Taipei, June 5, 2008: Hung Chien-Yao of Taipei scored a blistering final round 66 at Sunrise Golf and Country Club to win the first Faldo Series Asia event of the season and book himself a place in the Grand Final.
Following an opening round of 74 in wet and foggy conditions, Hung took advantage of the finer weather on day two of the Chinese Taipei Championship. Trailing the overnight leader by one, the 15-year-old opened his final round with two straight birdies and never looked back. With four more birdies and a bogey-free six-under-par 66, Hung finished nine ahead of his nearest rival, boys’ under-18 winner Hsieh Chi-Hsien.
In the girls’ under-21 division, there were contrasting emotions for two former Faldo champions. 2006 girls’ winner Hsieh Yu-Ling will return to Mission Hills having carded a winning total of 150; but in doing so she denied reigning girls’ champion Lin Tzu-Chi who finished third on 161.
Hung, who also qualified for the 2006 Grand Final, commented: “I really enjoyed meeting Nick Faldo two years ago and was sad to miss out last year, so I’m extremely happy to qualify for the Grand Final again. I start school in the United States in June but I will definitely come back for Mission Hills.”
Supported by Mission Hills, The R&A and UBS, 47 of Chinese Taipei’s leading young golfers, boys and girls aged 11 to 21, competed in the third Chinese Taipei Championship at Sunrise. In a bid to develop tomorrow’s champions, the competitors experienced strict tournament conditions on the 2007 Nomura Cup course, while off the course they received expert advice from Australia PGA professional Brent Davis. 25 local schoolchildren also attended on the final day to receive free coaching and watch the competitors in action, part of Faldo’s drive to simultaneously create access to the sport at a grass-roots level.
Also backed by Korn/Ferry International, the Chinese Taipei Championship was the first of 12 Faldo Series Asia events in 2008/2009, including four in China plus one in each of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, over 60 competitors from across the region will qualify for the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final on the Faldo Course at Mission Hills, China in March 2009. As well as spending time with the six-time Major winner, the finalists will be hoping to emulate the 2007 champion, 17-year-old Rashid Khan of India. Khan’s victory earned him a place in the Faldo Series Grand Final in Europe and, courtesy of the Asian Tour, a start in the Volvo Masters Asia and a scholarship to stage one of Asian Tour qualifying school.
Leading final scores: Boys under-21: 153 – Cho Tsung-Lin (78, 75). Boys under-18: 149 – Hsieh Chi-Hsien (75, 74); 154 – Hung Chun-Kang (76, 78); 157 – Huang Tao (80, 77). Boys under-16: 140 – Hung Chien-Yao (74, 66); 150 – Chien Wen-Hao (77, 73); 153 – Chen Hua (82, 71). Girls under-21: 150 – Hsieh Yu-Ling (73, 77); 151 – Tsai Pei-Ying (80, 71); 161 – Lin Tzu-Chi (78, 83). Girls under-16: 152 – Liu Yi-Zen (77, 75); 158 – Yao Hsuan-Yu (82, 76); 164 – Hsu Wei-Ling (82, 82)
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