Chinese golfer Liu Wenbo warms up for the CGA Ladies Championship at Mission Hills Resort Haikou, south China's Hainan Province on Nov. 30, 2023. (Photo courtesy of CGA Ladies Championship/Xinhua)
Chinese golfers gear up for the CGA Ladies Championship and look forward to playing their best in front of the home fans.
HAIKOU, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Liu Wenbo is back in China looking to turn around her game in friendly confines after a disappointing season on the Epson Tour in the United States.
Speaking before the start of Friday's CGA Ladies Championship, a RMB 800,000 China LPGA Tour event at Mission Hills Resort Haikou, the 22-year-old is coming off a season where she made only one halfway cut in nine events on the Epson Tour, a feeder circuit to the US LPGA Tour.
Liu, a three-time winner on the CLPGA Tour, could only describe her American campaign as "chaos".
"I worked with more than one coach. I was all ears when they taught and changed something in my swing all the time. Finally, I fell into disorder and struggled on the tour. My miserable money ranking shows how I hit the lowest point in my career."
After losing her card, the Beijinger returned home to work with Scotland's Michael Dickie, a long-time Shanghai-based golf professional, who worked to help restore her confidence.
"Michael helped me analyze that I was in urgent need of a change. Obviously, I made progress with some good advice that he gave to me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. But I had no tournament to prove what I learned from him. That's why I am here. I don't have any goal. I just want to justify that what I did work on is right," said Liu.
"I still want to go back to the US next year. I will play in China and improve my world ranking, which could make me exempt into the second stage of US LPGA Q-school."
Zhang Yunxuan in the training session.
Trending in the opposite direction is Liu's fellow Epson Tour alumni Zhang Yunxuan. The American-based Chinese is coming off an excellent rookie campaign where she made 12 of 13 cuts, her best being a tie for third at the Guardian Championship in September. A month later, she finished equal eighth at the Epson Tour Championship.
"I played decent on the Epson Tour. However, there is some disappointment, such as not being able to win, being close to contention and not being able to finish the job," said Dallas-based Zhang, who turned 19 on Wednesday.
"This is my first CLPGA event, and pretty much my first Chinese professional event. I chose to play because a few of my friends won here in the past. And seeing them being able to win, this was a huge milestone in their career. I hope that coming back home can potentially help me achieve a first professional win. Next year I want to finish top-10 on the Epson Tour and get my US LPGA card," Zhang said.
With Order of Merit leader Sherman Santiwatthanaphong skipping the event and No. 2 Zeng Liqi in America attempting to qualify for her LPGA Tour card, both Ji Yuai and Sui Xiang have a chance to vault to the top of the money list if either can win this week.
Ji, currently third on the money list, comes into Hainan on the back of a strong campaign in her rookie season. The 18-year-old finished runner-up in both Beijing and Singapore and was seventh at the Zhangjiagang Shuangshan Challenge earlier this month.
The teenager expressed her gratitude to the China Golf Association for its organization of all the junior events she participated in as an amateur helping her to successfully turn pro.
"I would be really happy if I could pick up my maiden pro win at the [CGA's] namesake championship," said Dalian native Ji. "The US LPGA has been my long-term goal since I was a little child. But any long and ambitious journey can be covered only by taking one step at a time. I need to capture my first win, and then the CLPGA money title, before chasing my dream on the US LPGA Tour."
Sui Xiang in the training session.
Sui, who captured her second CLPGA Tour win at the Tianjin Ladies Challenge in April, is coming off a runner-up finish in Zhangjiagang where she was a stroke behind surprise winner Tan Lingling. She is currently fourth on the Order.
"The money title is the most coveted feather in the cap for all players on this tour. I have thought about it more than once, but I don't want to think about it too much," said the Guangdong native. "I have never been good at setting a long goal. One after one short objective better suits me. Hopefully my mind can stay focused on the here and now, do everything right on my hands and play to my best."
This week's tournament has a distinct Australian flavor as Mission Hill's Sandbelt Trails, a 6,317-yard, par-72 layout, was built in a style inspired by that country's famed Sandbelt, home to such courses as Kingston Heath and Royal Melbourne.
The Schmidt-Curley design features large bunkers dominated by high sand flashes, large greens with plenty of undulation and square tee boxes. The gently rolling terrain can be wide in spots allowing for many different angles of attack to the greens.
"The kind of grass is different from what I play week in and week out. The wind might be another factor this week," said Sui. ■