'Tiger Dads' in search of China's Tiger Woods

China is mobilising the state behind golf, but 13-year-old Ye Wocheng, the youngest player to compete on the European Tour, says officials should turn instead to the country's "tiger" parents to find the next Tiger Woods.

Golf was once banned in Communist China as a bourgeois indulgence, but its return to the Olympics has seen Beijing build a high-tech $80 million training complex and enlist its rigid education system in a search for new stars.

While officials are looking to satisfy the national urge for medals, a wave of child prodigies is already emerging, tutored by foreign coaches and ingrained with an insatiable desire to succeed by their wealthy, highly-disciplined parents.

Ye made history earlier this year when he played at the Volvo China Open aged just 12 years and 242 days.

The schoolboy smashed the record set by compatriot Guan Tianlang, who astonished the world in April when he made the Masters cut at the age of 14.

The rise of golfers like Ye and Guan outside China's sporting infrastructure throws up potential challenges for Beijing, which presents individual talents as state-moulded patriotic champions, rather than self-motivated sports stars.

China has now introduced golf into its Soviet-like sports school system for the first time, and its ultra-modern training centre in Shandong province is expected to be a production line for future champions, with an eye on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

But Ye -- who still wears braces -- believes China's future as a golfing superpower will be down to individual hard work, along with a dose of firm parenting.

"There will be lots of great (Chinese) players in the future," he told AFP, predicting half the world's top 100 will come from China in 20 years, a huge improvement for a country which currently has only six in the PGA's top 1,000, with its top player Liang Wenchong at 107.

"This is because in China a lot of children play golf and they are all conscientious and hard working. They train hard and also the parents are very strict.

"Sometimes, if the kids don't play golf well, the parents will hurl abuse at them or even hit them," he added, with a serious stare belying his age.

Strict parenting is common in China, particularly with regards to education, and sometimes sport.

The tough approach became a media phenomenon in 2011, when Chinese-American professor Amy Chua's book "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother" detailed how she insisted on top marks from her kids.

The best golfer of recent years, Tiger Woods, a child prodigy who was on television aged two, has often praised his ex-military father and Thai mother for helping develop his competitive edge, and said in 2007 he would be a "disciplinarian" with his own children.

Ye lives with his parents -- who he says are "not strict" -- in the southern city of Dongguan in Guangdong, China's most affluent province, although the family are considering moving to the US to focus on his golf.

His father, a wealthy interior designer, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Ye's training, and has recruited British former professional David Watson, who coached Lee Westwood and Justin Rose when they were amateurs.

Ye trains at Lion Lake Country Club near Guangzhou, a lavish dual-course complex containing China's largest inland yacht club and a "southern California-style" clubhouse.

Guan also trains there, and his image is everywhere, with his trophies on show in the restaurant.

"We have an exclusive putting green just for Guan," said club president Zheng Jingfen. "And we don't charge him to use the course, as youngsters need an environment to develop their skills."

Club officials say several families have moved into the local area purely to develop their children's golf.

A few hours away is the enormous Mission Hills complex in Dongguan, the world's largest golf club with 12 sprawling courses.

Ye won an under-18 tournament there in June, carding a two round two-under-par total of 142 on its World Cup course, designed by golf legend Jack Nicklaus.

Its Mission Hills Golf Series Junior Tour is open to children as young as nine, and competitor Chen Geyi, 14, was born Beijing, 2,000 kilometres to the north, but said he moved to Shenzhen when he was a toddler because "you cannot play golf in the winter in Beijing".

His father Chen Daxin says the family relocated to warmer climes for "work reasons", but admits he has spent a fortune on developing his son's golf.

"Parents basically don’t bother too much about cost when it comes to children's interests," said the 43-year-old, brushing off suggestions he was a strict parent.

Some "give up their career and life to throw everything into their children's future" Chen added, before taking his son's clubs on his shoulder.

Moynihan - Irish golf's next big thing?

We’re only guessing here but one suspects that Dr Bob Rotella, the world renowned mental guru, would love Gavin Moynihan.

“Golf is a game of mistakes and unpredictable fortune,” the Doc wrote in Golf Digest back on 2004. “Golfers who understand and love the game accept it rather than fight it. They realise the essence of golf is reacting well to inevitable mistakes and misfortunes.”

