Home favourite loving the Challenge in Foshan
2015-10-23 00:32:24
Zi-hao Chen was the leading home contender after the opening round of The Foshan Open and the 19 year old has added motivations to compete this week as he chases a place in The European Tour’s WGC-HSBC Champions next month.
Hailing from nearby Zhuhai, in the same province as this week’s host venue in Foshan City, the home favourite carded six birdies in a flawless opening round 66 to move into a share of third place on six under.
Playing alongside Englishman Gary Boyd, Chen thoroughly enjoyed his first outing on the Challenge Tour as a professional – although he did play last year as an amateur – and he is now hoping to build on his strong start and force his way into contention to play in the second event of the Final Series on The Race to Dubai.
“I’m very happy about that round and I’m feeling really good right now,” he said. “I played here last year so I know the course, although this is my first time playing The Foshan Open as a professional so I very much enjoy the tournament.
“The course suits my playing style - I have a rather low ball flight and it rolls well on the firm fairways. This is my ninth consecutive week on tour, so it is a bit tiring for me. However, I am happy to be around my home city, I have had a good rest at home to freshen up a bit, and it’s like a new me now.
“I am working hard on my world ranking among the other Chinese players now and hopefully, if I can do well this week, then I might be able to get a spot in The European Tour tournaments in China next month.
“The Challenge Tour players are all pretty nice and we talk about Europe a lot so I really enjoy that. Gary loves Manchester United and so do I so it was great to talk to him about that too, it made the round very fun. My family were with me and watched me play which is nice.
“This tournament for us is very special. There are a lot of top players from Europe here and we can play with them and learn a lot. It will definitely help Chinese golf progress. It’s a very special week.”
