South Africa’s Retief Goosen is determined to win the UBS Hong Kong Open this week to erase the memory of missing the cut last year.
The two-time United States Open winner said he is looking to improve on a top-20 finish at last week’s HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai.
”It is a great golf course this week, even though it is tricky with a lot of short, tricky holes,” he said. ”Last year I just never really got anything going. This year hopefully will be a bit different.”
Goosen, currently ranked 21st in the world, arrived in Hong Kong on Monday and spent Tuesday morning climbing a mountain with his wife.
”I will see the course tomorrow, but it looks in good shape. I hit a lot of good shots last week. I am looking to win,” he said.
But he expects tough competition from Asian tour regulars as well as former US Masters champion Mike Weir and Korea’s KJ Choi, at 12 the top-ranked player competing here.
”There are a lot of great [Asian] players coming through now,” Goosen said. ”We have had a couple of guys winning on the European tour like [Korea’s] Yang who won the HSBC Champions last year, so we have a lot of good players coming up from the Asian side. Hopefully I can be one of the guys up there on Sunday.”
On a less serious note, Goosen prompted laughter when asked what he thought of HSBC Champions winner Phil Mickelson’s intention to play more tournaments in Asia.
”Well, he did find out that there is another world besides America,” Goosen said. ”It was nice to see that he got off his arse and travelled around the world a bit. It was about time that he did too. Obviously, he won last week, which would have made the trip even more special.” — Sapa-AFP