I’ve yet to see Moynihan, the youngest Irish Walker Cup player since Rory McIlroy, play with anything other than a grin on his freckled face. Having turned 19 on September 17, he is living the dream as a freshman at the University of Alabama, arguably the greatest hotbed of amateur golfing talent in the United States.

Not only is the women’s golf team, where Stephanie Meadow is the standout star, ranked amongst the top three in the US, the men’s team was voted the No. 1 team in the country in a preseason poll of coaches.

In June, the men’s team won the NCAA Championship for the first time, which meant sweet redemption for the Crimson Tide, as they are known, as they beat Illinois 4-1 in the final just 12 months after their painful defeat to a Texas side led by Jordan Spieth.

Speith is now a PGA Tour winner and one of golf’s biggest young stars and Moynihan has a few more hotshots in his team in the shape of Justin Thomas (20), Cory Whitsett (21) and Bobby Wyatt (21), who were all on the USA Walker Cup side that faced his Great Britain and Ireland side at the National Golf Links of America at the start of September.

Whitsett, the 2007 US Junior Amateur champion, captured this year’s prestigious Northeast Amateur when he closed with a 63, the lowest final-round score by a winner in the tournament’s 52 year history. 

Thomas won both the 2012 Fred Haskins Award and the 2012 Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer, as well as the 2012 Phil Mickelson Award, for the outstanding freshman in Division I men’s golf. He also made the cut in the Travelers Championship, finishing tied for 30th, five shots ahead of Padraig Harrington and six better than Lee Westwood. As for Wyatt, his claim to fame is that he shot a 57 at the 2010 Alabama State Junior Championship. 

“Yeah,” Moynihan says with a chuckle, “we’ve some serious players on the team. There was plenty of banter before the Walker Cup.”

The banter included some competitive action around the team’s practice chipping green at the Ol’ Colony Golf Complex, close to the college’s Tuscaloosa campus. In fact, when it comes to getting the most out of his game, the Donabate youngster has a lot in common with another Irishman who triumphed in the state of Alabama - Graeme McDowell.

The 2010 US Open champion went to the rival University of Alabama, Birmingham and broke scoring records set by the likes of Tiger Woods and Luke Donald en route to becoming the top collegiate player in the US. Moynihan, naturally enough, regards him as a hero to rival his father Michael, who introduced him to the game.

“He doesn’t hit it miles, he just plots his way around,” the Dubliner says of McDowell, though he could easily be describing his own game. “He’s got a great short game and he’s a good putter, so he’s definitely one that I look up to. Shane [Lowry] is another one. His short game is so good and he doesn’t try to overpower a golf course. He just plays to his strengths all the time.”

Moynihan’s father brought him to Donabate Golf Club when he was seven. Soon he was having lessons with the great Hugh Jackson, a man who once finished eighth behind the legendary Jack Nicklaus in the 1970 Open Championship at St Andrews.

A former assistant to 1947 Open champion Fred Daly at Balmoral, “Jacko” as Moynihan likes to call him, is a highly respected tournament winner, a World Cup player as well as a former winner of the Irish Championship in strokeplay and matchplay format.

Moynihan moved from Donabate to The Island three years ago but while he never won a Boys title, his CV is impressive. In 2011 he matched Rory McIlroy by winning the Nick Faldo Junior Series Grand Final in Europe. Then last year he became the youngest home winner of the Irish Amateur Open at the age of 17, joined Lee Westwood and Justin Rose on the list of winners of the prestigious Peter McEvoy Trophy for under 18’s at Copt Heath and then top scored for Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup at Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago. 

His 2013 season did not really begin until he had finished his Leaving Certificate, yet he still managed to defend his Irish Amateur Open title at Royal Dublin in May, making a playoff, before going on to seal his Walker Cup place with top drawer performances in the European Individual Championship and the Home Internationals.

GUI national coach Neil Manchip is impressed by his ability to score, a skills that’s all but unteachable.

“There were always guys who were bigger than him or hit it further but he always had the ability to get it around the course in as few shots as he could,” Manchip says. “His short game is great and he’s very creative around the greens. Getting it around and scoring is completely innate.

