Success in The European Tour’s ‘Final Series’ undoubtedly brings its own rewards, but for four of the star names in the BMW Masters the chance to earn some good fortune came on the eve of the penultimate event of The 2015 Race to Dubai.
Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, two of the world’s leading players, were joined by China’s own star duo Wu Ashun and Li Haotong at the launch of the $7million tournament in Shanghai.
The quartet held a press conference at Lake Malaren Golf Club during which they were also asked questions by four Chinese youngsters, who then joined them in a challenge where they attempted to chip balls at a bell contained inside a giant coin – a local tradition said to bring good luck.
World Number Six Rose and World Number Seven Stenson formed a formidable partnership at last year’s Ryder Cup, winning all three of their matches together, but they will be chasing individual glory this week.
Englishman Rose, who finish tied fourth in last year’s event, is currently fifth in the Race to Dubai and after winning the UBS Hong Kong Open on his last appearance he will be hoping fortune is again in his favour on Chinese soil – particularly as victory in the third event of the Final Series could mean he dislodges Rory McIlroy from the top spot.
Meanwhile, Li will be hoping his fortunes do not change after he recorded the highest finish by a Chinese player in a World Golf Championship event, a share of seventh place at last week’s WGC-HSBC Champions, which was also held in Shanghai. Similarly, Wu became the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event on home soil earlier this season when he triumphed in his national Open.
Justin Rose: “I had a great week in Hong Kong. It was fun and I played really, really well. Lucas Bjerregaard obviously pushed me right to the end and we separated from the field a little bit, so that was fun to have that head-to-head shootout.
“It is always nice to pick up a win late in the season and pick up some points, and obviously that gives me a better shot at The Race to Dubai.
“I feel very good about my game. Getting back from Hong Kong, it was more a case of relaxing and recharging the batteries before a bit of travelling and one final last-ditch effort to try and overtake Rory and Danny and a couple of the other guys ahead of me.
“If I win any of the last two events that puts me ahead of them, depending on what they do. For me it’s fairly simple: I need to play well for the next two weeks.”
Henrik Stenson: “There are a lot of points to play for here this week, and of course in Dubai in the final. So two wins or two really good weeks could do the trick, I guess. So first things first, I’ve got to play well here this week to put myself in position.
“Hopefully I can get off to a quicker start than I did last week and get myself in contention here.”
Li Haotong: “Last week’s performance really helped me lift my confidence. I had actually been struggling quite a bit, but last week it was like an explosion. That really was a career-high for me, and I hope it was a turning point for me to do even better down the line.
“I’m so delighted to be here and to participate in this tournament at Lake Malaren, which is my home course. With the support of all the fans, I would like to do well for them. It is such a happy thing for me to be here, and I would like to enjoy these upcoming days to return the kindness and hospitality of everybody.”
Wu Ashun: “Obviously I’ve been looking forward to this week for a while. Being sponsored by both BMW and Lake Malaren, if I could repeat my success from earlier this year, it couldn’t be a better finish to the season.
“Winning my national Open meant a lot in my life. It was great to win there and the significance was tremendous. It was also a gigantic step for the development of golf in China as well.
“It gave me a chance to play on The European Tour for two years. It’s fantastic to be able to compete with Justin and Henrik, it is such a great pleasure. I certainly would like to do my best on these big occasions.”
DID YOU KNOW – BMW MASTERS:
– The BMW Masters will be the third of the four events which make up the Final Series in 2015.
– The BMW Masters will be the third BMW-sponsored event on The 2015 European Tour International Schedule in 2015, following the BMW PGA Championship and BMW International Open.
– The tournament is to be played at Lake Malaren Golf Club for the fourth year in a row. The course being used is the Masters Course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 2011.
