
TENNIEL CHU (LEFT) AND DR. KEN CHU (RIGHT)
TOGETHER, KEN AND TENNIEL AND A SELECT HANDFUL OF EXPERT PARTNERS HAVE
MISSION HILLS CHINA INTO A HUGE COMPLEX THAT STRADDLES ACROSS THE CHINESE MAINLAND AND HAIKOU, ON THE ISLAND OF HAINAN, TO REALISE A WORLD ONE-OF-ALED A CAST OF THOUSANDS TO TRANSFORM
KIND ENTERTAINMENT MECCA THAT EMBODIES THE SPIRIT AND PHILOSOPHY OF
“GOLF AND MORE.
T
MISSION HILLS BALLROOM
he selection of the event name and venue was inspired by the business philosophy of the legendary and visionary Chinese entrepreneur Dr. David Chu, the driving force who went on to build the world’s largest golf resort with twelve
(12) world class golf courses located on the Chinese mainland and a further ten (10) on the off-shore Chinese resort island of Hainan. He was the man who started Mission Hills in China which today ranks as the World’s Best Golf Resort. Dr. Chu embarked on what is known today as the ‘Golden Phoenix’ legacy - a dream to build an all-encompassing entertainment empire that embraced an ambitious concept with golf as one of its central themes. As in all traditional Chinese families, the onus of transforming a dream to reality fell squarely on the broad shoulders of the scion of the Chu family – Dr Ken Chu, the older of two brothers, the other being Tenniel Chu. Both are young and dynamic entrepreneurs who have been imbued with the visionary qualities of their father and an energy-level that is only found in the best of entrepreneurs. Together, Ken and Tenniel and a select handful of expert partners have led a cast of thousands to transform Mission
RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL
RENAISSANCE HOTEL
Hills China into a huge complex that straddles across the
of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and it encompasses three
Chinese mainland and Haikou, on the island of Hainan, to
streets and 70 buildings of shops, hotels, dance halls,
realise a world one-of-a-kind entertainment mecca that
tea houses and pawn shops representing that era. The
embodies the spirit and philosophy of “Golf And More”.
recreations are startling, and it was done in collabora-
The unique “Golf and More” programme is special and its central gem and showcase is a facility known as Centreville, located in Haikou. Centreville is a very
tion with the famed Huayi Brothers Media Group and the distinguished Chinese movie director Feng Xiaogang. 1942 is a sprawling facility comprising 91 buildings
trendy international lifestyle urban complex that covers
that have been recreated to replicate typical street scenes
a vast area of 240,000-square-metres, costing US$ 1.6
in famed Chinese cities like Nanjing, Shanghai, Chongq-
billion. This world-class project is divided into five distinct
ing and Wuhan. It is a stunning visual throw-back to the
areas and within the “Entertainment Zone”, it features
period between 1930 to 1942. A Beijing Street, covering
the Lan Kwai Fong Bar Street; a musical water show at
1949-1960, will be added by the end of 2016.
Quarry Lake; China Grove, featuring an outdoor shopping
When you add all of these together, the total invest-
environment and entertainment facilities; the Hainan Duty
ment made so far is an eye-popping US$10 billion. “I
Free Shopping Mall; and a Five- Star Hotel Group which
wanted to transform the golf empire into a “golf and
manages the Hard Rock group, The Ritz-Carlton and
more” family-friendly resort for the country’s rising
Renaissance Hotels.
middle class,” Dr. Ken Chu explained. “What we have now
Two other central features of the “Golf and More”
is a very comprehensive, exhilarating and engaging multi-
programme are the revolutionary Movie Town and 1942,
sensory experience that caters to the needs of everyone.
the latter being the recreation of typical settings of major
This has never been done in China or for that matter
Chinese cities from that era. Movie Town is a tribute to
anywhere in the world,” he added.
Chinese cinema, recreates sets from the period at the end
The massive investment in developing the “Golf and
RENAISSANCE HOTEL, GRAND BALLROOM
MOVIE TOWN STUDIOS
MOVIE TOWN
WHAT WE HAVE NOW IS A VERY COMPREHENSIVE, EXHILARATING AND ENGAGING MULTI-SENSORY EXPERIENCE THAT CATERS TO THE NEEDS OF EVERYONE. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE IN CHINA OR FOR THAT MATTER ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
– DR. KEN CHU
More” concept has already started paying off handsomely. “With our flexibility, we have made golf affordable in China - we have been attracting a lot of golfers for both our destinations at Mission Hills and I am pleased to report that in 2015, we attracted over one million golfers,” Dr. Chu revealed. “Last year our Haikou facility attracted close to three million visitors and this number was matched by our Shenzhen property on the mainland and combined, we hosted some 6 million tourists in 2015.” As a benchmark of comparison, this figure beats out the
Great Pyramids (4 million), and Stonehenge (1 million). What pleases Dr. Chu most of all is the fact that “Mission Hills is attracting a lot of new people to its golf resorts and to its other attractions”. “While we have the best golf facilities what excites me is that we are now appealing to families right here in Centreville where each member of a family has something to appeal to them and we have enough attractions to keep families returning for that very special experience.” said Dr. Chu. “I want to make Mission Hills a destination whereby all generations can have something to do”.
And that’s not all – Haikou is also home to the NBA China and it fea-
WHILE WE HAVE THE
tures the 2275-square-meter NBA museum that showcases the excitement of the basketball game and the rich history of the NBA league. Complementing this world class facility is the FC Barcelona museum and academy
BEST GOLF FACILITIES
that pays homage to the famous Spanish football team, FC Barcelona. This
WHAT EXCITES ME IS THAT WE ARE
is a massive complex that includes an interactive 4,000 square meter mu-
NOW APPEALING TO FAMILIES
seum, a large megastore, as well as a Barça Academy Pro with six pitches.
