Li Looks for Strong Start in Sofitel Championship

　　新浪体育讯　Promising Chinese golfer Li Chao said on Wednesday that he will have to banish early hole butterflies to stand a chance of upstaging his illustrious countryman Zhang Lian-wei on this year’s eight-event Omega China Tour.

　　Second on last season’s Omega China Tour money list behind Zhang Lian-wei, he hopes to take top spot this year and on the eve of the opening event, the US$100,000 Sofitel Golf Championship, he is focusing on mind over matter.

　　“I am always tense over the opening few holes and have too many negative thoughts about all the things that can go wrong like hitting it out of bounds. I am actually not playing badly at the moment but I need to work on settling down more quickly when I get on the golf course,” said Li, who won twice last season.

　　Li won the Order of Merit title in 2005, which was the inaugural year of the circuit when four events were staged and he claimed two of them.

　　This year the Tour has expanded to eight events, with this week’s tournament being played at Zhongshan International Golf Club in Nanjiing, which is the ancient capital of China. A total of 119 players are competing, a record on the Omega China Tour.

　　“The Tour has quickly grown, there are more events, more players and the standard of play has quickly improved. It would be a great achievement to finish the year on top of the Merit list. I just need to be more assertive,” added the 27 year old.

　　The lanky Li, who stands six foot three inches tall, has made excellent progress in the shadow of Zhang, who is also playing this week, and Liang Wen-chong, China’s first golfing millionaire.

　　In 2001 he won the National Amateur championship and turned professional in 2003. The following year he recorded two top-10 finishes on the Asian Tour, in the Sanya Open and Carlsberg Masters Vietnam and a ninth place in the 2005 Volkswagen Masters in Beijing. His performances there, playing alongside 2005 US Open winner Michael Campbell caused the New Zealander to describe him as “a big talent”.

　　“I didn’t perform well in the recent Asian Tour events in China but feel comfortable with my game and I am looking forward to this week. The course here is certainly one you can attack as the fairways are very wide but the greens are difficult as they are big and undulating,” added Li, who comes from Beijing.

　　A former football goalkeeper, Li, was spotted at the age of 16 by a China Golf Association official and taken to the Beijing No. 77 Secondary School, which specializes in sports such as golf and football.

　　Zhang will once again start as favourite this week – like Li he claimed two titles last year on his way to winning the Omega Order of Merit title, but he has been quick to comment on the increased competitiveness of his peers.

　　“I know everyone has been practicing very hard for this opening event. We have eight events this year so we really boast a strong domestic circuit, meaning it is getting increasingly harder to win. It’s wonderful for golf on the mainland,” said Zhang.