“Some younger lads might grow up being great ball-strikers and might not be great at making a score and can learn to do that later, but he’s definitely one of he ones who always had it and always got the best out of himself. 

“He’s always had great determination and great creativity and took to golf very easily. He’s very good at managing himself and very honest with his own game and self-reliant. That will stand to him in the US. 

“Comparisons are futile but he’s very similar to Shane in that wherever he is on the course, he is never out of a hole, he is always capable of coming back from a few down and will always fight to the end. He won’t always get the best out of himself but he will give it his best shot. They are both very self-reliant and do the best they can.

“He is one of the few guys I have ever seen that all the English players kind of look at and admire and respect. We rarely have players like that, that they would really look up to and he is certainly one of those.”

Moynihan can’t wait to get going in the US, a far cry from those early days on the range at Donabate.

“I just went out of a game with my dad and just caddied for him and walked round. Then Hugh had lessons every Saturday morning so I went to them and got my handicap down and went from there. 

“I started off with 36 when I was 11 and in the first year I was down 12 or 13 shots. Then when I was 14 I was off about five and at 16 I was a plus handicap. Now I’m off plus four.”

The strength of Moynihan’s game is that he knows his strengths and plays to them rather than trying to keep up with the bombers.

“Sometimes I can hit it absolutely terrible and shoot a 74 or 73,” He says. “That’s my strength. I don’t really let a score get away from me and grind away to get something out of it. I love it at The Island now, it’s a fantastic place and I’ve got great support there now and great facilities. I’m not one to hit the range for hours, I just love to work on my short game and go out and play.”

The future looks bright for a player who has big plans for the future but prefers to keep his feet on the ground for now.

“Hopefully I will do well here in Alabama,” he says. “If I get on good run in a year or two I will probably think about doing the same as Kev [team mate Kevin Phelan], finish college and go pro then.  

“I have a great bunch of lads here in Alabama. Corey, Bobby and a few guys from the Walker Cup. It’s great. Just fantastic here. I just can’t wait.”

Golf-Sherwood signals a worthy season for elite field

THOUSAND OAKS, California, Dec 3 (Reuters) - For the 18 players vying for supremacy at this week's Northwestern Mutual World Challenge in glorious early winter weather, merely qualifying for the field is confirmation of a successful year.

Though the four-round tournament hosted by five-times champion Tiger Woods is not a PGA Tour event, it offers official world ranking points and every player competing at Sherwood Country Club this week is ranked in the top 30.

"Sherwood is a lovely place to come to, and California this time of the year is a great place to play," England's Lee Westwood told Reuters on Tuesday after an extended practice session in bright sunshine with his swing coach Sean Foley.

"There only being 18 players, you know you have to be at the top of the world rankings to play in the event."

Asked what he felt was the single best thing about qualifying for the elite 18-man field, Westwood replied: "I think the exclusivity really, that and Sherwood."

Jordan Spieth, who won the John Deere Classic in July before capping a sensational debut season by being voted the PGA Tour's Rookie of the Year for 2013, was especially delighted to be making his maiden appearance at the event.

The 20-year-old, ranked 22nd in the world, was a late addition to the field after fellow American Brandt Snedeker pulled out as he continues to recover from a leg injury.

"I'm very excited," Spieth told reporters while preparing for Thursday's opening round. "I got in by an unfortunate way, I guess.

"Obviously, we're wishing the best to Brandt to be healthy. This is actually the second time he's let me into an event. He let me into the (2012) U.S. Open back at Olympic Club, so I owe him a Christmas present.

"I was very, very excited to get the call that I was in (the field) here and I needed to get my game ready quickly, because I was a little rusty getting some of it off."

Spieth, who recorded nine top-10s starts in 23 starts on the 2013 PGA Tour, has not competed since finishing 17th at the WGC-HSBC Champions in China a month ago.

Woods, who beat compatriot Zach Johnson by one shot to win the most recent of his World Challenge titles in 2011, is delighted with the quality of the players assembled at Sherwood this week.

"It's the deepest and strongest field that we've had possibly ever," the world number one said. "It's going to be a great week, one that everyone is going to enjoy. I'm really looking forward to it."