RIGHT HERE IN
CENTREVILLE
WHERE EACH MEMBER OF A FAMILY HAS SOMETHING TO APPEAL TO THEM AND WE HAVE ENOUGH ATTRACTIONS TO KEEP FAMILIES RETURNING FOR THAT VERY SPECIAL EXPERIENCE. MAKE
I WANT TO
MISSION HILLS A DESTINA-
TION WHEREBY ALL GENERATIONS CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO DO.
NBA MUSEUM
FC BARCELONA MUSEUM
What started back in 1992 as a cluster of golfs courses in China branded under the name Mission Hills has gone onto become the modern era’s showcase for the growth of golf. Guided by the brilliant genius of the Chu siblings, an exciting roadmap to grow the game of golf has emerged in China. Collectively, there is no venue anywhere on this Planet that can match Mission Hills Haikou – a perfect setting for the Inaugural World Golf Expo. Come and be a part of the Word Golf Expo when it premiers in Haikou, Hainan on March 15 – 19, 2021. A World Class Venue for A Truly World Class Event! NOTE: The World Golf Expo is jointly organised and produced by the Mission Hills Group, China and the Asia Pacific Golf Group.
JUNE 2, 2020 - VIRTUAL WOMEN'S GOLF DAY A digital celebration.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 - WOMEN'S GOLF DAY Events around the globe.
Women's Golf Day is an international community dedicated to engaging, empowering and supporting women through golf. VIRTUAL WOMEN'S GOLF DAY is a great way to engage with your customers and the global community during COVID-19 isolation. We are offering the registration for both events FREE to help our global community participate and unite. The code for FREE registration is WGDUNITES
TO LEARN MORE AND REGISTER YOUR GOLF LOCATION TO PARTICIPATE VISIT
WOMENSGOLFDAY.COM
©2020 Ac Acushnet cus ush shnnet neet C Company. ompany ompa ny. ny
MORE SPEED. M
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Y OPROVE U R IT FOR NU MBERS YOURSELF JUST GOT BETTER.
N E W T I T L E I S T AV X ®
MORE PRECISION. MORE CONSISTENCY.
This report is one that is bound to appeal to parents – especially parents who want to give their young talented daughters a good foundation in golf. Calling all parents in Asia - your prayers have been heard! A spanking new all-women’s golf academy has been established and it is revolutionizing the junior golf boarding academy industry. It is the only programme of its kind that is centred around the training of young women pursuing their goal of playing collegiate golf at an American university.
G2’S MISSION IS TO EMPOWER GIRLS TO OWN THEIR FUTURE. CENTRAL TO THE G2 ACADEMY’S MISSION IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF FEMALE LEADERS ON AND OFF THE GOLF COURSE.
G2 GIRLS TAKE
ON THE WORLD WITH THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO OWN THEIR FUTURE.
THE LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT CURRICULUM AT G2 INVESTS IN THE NEXT GENERATION
I
ts name is the G2 Academy which was founded by Ray Travaglione who has a history of pioneering the industry starting in 1995 when he founded the International Junior Golf Academy, the International Junior Golf Tour and Heritage Academy. This was the
first programme that combined elite golf training, tournament competition, and academics in order to prepare young men and women for college golf. The programme attracted junior golfers from 35 countries and virtually 100% of graduates received college golf scholarships. Travaglione recognized the need for girls to be treated as equals in the academy programmes. The G2 Academy provides a competitive, distraction-free environment where it’s all about the girls. Research has shown that single-gen-
OF FEMALE LEADERS THROUGH MONTHLY
der programming provides incredible advantages to young
SEMINARS, SPEAKER ENGAGEMENTS, AND
women including increased levels of confidence, competi-
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS.
Girls are able to make friends from around the world who
tiveness, and an increased ability to nurture individuality. G2
understand and share their ambition to play collegiate and professional golf. The G2 Programme is designed to help female junior golfers prepare for competition and life as a college golfer. G2’s Proprietary Training model combines golf practice, academics, tournament preparation and competition, mental training, college placement, fitness and nutrition, and female- specific Leadership & Empowerment. Each component of the programme is tailored to the learning style and needs of young women. This time in their lives is a key stage in development as they progress towards their goals. The opportunity to be around other girls who share their passion and ambition has an incredible impact and influence for G2 Girls on the path to college golf. During daily practice, G2 Girls focus on creating fundamentally sound, repeatable swings and learning techniques to apply in competition to help them score and handle the pressure that they will face not only in tournaments as a junior but as a college golfer. The G2 Academy has an all-female performance team in place where each team member plays an equal role in organizing, facilitating, and teaching the girls the necessary skills they need to be successful at a higher level. Since the launch of the full-time academy, the G2 Girls have earned five first-place trophies and ten runner-up finishes in only 14 tournaments.
WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE SOMETHING LIKE THIS DEVOTED TO GIRL GOLFERS AND
I AM INCREDIBLY PROUD TO BE A
PART OF LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD FOR THESE TALENTED YOUNG WOMEN.
