Tag Archives: Rory McIlroy

China’s Li Haotong bests Rory to surge up world rankings, as Marbury confirms retirement

Here is a summary of this week’s China Sports column for SupChina, which you can read in full here

Continue reading China’s Li Haotong bests Rory to surge up world rankings, as Marbury confirms retirement

Did China really ban golf or not?

Headlines last week left readers with little doubt about the state of golf in China:

Pretty clear, right? Well, actually, no. As this article from shougolf.com points out [in Chinese], it turns out that the Washington Post and the BBC (its two main targets) and others jumped the gun somewhat on their “China bans golf/golf club memberships” headlines.

Picture courtesy of CNN
Picture courtesy of CNN

Continue reading Did China really ban golf or not?

Rory’s China snub does double damage

The HSBC Champions teed off in Shanghai on Thursday and, despite attracting 40 of the world’s top 50 golfers, the Chinese won’t be paying much attention. That’s because there’s no Tiger Woods and no Rory McIlroy.

Rory-McIlroy-mainTiger has an excuse – he’s been injured and hasn’t played since August – but Rory? Officially, he’s preparing for a court case 4-6 months from now. Unofficially, he’s tired after a long season, China is a long way away, he’s still likely to win the big end of season climax without playing here, he won’t make as much money as last year, or perhaps a little of everything. Whatever the truth, it doesn’t reflect too well on McIlroy – and it hurts Chinese golf too. This week’s Sports Talk column is below:  Continue reading Rory’s China snub does double damage

麦克罗伊缺席中国赛有损高尔夫推广

高尔夫中国大师赛正在如火如荼地进行当中。作为主要比赛地,北京、上海、海南吸引了全世界最优秀的男女高尔夫球选手。但有一个人的缺席却引起了人们的极大关注,那就是罗里•麦克罗伊。

Rory McIlroy Continue reading 麦克罗伊缺席中国赛有损高尔夫推广

PGA Tour China finally tees off

The long-awaited PGA Tour China Series – a collaboration between the PGA Tour and the China Golf Association – teed off on Thursday at the Mission Hills resort in Haikou on Hainan island, the first of 12 tournaments that will run throughout the year.

The Sandbelt Trails Course, one of 10 courses at Mission Hills, Haikou
The first tournament is at the Sandbelt Trails Course, one of 10 courses at Mission Hills, Haikou

First some background, then some analysis…

Continue reading PGA Tour China finally tees off

No fairytale ending for Masters star Guan in Hong Kong

Chinese golfing prodigy Guan Tianlang made global headlines in April by becoming the youngest golfer ever to make the cut in a major championship, aged just 14. Now at the grand old age of 15, Guan was again competing against the pros last week, this time at the Hong Kong Open.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

Continue reading No fairytale ending for Masters star Guan in Hong Kong

Poulter closes in on Dustin Johnson in Shanghai

To say scores were low on Saturday at the HSBC Champions at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai is something of an understatement. The top five players of the day combined for a total of 41-under-par. Five players. Leading the way was Martin Kaymer, now in 7th, who shot ten birdies for a course record of 62 – beating the mark of 63 he tied two years ago while winning this tournament. Next came Ian Poulter with a 63 (2nd), and Graeme McDowell with a 64 (3rd), and so on…

Continue reading Poulter closes in on Dustin Johnson in Shanghai

Tiger Woods looks east for earning opportunities [UPDATED]

[UPDATE: Fresh off his Hainan payday and his visit to the Venetian Macao, Tiger spent Friday at the Marina Bay Sands casino-hotel in Singapore, where he held a clinic for young golfers and dyslexic children. Again, call me cynical, but the kids + special needs combo is fooling no one: clearly it’s easier to bank a large, guaranteed sum for a couple of hours of work than fight it out over four rounds with the other pros, even if the $8.5 million on offer this week in Shanghai means there’s plenty to go around. These promotional appearances, by the way, have apparently been in the pipeline for “well over a year”, meaning they would have been on his calendar before any golf tournaments were added].

Tiger Woods flew into Hainan in his private jet on Sunday night, picked up a reported $2+ million for swearing his way around a golf course on Monday, and then made the short flight to Macau on Tuesday, where he visited the Venetian resort. Continue reading Tiger Woods looks east for earning opportunities [UPDATED]

DJ goes nuts in Shanghai [UPDATED]

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Apologies if you read the headline and were expecting a story about a dance producer on the rampage in a glitzy club. Marginally less rock and roll – but only by a whisker – was Dustin Johnson’s 9-under-par round of 63 on Friday at the HSBC Champions that took him to 12-under, five shots clear of Bubba Watson, Boo Weekley and first round leader Rory McIlroy. DJ’s round was four shots better than anyone else and included ten birdies and a lone bogey on the 10th.

Continue reading DJ goes nuts in Shanghai [UPDATED]

HSBC Champions Day 1: Rory rolls, Phil implodes

It turns that hollow one-shot victory against a sick, rusty and disinterested Tiger Woods in Hainan may just have done enough to get Rory McIlroy’s season back on track. Paired with Jason Dufner and Luke Donald in the opening round of the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, McIlroy opened birdie-bogey. But six birdies in nine holes took him to -6, and another birdie on the 8th hole (his 17th) put him at -7, two shots ahead of last week’s winner Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and chopsticks maestro Jamie Donaldson. McIlroy rated it as his best round of the year.

Image Continue reading HSBC Champions Day 1: Rory rolls, Phil implodes