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On Game’s the
Greatest Stage
Photography by Rob Brown / Martin Miller
One Fine Day: With HK Golfer Publisher Charles McLaughlin (above); checking out his borrowed driver on the Shek O terrace
the Open when Harrington won in 2007 (the Argentinean struck the concrete bank of the Barry Burn with his second shot to the 17th at Carnoustie to make double bogey and finish outside the playoff by a shot) was the unluckiest thing I’ve ever seen on the golf course. I expect him to win an Open some day.” As we were on the subject of the Open at Carnoustie I ask Thomson his thoughts on what happened to Jean Van de Velde, HK Golfer’s playing editor, at the 72nd hole in 1999 when he made triple bogey to fall into a playoff, which he would end up losing to Paul Lawrie. Wasn’t he even unluckier than Romero? Thomson pauses to consider the question. “ Wel l , h e wa s c e r t a i n l y u n lu c k y,” h e acknowledges. “But in that position, I would have played the hole a lot differently.” While Thomson’s record at the Open in unmatched, there has always been a slight undercurrent of criticism that his victory at St Andrews in 1955, where he joined James Braid, Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Bobby Locke as the only men in the 20th Century to defend the championship, came against a weakened field, with many of the best American players of the time failing to make the trans-Atlantic trip to play. Thomson, clearly used to hearing the snipe, replies: “[Ben] Hogan wasn’t there, that’s true, but Cary Middlecoff, the leading US money-winner was, as was Byron Nelson and Ed Furgol, the US Open champion. Those who stayed away generally did so because they didn’t think they could win.” Perhaps inspired by the memories of his success, Thomson finds another gear and we
start winning holes. After being five down with only five to play, a Thomson birdie at the 14th after a delightful pitch, a solid par at the 15th and an unlikely birdie of my own at the 16th means we’ve clawed our way back into the match. Dormie two. What happens next is vintage Thomson. At the 17th, a shortish par-3, he fires a beautifully flighted 5-iron that draws perfectly against a fade wind and lands just 10-feet from the hole. A solid par from Mailer means he needs to hole it to keep the match alive and he does, the ball dropping into the centre of the cup for the best birdie of the day. Dormie one. It’s all set for a grandstand finish, and with the opposition in trouble and both of us safely on the green in regulation, a tied match is looking the most likely prospect. But then Mailer, from a terrible lie in a greenside bunker, plays a remarkable shot to seven feet and when neither Thomson nor I are successful with our birdie efforts, he sinks the putt for a half and a 1-up victory. As we make our way back up the hill towards the clubhouse for some much-needed refreshment, I thank Thomson for the game and apologize for my ragged play. “Nonsense,” he replies. “We nearly got them at the end there, but that’s beside the point. When you reach my age and can still take enjoyment out of the game that makes it a great day.”
A Hong Kong golfer receiving an invitation to the Masters? Maybe not this year, but the chance of one of our own teeing it up at Augusta in the not too distant future isn’t as unlikely as it might sound
WWW.HKGA.COM
WWW.HKGA.COM
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Photography by Rob Brown / Martin Miller
he recent announcement that the winner of the inaugural Asian Amateur Championship, to be played this October at Mission Hills Golf Club, will earn a coveted berth in the first Major of 2010 not only illustrates the growing importance that the golfing powers place in this part of the world, it represents a golden opportunity for Hong Kong’s young talents to make it to the most glamorous stage in world golf. The AAC, an event devised by Augusta National in harness with the R&A and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, will comprise a minimum of two of the top ranked golfers from each of the 32 APGC member countries in 32
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a maximum field of 120 amateur players. Beat the finest amateur golfers on the continent and you’ve earned that all important invite. Speaking at a press conference in Hong Kong in February, Billy Payne, Chairman of the Masters Tournament, said: “We are extremely proud to announce that the winner of the Asian Amateur Championship will receive an invitation to compete in the Masters Tournament. This is an extension of the initiative we announced last April regarding the use of the Masters name, and reputation, to help grow the game of golf around the world.” The winner and runner-up at the AAC will also earn a place in International Final Qualifying for the Open Championship. WWW.HKGA.COM
Hong Kong currently has three worldranked players: 16-year-old Steven Lam, the current Close champion, 15-year-old Jason Hak, who became the youngest player to ever make the cut a European Tour event with his standout performance at last year’s UBS Hong Kong Open and long-hitting Liu Loktin, 15, arguably the most improved golfer in Hong Kong over the past year. While there is still time for other players to make it onto the rankings before the field is determined in the middle of August, Lam and Hak, at 749th and 1505th respectively, look odds-on favourites to seal their place at Mission Hills. Liu, currently ranked 2176th, has an anxious wait ahead of him, but if he can maintain his position the WWW.HKGA.COM
omens look good that he will join them. Of course, gaining a place in the AAC field is one thing; going on to win the tournament is quite another. And with players from the golfing powerhouses of Korea, Japan and Thailand competing, Hong Kong’s representatives will certainly have their work cut out. But the fact that they have the opportunity already shows the mammoth strides that golf has taken in Hong Kong in recent times. A tough ask, certainly. But the chances that a golfer from Hong Kong will one day tee it up alongside the elite of the game at arguably the most famous course in the game just got a whole lot better.
Amen to Amen: The 11th and 12th holes at Augusta National form two-thirds of the most famous stretch in golf; [inset] Chairman of the Masters Tournament Billy Payne in Hong Kong
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