– RYLEY HENDRY
In addition to success on the course, G2’s mission is to empower girls to own their future. Central to The G2 Academy’s mission is the development of the next generation of female leaders on and off the golf course. G2 Girls take on the world with the tools they need to own their future. The Leadership and Empowerment Curriculum at G2 invests in the next generation of female leaders through monthly seminars, speaker engagements, and community service projects. As G2 continues to grow, the team behind the first girls-only junior golf boarding academy sees incredible success and continued growth and opportunities for the G2 Girls. “It has been incredibly fulfilling to see the vision of an all-girls junior golf academy come to life,” said COO Ryley Hendry. Ryley was a 4-time All American golfer at The University of New Mexico, and has been an integral part of helping thousands of junior golfers earn college golf scholarships. “When I was growing up it was impossible to imagine something like this devoted to girl golfers and I am incredibly proud to be a part of leveling the playing field for these talented young women,” she added.
©2020 Acushnet Company.
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ONE GIANT SHIF T
FORWARD SM8 features a center of gravity that is pushed forward from the face, through the use of high density tungsten, producing a more consistent, pure strike that helps you hit your target more often. Learn more about the new SM8 at www.Vokey.com
Remember the days when golf shoes were chunky, heavy and impossible to walk with on any surface except grass. Some of us have scary memories of those weighty shoes with their lethal metal spikes – memories of slipping, skidding and falling painfully on our backs. Not good memories for sure! Then, in more recent times, golf shoes shed their clunky image and the new generation of softer, lighter and soft spikes emerged on the scene. Since then, the evolution of golf shoes has been whizzing along at breakneck speed. The transformation of golf shoes has been amazing and today, most golf shoes resemble their popular cousin, the ubiquitous athletic track shoe. Against all of the mind-numbing change, there was one shoe that created a revolution. A revolution that no one in golf could ignore. It was a design that had cool and comfort stamped all over it. It was a shoe that had multiple uses. It was good enough to drive a car with. It looked decent enough to wear to the office or to a casual social get together. And it was good enough to use on the golf course to play golf! It was a total disruptor – the ECCO Golf Street which was first used by that super cool dude Fred Couples at the Masters in 2010. It sure was a head turner and since that moment, the ECCO Golf Street has carved a special niche for itself in the world of golf shoes.
A
whole decade has since gone fleeting by since the advent of the iconic ECCO Golf Street. To mark that special
occasion, the Danish footwear
giant has launched the ECCO GOLF STREET 10. This limited edition pays homage to the hybrid revolution sparked by ECCO GOLF and its ambassador, Fred Couples. The ECCO Golf Street was a concept that changed the way people looked at golf shoe design and it was widely regarded as the biggest game-changer in the history of the golf footwear industry. Not bad at all for a design that was born from the simple notion that a golf shoe can be so much more than just a golf shoe.
THE SHOE THAT BEEN DESIGNED TO COMMEMORATE THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORIGINAL GOLF STREET DESIGN IS A LIMITED-EDITION RELEASE. THE ECCO GOLF STREET 10, LIKE MANY OF THE SHOES IN THE CURRENT ECCO GOLF COLLECTION, RELIES ON THE AWARD-WINNING ECCO DYNAMIC TRACTION SYSTEM™ (E-DTS™) ALL-DAY HYBRID OUTSOLE DESIGN, WHICH WAS FIRST FEATURED IN THE ORIGINAL
GOLF STREET.
The shoe that been designed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the original Golf Street design is a limited-edition release. The ECCO GOLF STREET 10, like many of the shoes in the current ECCO GOLF collection, relies on the award-winning ECCO DYNAMIC TRACTION SYSTEM™ (E-DTS™) all-day hybrid outsole design, which was first featured in the original GOLF STREET. As a testament to the original ground-breaking design, GOLF STREET 10 stays true to the core design with the addition of several subtle yet classic details of elegance and luxury. The special edition shoe, only available at selected retail and ECCO e-commerce sites, honours the iconic original hybrid design with a contemporary set of key features, including: ■ The introduction of an all-new midsole material, PU PHORENE™, signifies a giant leap in ECCO’s FLUIDFORM™ process. With unparalleled softness, increased shock absorption and rebound, the dynamic comfort that has always been at the heart of ECCO design and technology is pushed to an all-new level ■ The award-winning ECCO DYNAMIC TRACTION SYSTEM™ (E-DTS™) hybrid outsole design that provides more than 100 traction bars and 800 traction angles for excellent grip in all playing conditions ■ Varnishing details that pay tribute to the 10-year anniversary of the original GOLF STREET design, including bronze detailing on the lace ends and two eyelids, a ‘HYBRID 10’ logo in bronze screen print on the heel and a commemorative shoe box and key ring The leather uppers, made in ECCO-owned tanneries, are crafted from ECCO FLUFFY PEBBLE NAPPA, a tumbled, full-grain, pebbled nappa leather with an aniline finish and a plush, silky touch. By treating the uppers with ECCO-developed HYDROMAX®, the leather stays strong and durable, keeping feet dry and comfortable with enhanced breathability.
THE ECCO GOLF STREET WAS A CONCEPT THAT CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE LOOKED AT GOLF SHOE DESIGN AND IT WAS WIDELY REGARDED AS THE BIGGEST GAME-CHANGER IN THE HISTORY OF THE GOLF FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY. A premium and high quality micro-perforated leather lining promotes sophisticated aesthetics while leather-lined inlay soles offer unique moisture management properties, as well as enhanced performance through long-term cushioning and maximum comfort. So, if you are lucky enough to get a pair of ECCO GOLF STREET 10, enjoy the shoe. It is crafted at company-owned factories that utilise FLUIDFORM™ technology to bond the upper and outsole unit, creating a one-piece shoe without the use of glue or stitching. Benefits include flexibility, durability and a lightweight construction.
