China enjoyed its best-ever finish in the Omega Mission Hills
World Cup on Sunday, and trailblazers Zhang Lianwei and Liang
Wenchong are convinced they can someday win the team event, which
is considered the "Olympics of Golf".
The Chinese duo combined for a final-round four-under-par 68 at
Mission Hills Golf Club and finished the four-day event tied for
11th place with South Korea's Lee Sung and Lee Seung-ho at
17-under-par 271, eight strokes behind winner Scotland.
China and South Korea were the two best Asian teams in the
28-team competition, which will be held in Mission Hills for the
next 12 years.
"This is a really good tournament and I think we will play even
better next year because throughout these four rounds, I think we
are strong and the best team was playing for China," said Zhang,
whose previous best finish with Liang came at the 2001 World Cup in
Japan where they tied for 17th.
Liang was making only his second World Cup appearance with
Zhang, but the future looks bright for the pair. And with the event
set to remain in China, he knows they will have another chance to
lift the Omega World Cup title.
"We really did our best. Players make mistakes and we did well
in this round. I think the things that we've been doing today are
the best that we can do, and throughout this tournament, I did
learn a lot of things," said Liang, who is also leading the Asian
Tour's UBS Order of Merit.
"We are really happy with where we finished. Six birdies today
were exactly the same as we had in the second round. We coordinated
pretty well and are happy with the result," he said.
With age catching up to him, the 42-year-old Zhang knows he will
not be anchoring the team forever and hopes that the World Cup,
which attracted large and enthusiastic galleries this year, will
speed up the growth of the game in China and unearth new stars.
"I'm really glad that I have this partner (Liang) and this
result is the best ever. I'm 42, and I consider myself a strong
player, but I don't think I can play another 12 years," said
Zhang.
(China Daily November 28, 2007)
