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.
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