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It was just slightly more than two years ago when the name of a young South Korean golfer appeared on the PGA TOUR’s playlist. It got the attention of ASIAN GOLF and what caused the attraction was his age. He had just turned 20 and upon checking on his background, it was discovered that he had graduated after being named Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year after one season in which he won twice and finished second three times. An awesome achievement for a youngster who does not speak English and who reportedly played out of a suitcase. Upon further checking, it was learnt that he was born to golf-crazed parents on South Korea’s Jeju Island and began playing at age 3 and grew up competing against superstar Si Woo Kim, who is also from Korea. Shortly after he earned his card to play on the PGA TOUR, he went on to be named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year after finishing in the top 10 six times and being the only newcomer to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship.
I’VE NEVER SEEN SOMEBODY THAT YOUNG WITH SO MANY SHOTS.
M
eet the young man who is destined for big things in professional golf. He is Sungjae Im, just turned 22. Judging from his performance so far, we’ve not seen his best yet. At the moment, he cannot believe he
is the new No. 1 on the FedExCup points list at the time of this report being written.
I KNOW IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO LEARN ALL THOSE AND FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THEM IN A GOLF TOURNAMENT, FOR ONE, BUT HE OBVIOUSLY IS VERY COMFORTABLE DOING IT, AND HE DEFINITELY PLAYS ENOUGH TO GET COMFORTABLE WITH IT IN A TOURNAMENT.
– JUSTIN THOMAS
The wonder kid from Jeju island surpassed Justin Thomas atop the ranking following his third-place finish at
he’s good. He knows what he’s doing. He can make his way
the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational, a week after securing
around a golf course, and yeah, I don’t think we’re - anybody
his breakthrough PGA TOUR triumph at The Honda Classic.
who’s played with him, I don’t think we’re surprised that he’s
“It’s really cool. I can’t believe I’m No. 1 right now. It makes me really happy,” said Im. Thomas, the 2017 FedExCup champion, has played
won, and I’m sure he’s going to win a lot more times.” While the FedExCup Playoffs, which rewards the season-long champion with a cool US$15 million, are still some
enough with Im to know the Korean is the real deal. “He’s
five months away, Im, who is nicknamed “The Machine” is
unbelievable. I remember the first time I played with him
ready to bulldoze his way to more success.
at THE CJ Cup (in Korea), it was really windy, as is often is
“Hopefully I can maintain my position at the top. I don’t
there, and the way he was hitting his drives, we’d have this
feel any added pressure. I’ve been playing well, and I want to
huge crosswind and he would hit this little low bullet hold
keep that momentum going,” said Im, who prefers to travel
and when it would be the other way he would do the same
from hotel to hotel when he is competing on TOUR instead of
thing, we’d have a downwind into the green he’d throw an
opting for a home base in the U.S.
iron straight up into the air,” said Thomas. “I’ve never seen somebody that young with so many
He became only the third player in the FedExCup era (2007-present) to take over the No. 1 position before turning
shots. I know it took me a while to learn all those and feel
22, joining the likes of Jordan Spieth and Joaquin Niemann
comfortable doing them in a golf tournament, for one, but
in the exclusive club.
he obviously is very comfortable doing it, and he definitely
Ultimately, Im is dreaming of holding aloft the FedEx-
plays enough to get comfortable with it in a tournament,”
Cup at the season-finale TOUR Championship in Atlanta in
remarked Thomas.
August to put yet another exclamation mark to his stunning
“It’s impressive. I think every person that I know that has played with him for the first time walks off and is like, wow,
rise on the PGA TOUR. Watch this kid – he can do it!
I’VE NEVER SEEN SOMEBODY THAT YOUNG WITH SO MANY SHOTS. I KNOW IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO LEARN ALL THOSE AND FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING THEM IN A GOLF TOURNAMENT, FOR ONE, BUT HE OBVIOUSLY IS VERY COMFORTABLE DOING IT, AND HE DEFINITELY PLAYS ENOUGH TO GET COMFORTABLE WITH IT IN A TOURNAMENT.
– JUSTIN THOMAS
If you are a golfer who enjoys a small wager when making a putt, then you should continue to read this report. It’s a report on what are arguably the best putters around today. It’s all about putters used by a good majority of some of the very best professionals in the game including a host of great amateurs and club players alike. We’re talking about Scotty Cameron putters, widely considered the most meticulously crafted putters designed to perform at the highest level. Some, even regard Scotty Cameron putters as a work of art and this applies to the master craftsman’s latest models!
T
he newest Scotty Cameron putters are the
The Special Select family is made up of a family of
Special Select putter line – a total of eight
eight putters in blade and mallet set-ups - three blade
new models and all the new arrivals are
models and five mid-mallet options developed for every
beauties!
stroke style.
“I’m always inspired by the putters
The three blade models are the Newport, Newport 2,
that result from working directly with the best players in
Newport 2.5 which feature an insert-free, solid milled 303
the world,” Cameron said. “With Special Select, I wanted
stainless steel putter head with performance balanced
to get back to the pure-milled shapes and faces that I’ve
tungsten sole weighting for a larger sweet spot and
been crafting for tour players for over two decades now.
increased stability.
We’ve brought those designs into the modern era with new
The mallets include the new Special Select Del Mar in
setups, necks, faces, grips and weights. Every aspect of
an updated heel-shafted, compact mallet model, and the
every putter has been redone. When it all came together, it
new Special Select Fastback 1.5, Squareback 2, Flowback
was pretty special.”
