Jacobson back in Hong Kong

A debut tour victory in Hong Kong last year kick-started Fredrik Jacobson’s surge up the world rankings and the tobacco-chewing Swede is back in south-east Asia hungry for a repeat performance.

Last season, Jacobson arrived here ranked 115th in the world but carded a 16-under-par total of 260 to win by two shots and give his career an almighty shot in the arm.

Jacobsen went on to win the Algarve Open, the season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain, registered top-10 finishes at both the British and US Open and finished fourth on the European Tour Order of Merit.

Now he is back at the Omega Hong Kong Open ranked 16th in the world and with rising expectations, though only one man, Taiwan’s Hsieh Yung-yo in 1963 and 1964, has ever won successive titles here.

“It certainly was a lucky charm for me,” he said.

“Not many players get a year like I have had. I hope it will be lucky for me this time too. It wasn’t easy winning last year as I had never won before, but I got myself into a situation where I could win and I did.

“I want to get myself into a similar situation this year.”

The competition, though, will be tough around the redesigned par-70 Fanling course at the Hong Kong Golf Club.

Organisers rate this “one of the best fields” in the 45-year history of the Hong Kong Open, helped by a cash injection from the government’s ‘Relaunch Hong Kong’ campaign in the wake of SARS.

Amongst the big-hitters are Darren Clarke, who finished second on the European Tour Order of Merit last year, and Padraig Harrington, the world number 10.

Harrington enters the €572,605 tournament as the highest-ranked player in the field, but all eyes will be focussed on his relationship with 2001 Hong Kong Open champion Jose Maria Olazabal.

The pair had a much-publicised falling out at the recent Seve Trophy, when Olazabal thought the Dubliner had accused him of cheating in the way he attended a divot in the third green.

Olazabal had thought it was a pitch mark, which he would be allowed to attend to; Harrington was not certain. The Spaniard was infuriated, conceded the hole and the rest of the round was played in stony silence.

“There is nothing more to say until we meet again,” Harrington said at the time, though his focus this weekend is on nothing more than a repeat of his season-opening victory at the BMW Asian Open in Taiwan last year.

Like Jacobsen in Hong Kong, it was a springboard for a fine season.

“It is a strong field, there are a lot of great players here from Europe and Asia. It is going to be tough but as usual you have just got to play your own game.

“I have not played the course yet but the look of the golf course suits my eye and I hope to do well.

“I have never actually played in Hong Kong and that is one of the reasons why I have come here. I have always looked to play golf around the world and it certainly took my interest to come here.”

It is the in-form Clarke, after a fourth-place finish in the Nedbank Challenge last Sunday, who appears to be the man to beat.

“I need to try and get over the jetlag as quick as I can. I have watched the tournament over the past couple of years on television. I watched Ollie (Olazabal) win two years ago and saw Fredrik win last year so although I have not played the course I know some of the holes,” he said.

India’s Arjun Atwal and Chinese star Zhang Lianwei are locked in their own personal dual in the race to finish top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Zhang trails Atwal by €30,318 with the Hong Kong Open the penultimate event on the Asian calendar.

“I have won in Macau twice, the China Open and now I want the Hong Kong Open,” said Zhang.

“I have had some good finishes in Hong Kong in the past and I like the layout as you need to think your way around the course instead of trying to overpower it. It’s my kind of course.”