Woods heads the elite field but will face a strong challenge from players such as Northern Irish world number six Rory McIlroy, seventh-ranked American Matt Kuchar and 10th-ranked Austtralian Jason Day.

Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell, who won last year's title by three shots, will be bidding to triumph at Sherwood for a third successive year.

The full 18-man field: Woods, McIlroy, Kuchar, Steve Stricker, Day, Jason Dufner, McDowell, Ian Poulter, Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Spieth, Lee Westwood, Bubba Watson, Bill Haas and Hunter Mahan. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Hong Kong needs to keep Open alive, says Jimenez

It is tough getting old. The Hong Kong Open, which this week celebrates its 55th anniversary, will get underway in perfect conditions in Fanling on Thursday, but with a star-less field which prompted defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez to urge organisers to get their act together and “keep alive this famous tournament”.

The Spaniard has a vested interest, being one of a select few to have won the tournament three times. If he defends his title on Sunday, he will join Taiwan’s Hsieh Yong-yo as the only player to win Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event four times.

Jimenez was concerned on hearing the tournament had faced a rough few months as it failed to find a title sponsor and lost millions of dollars of funding from the government’s Mega Events Fund.

“It would be sad if this tournament is to disappear after 55 years,” said Jimenez. “This must be kept alive and I hope another title sponsor will step in soon.”

The 49-year-old Spaniard, who last year became the oldest player on the European Tour to win a tournament – the event being co-sanctioned along with the Asian Tour – said he could understand why the world’s top players had stayed away this year. Some are playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, and others joining the Tiger Woods World Challenge in California, both of which offer millions more in prize money.

“It is important for this tournament to attract the big names. But it is a pity that there are not more weeks during the year and I can understand why the top players are not here. They are professionals and they have to make tough decisions. As for me, I just love coming back to Hong Kong and playing on this old-fashioned course,” Jimenez said.

The absence of government funding – last year the MEF pumped in HK$15 million – has resulted in the Hong Kong Open, probably for the first time in recent decades, not coughing up appearance fees to attract the big names. Even John Daly’s appearance – surprisingly not publicised by the organisers – is on a sponsors’ invite.

At Tuesday’s pre-tournament media conference attended by the ‘star’ players – two ageing pros, Jimenez and Zhang Lianwei, and two budding teenagers, Jason Hak Shut-yak and Guan Tianlang – much was made of the illustrious names who had won this event: among them Rory McIlroy (2011), Colin Montgomerie (2005), Padraig Harrington (2003), Jose Maria Olazabal (2001), Tom Watson (1992), Bernhard Langer (1991), Ian Woosnam (1987) and Greg Norman (1983 and 1979).

Jimenez, a winner in 2004, 2007 and 2012, has played against most of the big names at Fanling. This year, he is the highest-ranked player (48th) to turn up.

So will it make life easier for him in a bid to clinch title number four? “It is easy when you win. And you win shot by shot, hole by hole and that is always tough. It doesn’t matter who is in the field you always have to give your 100 per cent,” said the Spaniard.

“And we have some great players here this week. We have Zhang who is very experienced and then we have these two new spirits coming up [Hak and Guan].”

For Hong Kong’s Hak it will be his first major event since turning pro two months ago. The 19-year-old, who is based in Florida, has played here three times previously and always made the cut. China’s Guan, 15, is still an amateur who caught the world’s headlines when he became the youngest player, at 14, to play in the Masters.

This week’s Hong Kong Open might be robbed of star power, but it certainly has the stars of tomorrow.

Graeme McDowell among star names set to battle for EurAsia Cup honours

Graeme McDowell, the first of four automatic qualifiers, will be among the biggest names starring for Team Europe at the inaugural EurAsia Cup.

McDowell will be joined in Malaysia by Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, all four securing their places on the team thanks to their final position in The 2013 Race to Dubai.

Having claimed the winning point at The 2010 Ryder Cup and as the current Volvo World Match Play champion, McDowell knows a thing or two about the pressures of team golf and the unique nature of match play.

The 2010 US Open Champion will be a huge presence both inside and outside the ropes for Euro team captain Miguel Angel Jiménez, and he is relishing the chance to contribute to more European success.