5 and Flowback 5.5. These mid-mallet putters have been
designed to facilitate better leading-edge visibility from
unique toe flow properties. The blades come equipped
address, as well as desired toe flow properties.
with new tungsten sole weights, which allow for ultra-
All the new Special Select putters combine performance with technology and the following are the special characteristics: Q Sleeker putter head profiles with thinner, flatter toplines deliver confidence inspiring looks preferred by tour professionals. Q Every Special Select is milled in the United States from a block of solid 303 stainless steel
sleek, tour-validated shapes with larger sweet spots. The mid-mallets employ stainless steel sole weights for optimal balance and weight distribution. Q Each Special Select putter neck style has been revamped based on an intense and deliberate study in neck configurations. Newport, Newport 2 and Squareback 2 feature a slightly shorter plumbing neck for medium toe flow, with a newly defined socket
for legendary performance and playability with
radius subtly repositioned with onset to provide
consistent sound and soft feel.
clearer visibility of the leading edge at address. The
Q Special Select blade models are milled
Newport 2.5 and Fastback 1.5 each have a refined, toe
with a tour-inspired soft tri-sole design. This
flow-promoting small slant neck, while the rounded
self-soling feature promotes a proper setup at
Flowback 5.5 comes with a new slantback neck for
address while providing a stable, aesthetically
similar strokes. The heel-shafted Del Mar’s flow neck
pleasing view of the topline from the moment
is designed for maximum toe flow. The GOLO-inspired
the putter is placed on the green.
Flowback 5 limits toe flow with a more traditional mid-
Q New performance balanced weighting
bend, shaft-over-spud setup.
expands on the use of Scotty’s interchangeable, customizable sole
The Special Select line’s raw stainless steel finish
weights to tune the performance and feel
is a unique bead blast for a radiant yet glare resistant
of putters at all lengths. By directing more
appearance. Additionally, the signature three red dot
weight to the heel and toe, the sweet spot
pattern on the back cavity has a new look. Each dot has
is enlarged, and stability is enhanced
been milled with a recessed circular channel, polished
back and through the stroke without
and then hand-painted with cherry red translucent
compromising feel or each model’s
paint, creating a striking new “cherry rings” feature.
I’M ALWAYS INSPIRED BY THE PUTTERS THAT RESULT FROM WORKING DIRECTLY WITH THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD,”
CAMERON SAID. “WITH SPECIAL SELECT, I WANTED TO GET BACK TO THE PURE-MILLED SHAPES AND FACES THAT I’VE BEEN CRAFTING FOR TOUR PLAYERS FOR OVER TWO DECADES NOW.
WE’VE BROUGHT THOSE DESIGNS INTO THE MODERN ERA WITH NEW SETUPS, NECKS, FACES, GRIPS AND WEIGHTS.
EVERY
ASPECT OF EVERY PUTTER HAS BEEN REDONE.
WHEN IT ALL CAME TOGETHER, IT WAS PRETTY SPECIAL. –SCOTTY CAMERON
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Ever since Rory McIIroy, the shy Northern Irish kid hit the world’s major fairways, he has maintained a very low profile insofar as his private life is concerned. Very little is known about his likes and dislikes. His hobbies or for that matter, his life with his wife Erica. The reigning world number one has managed to keep his wife sheltered from the bright lights and 24/7 exposure that comes with being the world’s best. McIIroy was very wealthy at a tender age – in fact at the age of 22, he was the youngest player to have reached 10 million solely in career earnings while on the European Tour. In 2012, he too was considered as the youngest golf player to be able to get $10 million career earnings while on the PGA Tour. With the wealth that he has been able to amass he has been able to afford some of the finer things in life – like beautiful homes and luxury cars. While he has indulged in these trappings of the wealthy, he has remained committed to books. He loves reading and in this special report, the PGA Tour’s Cameron Morfit looks at McIlroy’s passion for reading and books:
F
irst off, they’re books, not e-books, audio books, comic books, green-reading books or yardage books. Pulp. Paper. Binding. “Books,” Rory McIlroy says. “I have some on my phone and e-books just as references, and you can highlight stuff, but I take it in more when I’m holding the book and get to turn the pages.” Yes, dear reader, the reigning FedExCup champion is himself a reader. McIlroy and his wife, Erica, keep a small library at their home in South Florida, and while some of the books there are purely decorative, others are a lot more than that. “Erica is more into lifestyle stuff,” McIlroy says, “maybe not as much self-help type things, where I definitely went down this path of how the mind works and how to approach things.” Given the fact that he is coming off a season in which he won THE PLAYERS, RBC Canadian Open, TOUR Championship and the FedExCup and Player of the Year, and this season has already seen him add another victory (World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions) and return to world No. 1, you’d have to say that path has been the right one for McIlroy. Reading had steeled him. Avoid the big reaction. That’s one of the tenets of one of McIlroy’s favourite authors, Ryan Holiday, who espouses the stoicism of figures like Marcus Aurelius in “The Obstacle is the Way” and “The Ego is the Enemy.”
I HAVE SOME ON MY PHONE AND E-BOOKS JUST AS REFERENCES, AND YOU CAN HIGHLIGHT STUFF, BUT I TAKE IT IN MORE WHEN I’M HOLDING THE BOOK AND GET TO TURN THE PAGES. – RORY MCILROY “Not giving in to your emotions,” says McIlroy, who in the last year has befriended the author. (They trade the occasional email.) “Not being impulsive, being a little bit more rational, taking a step back to think about things logically. That’s what has helped me. “I mean, if you go back to THE PLAYERS,” he adds, “I went from leading or tied for the lead to a couple behind, but I didn’t impulsively go and chase some birdies. I was like, OK, this is fine, we’ve got a lot of holes left. There’s a lot that can happen, stay patient, and show poise, and all the P words that I like to use. All of that comes from reading and a little bit of inward reflection and figuring out what I need to do to get the best out of myself.” In the end, McIlroy recovered to win the TOUR’s signature event. The written word is alive and well. Asked at the Masters last year to name the best book he’d read in the previous 12 months, McIlroy was surprisingly expansive.
“The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino, that’s one that I sort of refer back to every now and again,” replied McIlroy. “Either of the Ryan Holiday books are pretty good, The Obstacle is the Way or Ego is the Enemy. Just started on Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson, so getting into that. There’s four.” He later mentioned a fifth, “Digital Minimalism” by Cal Newport. McIlroy, who has deleted several apps from his phone, wonders what all our screens are doing to us and tries to go low-to-no-tech during tournament weeks, preferring jigsaw puzzles and, yes, books. But why? It’s not that McIlroy, an only child, staved off loneliness with his books. Nor was he ever obsessed with academia. “It was never my forte,” he said in a lengthy interview with the Irish Independent. “I was good enough to get by, but I never excelled.” At the Ryder Cup in France in 2018, McIlroy came upon another favourite author: Mark Manson, author of “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F---: A Counterintuitive Approach g a Good Life,” , followed byy “Everything y g is F-----: to Living
A Book About Hope.” As the titles suggest (we’ve, ahem, slightly altered them), his books are equal parts profound and profane. They’re also very funny. “(European Captain) Thomas Bjorn’s partner, Grace, gave Mark Manson’s (Subtle Art) book to all the wives,” McIlroy says. “… My wife read it before I did and gave it to me and said, ‘I think you should read this. It’s really good.’ It’s an important book to me.” The title was part of the initial appeal, and that’s because, McIlroy admits, “Sometimes I care too much about too many things.” But there’s more to it than that. In “The Subtle Art,” Manson writes about humankind’s misery amid a long list of advances (from the Internet to eradication of disease) that one might have thought would have made us happier. One culprit: the idea that we can have it all, and everyone can be a superstar. The key to a good life, he writes, is caring about “only what is true and immediate and important,” and not getting caught in what philosopher Alan Watts called “the backwards law,” the trap of pursuing feeling better/richer/ thinner only to reinforce a feeling of dissatisfaction. “The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience,” Manson writes. “And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience.” Perhaps this is what McIlroy was thinking of when he told Ewen Murray of The Guardian that the last step for him was mindset, i.e., “when you are in contention, not giving a s*&% if you win or not.” In other words, a sports psychologist might say, it’s important to just let it happen. “He talks about how everyone wants to get smarter, more attractive, richer,” McIlroy says of Manson, “and they’re not going deep enough to ask, ‘Why do I want these things? What’s wrong with who I am right now?’ It’s people
I WENT FROM LEADING OR TIED FOR THE LEAD TO A COUPLE BEHIND, BUT I DIDN’T IMPULSIVELY GO AND CHASE SOME BIRDIES. I WAS LIKE, OK, THIS IS FINE, WE’VE GOT A LOT OF HOLES LEFT. THERE’S A LOT THAT CAN HAPPEN, STAY PATIENT, AND SHOW POISE, AND ALL THE P WORDS THAT I LIKE TO USE. ALL OF THAT COMES FROM READING AND A LITTLE BIT OF INWARD REFLECTION AND FIGURING OUT WHAT I NEED TO DO TO GET THE BEST OUT OF MYSELF. – RORY MCILROY thinking that all these things will make them happier at the end of the day. With this book, it’s getting happiness from the simple things in life. “For instance,” he adds, “I get to go grocery shopping on the Monday when I get home from a tournament, and that to me is fun. That’s very mundane for most people, but for me it’s a little perk for having a week off, going to Whole Foods and doing the grocery shopping.” Some of the rules in the books McIlroy reads can be contradictory. While Holiday preaches stoicism, Manson points out in “Everything is F-----” that it’s impossible to completely remove emotion, lest one turn into a potato.
McIlroy may have been wrestling with this paradox last summer. Having decided to treat every round the same, he lost a head-to-head battle with then-No. 1 Brooks Koepka at the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. (Koepka shot 65 to win, McIlroy 71 to finish T4.) When they met four weeks later in the final round of the TOUR Championship, McIlroy vowed not to treat the final round as just another day. He would give it special reverence. It worked out nicely as he shot 66 to win, while Koepka slumped to a 72 for a T3 finish. The lesson: Emotion is bad, except when it’s good. When it was over, McIlroy tried to accept his victory the way Holiday would, the way Marcus Aurelius would: without arrogance, just as he should let his setbacks go with indifference. Rory would still be just Rory to the organic apples and the rest of it at Whole Foods, and to his wife, and their library of books at home. All awaited his return as conquering hero or not. For Rory McIlroy – golfer, reader, citizen of the world – it was on to the next chapter.