“I am really looking forward to playing the EurAsia Cup,” said McDowell, who finished the 2013 season fourth in The Race to Dubai.

“It’s a great concept to bring Asia and Europe together and I think it has a lot of potential to become a very big event. Everyone knows the standards in Asian golf are continually rising and I have no doubt it will be a tough job to go away from home and win.

“But if we gel as a team and get the pairings right then we will have a chance because there will be a lot of quality and experienced players in the European Team and I am sure a few of them will be looking to sharpen their match play skills with an eye on The Ryder Cup next year.”

Sanctioned by The European Tour and the Asian Tour, The EurAsia Cup will pit ten of the finest golfers from Asia against ten stars of Europe over three days of Ryder Cup-styled matchplay golf at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from March 27-29, 2014.

Thongchai Jaidee’s Team Asia will include the leading four available Asian players from the final 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit, the leading three available Asian players invited on the basis of their Official World Golf Ranking, the playing captain and two captain’s picks.

Europe, on the other hand, will select the leading four available players from the final 2013 Race to Dubai, the leading four available players from the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday, February 3, 2014, the playing captain and one captain’s pick by Jiménez.

McDowell and co up for EurAsia Cup

Graeme McDowell, the first of four automatic qualifiers, will be among the biggest names starring for Team Europe at the inaugural EurAsia Cup.

After being unveiled as European captain, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jiménez announced the first four automatic qualifiers for his 10-man team to face Thongchai Jaidee's Asian Team at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from March 27-29, 2014.

McDowell will be joined in Malaysia by Jamie Donaldson, Victor Dubuisson and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño, all four securing their places on the team thanks to their final position in the 2013 Race to Dubai.

Having holed the winning putt at the 2010 Ryder Cup and as the current Volvo World Match Play Champion, McDowell knows a thing or two about the pressures of team golf and the unique nature of match play.

The 2010 US Open Champion will be a huge presence both inside and outside the ropes for Jiménez, and he is relishing the chance to contribute to more European success.

"I am really looking forward to playing the EurAsia Cup," said McDowell, who finished the 2013 season fourth in the Race to Dubai. "It's a great concept to bring Asia and Europe together and I think it has a lot of potential to become a very big event.

"Everyone knows the standards in Asian golf are continually rising and I have no doubt it will be a tough job to go away from home and win.

"But if we gel as a team and get the pairings right then we will have a chance because there will be a lot of quality and experienced players in the European Team and I am sure a few of them will be looking to sharpen their match play skills with an eye on The Ryder Cup next year."

Donaldson, Dubuisson and Fernandez-Castaño are three such players who know that a strong showing in the EurAsia Cup could boost their Ryder Cup hopes.

"It's great to have qualified for the team," said Donaldson winner of the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Champions. "I have played for Great Britain and Ireland in the last two Seve Trophies and really enjoyed those experiences so it will be interesting to now represent Europe in a team competition.

"It's obviously a big year for team golf in Europe with the EurAsia Cup in March and then The Ryder Cup in September so I am looking forward to trying to be involved in two winning European teams."

Dubuisson, meanwhile, is still living in dreamland after his unforgettable victory over Tiger Woods and the rest of the best at the Turkish Airlines Open in November changed the path of his career. The young Frenchman's victory in Turkey helped him finish the year at sixth in the Race to Dubai to qualify for Jiménez's EurAsia Cup team.

"It's amazing to qualify for this team," said Dubuisson. "Winning in Turkey has changed so many things in my career and this is another benefit. It's been a bit of a dream to be honest but hopefully I can continue to play at this level and help the team win the Cup."

Fernandez-Castaño, winner of the BMW Masters presented by SRE Group in October, is relishing the chance to play under his old friend and compatriot Jiménez.

"It will be an honour to represent Europe and a very special week for to play under Miguel," said Fernandez-Castaño. "Spanish players have a rich history of playing for and then captaining European teams in Seve Trophies and Ryder Cups and it is nice to be a part of that tradition.

"The EurAsia Cup is a fantastic idea and could become something very special - this could be the beginning of a very special era of team golf for Asia and Europe and it is great to be involved the first match because it will be an historic occasion."