HTTPS://SHAWNHUMPHRIES.COM SHAWN HUMPHRIES
Over the past two decades, ASIAN GOLF has featured an excellent crop of golf coaches. Many of them have written special instructions just for golfers in Asia. The majority was routine and there’s nothing wrong with that. A few were extraordinary and these were in the minority. After twenty years of reading golf instructions, it would not come as a surprise to discover that we have been subjected to an information overload. Against this, we felt that we had to embark on a search for something totally revolutionary. In fact, we went on the hunt to seek out a DISRUPTIVE FORCE in the world of golf coaching. After a lengthy search that lasted a few months ASIAN GOLF ran into a man who was not just disruptive – he was a man who was living and operating on the edge of revolutionary change. We talked to him. We listened to his teaching methods. And, we came away bugged-eyed and filled with awe. The man that we encountered has been in the business for some three decades and he’s done everything known in the golf teaching trade and more. He is a guy who was never quite satisfied with his teaching techniques and this incessant desire and quest for a better way to teach and play the game of golf was ceaseless. Until, he struck upon his “Eureka Moment”. ASIAN GOLF is happy to have discovered Shawn Humphries, the Founder of Elite Performance Systems. Besides being recognized as a TOP 100 Golf Teacher in America, he is also a Consultant to the National Football League and the Major League Baseball in the U.S. For the next few months, Humphries will be sharing with our readers some of his unique teaching methods and some thoughts on the development of elite players in Asia. So, here’s Humphries first peek at what makes him special:
T
his is my introduction to the Elite Performance Systems and how I went from a player, to technical teacher to growing golf champions. My personal story will help you to understand the genesis of our programme and what uniquely differentiates us in the world of highlevel golf performance. Growing up in a small town in Northeast Oklahoma I played several sports including golf. After a solid junior golf career, I moved on to play collegiate golf. When I began competing at the collegiate level, I would have these ups and downs in my performance, shooting a low score one day and a high score the next day. My performances were inconsistent both during a round and over the course of a multi-round event. I continued to work on the technical aspects of my game with the hope of stringing together better performances. As I moved into professional golf, even though my technique was more refined, I observed the same trends. My experiences and my inability to play well consistently drove me out of competition and into teaching. I worked hard and became a great technical teacher. I thought the answers to my struggles, and those of my students, were from a technical space. So, after a mediocre round my students would head to the practice tee but their technique was intact. They would hit a few balls and suddenly, we would “find” what we thought they had “lost” on the course. What was the missing piece that I was looking for both in my personal performance and in that of my students? What was more baffling was when my students did win, which they did, I could not tell you why or how? I just thought they hit it better that day or event. These questions drove me to seeking answers.
SHAWN HUMPHRIES AND LANNY BASSHAM
I owed it to myself to find these answers but more importantly I owed it to my athletes to help them find these answers. And this quest drove me outside of golf to Olympic performance and the NFL. What I began to find was all these other sports train for high stakes; their training techniques have consequences which help them prepare to withstand the heat in competition. I began to see the characteristics that set these high performing athletes apart: their training, the way they think before, during and following each action and how they think about the action after they perform it. I was fortunate to have a great relationship with Head Coach Bill Parcells and his staff at the Dallas Cowboys. As my junior academy in Dallas grew, I began to see the contrast in what differentiated us from the elite in the National Football League (NLF). At the elite levels of the NFL and Olympic performance everything was defined, measured and timed. Their training looked different too; their ability to replicate the high stakes nature of competition was happening every day in their training sessions. The final component which I was not finding in golf was the mindset piece: how the athletes think before, during and after each action, each competition and each training day. Olympic rifle gold medalist, Lanny Bassham, helped me to refine these understandings as I discussed with him the experiences he had as a high-level athlete and coach. Both Coach Parcells and Coach Bassham showed me standardized systems that athletes could implement in training and commit to in competition so that the environment did not dictate how they thought and performed. No one was doing this in golf, so I brought these concepts back to my junior academy. I continued to collaborate with Coach Bassh-
daily training journal, to continually put solutions into our training which helped the players’ self-images to grow. Their training began to change and the results in their performance followed suit. In addition to solutions, we helped athletes to understand the value of the personal best. We shifted from the paradigm of statistics (averages) to the outcomes they performed, their personal best. Olympians focus on mastery of skills in different areas of their games so why shouldn’t we? We began to track personal bests in short putting, distance putting, chipping and pitching and reinforce these in our performance analysis. These systems helped the athletes to trust and commit to their technique, by controlling their thoughts, not only in training but in the inconsistent environment of competition.
am and Coach Parcells and built a system from the ground up. We began to define what the athletes should think about before, during and after the action. We precisely measured and timed these processes and gave our athletes standardized systems to use in both training and competition. I began to understand the variances in performance from great, to good to poor were due to corrections in the self-image. Understanding this additional element, alongside the think piece and training piece, was a game changer. Your selfimage, by definition, is the sum of your habits and attitudes. It is your area of comfort that you operate in and it is something that everyone possesses. Therefore 95% of the winning is done by the 5% as the great know how to think, train and grow their self-image no matter the outcome of their training or performances. Here is the good news: you can grow and change your self-image. We began to stress the importance of the thoughts after the action or the reinforcement. The great do it: they unpack their performances after the action, the day and the competition. Coupled with the high-stake nature of our new training our athletes in our academy began to see their performance change, as well as their self-image grow and change. We began to incorporate a performance analysis, a
This is how Elite Performance Systems (EPS) was born. After years of being tired of going back to the technical piece of golf I was able to provide standardized systems of thinking, training and reinforcing built on the most successful athletic performances of the NFL and Olympic sport. Most recently we have brought these concepts to high-level high school golfers who are preparing for collegiate competition. We have built a college onboarding system that helps the athletes to understand these concepts, putting these systems in place and laying out their training and tournament preparation. We help them to set goals for winning performances and utilize the performance analysis to measure and track their training.
YOUR SELF-IMAGE, BY DEFINITION, IS THE SUM OF YOUR HABITS AND ATTITUDES. IT IS YOUR AREA OF COMFORT THAT YOU OPERATE IN AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE POSSESSES.
THERE-
95% OF THE WINNING IS DONE BY 5% AS THE GREAT KNOW HOW TO THINK, TRAIN AND GROW THEIR SELF-IMAGE FORE THE
NO MATTER THE OUTCOME OF THEIR TRAINING OR PERFORMANCES.
č wÀÃÌ V >ÃÃ
1997
Tiger Woods
2005
WINNER Shiv Kapur
2006
WINNER Thongchai Jaidee
2007
WINNER
Prayad Marksaeng
2008
WINNER Lam Chih Bing
2017
WINNER
Rattanon Wannasrichan
1998
Vijay Singh
2018
WINNER Panuphol Pittayarat
2019
WINNER John Catlin
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HENRIK STENSON, JUSTIN ROSE, MATT KUCHAR AT THE RIO OLYMPIC GAMES
With just weeks to go before the staging of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the big poser is whether the Olympiad will take place. The IOC and the Japanese government seem determined to carry on, but a lot will depend of the state of the spread of the Coronavirus. At the time of writing, the show was all set to go on, but anything can happen. That said, let’s focus on how golf is getting ready for the Tokyo Games. Here’s a special report from the PGA TOUR’s Chuah Choo Chiang:
In 2016, Justin Rose, representing Team Great Britain, claimed the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro as golf made a welcome return into the Olympics, edging Sweden’s Henrik Stenson by two shots following a memorable final day duel.
M
att Kuchar took the bronze for
Andy Murray, and saw up close how the rugby
Team USA after rallying with
seven’s players trained and pushed themselves
a closing 63 and shed a tear
to be stronger, faster and better.
on the podium which signified the enormity of the moment,
“Andy was really interested with how much golfers pay attention to technique and the sense
not just for himself but for the game of golf in
I got from him is that he doesn’t really focus
the larger scheme of things.
much on technique … he focuses on the strategy
With 2020 being year of the Olympics with
of the game and playing the opponent. The
Tokyo preparing to host the greatest sporting
actual technique of the groundstrokes and the
showpiece this summer, all three golf stars
serve, it seems like he didn’t obsess over that
have remained upbeat in making a return to the
whereas golfers can obsess over technique quite
Games.
a bit. It was interesting to hear his mindset on
“Tokyo is a huge priority for me,” said Rose. “Honestly, it’s been probably the biggest
that,” said Rose. Stenson is eager to have another crack at
gift of my career (winning the gold). It’s really
gold in Tokyo. In Rio, he led by one shot with five
been a fantastic thing and the fact it links me to
holes remaining but was overtaken by his close
so many other great athletes in other sports, it’s
friend and Ryder Cup teammate, Rose down the
something very, very cool.”
stretch.
With the men’s golf competition scheduled
“It’s obviously a big goal to both be there
to begin at Kasumigaseki Country Club on July
and to be ready to perform like the last time,”
30, it will coincide with Rose’s 40th birthday
said Stenson. “Everyone goes with the main goal
which only adds the impetus to ensure a suc-
of getting a gold medal and one of us got it. We
cessful gold medal defence. “It’ll be a nice
got second and third place and we all look back
birthday present. Maybe just a slice of cake that
at the great memories from Rio and want to
evening but I’ll be deferring celebrations till
make some new ones in Tokyo.
much later.” A 10-time winner on the PGA TOUR and
The Swede, who has six wins on the PGA TOUR, plans to arrive in Japan well before the
holder of 11 victories on the European Tour,
golf competition to participate in the opening
Rose revealed he soaked in the Olympics experi-
ceremony with Team Sweden. “Being part of the
ence in Rio. He exchanged views with fellow
opening ceremony in Rio … it was a proud mo-
Team GB tennis star and double gold medallist,
ment,” said the 43-year-old.
TOKYO IS A HUGE PRIORITY FOR ME. HONESTLY, IT’S BEEN PROBABLY THE BIGGEST GIFT OF MY CAREER (WINNING THE GOLD). IT’S REALLY BEEN A FANTASTIC THING AND THE FACT IT LINKS ME TO SO MANY OTHER GREAT ATHLETES IN OTHER SPORTS, IT’S SOMETHING VERY, VERY COOL. – JUSTIN ROSE JUSTIN ROSE. PHOTO
CREDIT PGA TOUR
JUSTIN ROSE
HENRIK STENSON
IT IS A SPECIAL EVENT, BEING ONCE EVERY FOUR YEARS. WINNING MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IS HUGE IN OUR SPORT BUT YOU CAN ONLY BE OLYMPIC CHAMPION ONCE EVERY FOUR YEARS. Stenson’s silver medal has suffered a few scratches
The Swede believes golf’s return to the Olympics after
and even a dent as it has been used at charity events,
a 112-year lapse has greatly impacted the growth of the
media activities and brought for “Show and Tell” in school
sport around the world. “We’re reaching out to a broader
by his children.
audience and certainly back home in Sweden, there were
“At the time, I was the reigning Open champion and
many more people watching me go head-to-head with
silver medallist and those two travelled together and I
Justin for the gold medal than seeing me win the Open
don’t know if the Claret Jug started being annoyed with the
Championship,” said Stenson.
silver medal and banged it up,” laughed the Swede. “It was a lot of tournaments, a lot of media and a lot
“It’s great for the growth of the game on a worldwide
of charity events. It went everywhere. It went to my kids’
scale. We had messages afterwards from people saying,
schools … my daughter wanted it for “Show and Tell” and
‘I’ve never tried golf and never really watched it, but I
she’s a bit more careful than my son is. Since I promised
watched the Olympics and I want to go out now to try the
her, my son wanted to take it too and he dropped his
game’. I think these are some of the key moments for us
backpack with the medal in it and there’s a big dent at the
being part of it. It is a special event, being once every four
bottom now.
years. Winning major championships is huge in our sport
“It’s not in the best of state ... maybe I should just get a matching gold one (in Tokyo).”
but you can only be Olympic champion once every four years.”
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