Shanghai: Australia’s Scott Hend will be out to prove his worth when he spearheads the Asian Tour challenge at the WGC-HSBC Champions which tees off at the Sheshan International Golf Club on Thursday.
Hend, who leads the Asian Tour Order of Merit, is determined to be in a similar position and hit the front quickly when the elite 78-man field gets the action going at the year’s final World Golf Championship.
“I really enjoy playing on this golf course and considering how I finished in Malaysia, I’m really confident with my form coming into this week,” said Hend, who shook off the effects of food poisoning before finishing with a morale boosting tied-seventh result in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The big-hitting Australian has already won twice in Thailand this season and is looking to end the year on the high with another win and capturing the Order of merit crown.
“Winning the Order of Merit would be a great achievement as that will justify how well I’ve played in Asia over the years.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to win nine times in Asia and I finished second a fair few times on the merit race. I would hope to win at least one more time again this year as that would cap a fantastic season for me,” said Hend.
Hend will be up against the world’s best players including eight of the world's top-10 players at the US$9.5 million WGC-HSBC Champions.
American Dustin Johnson, who is the highest ranked player this week, will be going in search of his second WGC-HSBC Champions title following his win in 2013.
“It feels good. It's a place I really like. I like the golf course. I've had a lot of success here and it's a place I look forward to coming to every year,” said Johnson.
Having taken a well-rested break, the world number two is feeling refreshed and ready to cement his place as one of golf’s superheroes, a theme for this year’s WGC-HSBC Champions.
“The game right now is in pretty good shape. I've had three weeks off, so took a nice little break, but you know, it's good to get back into the mode of tournament golf and I'm excited to be here,” said ‘The Heat’ Johnson.
Defending champion Russell Knox of Scotland will be aiming for another surprise again as he prepares for a stout defence of his WGC-HSBC Champions title.
“This is my first professional title defence, so I'm really going to try to soak it all in and do my best and see what happens. But by no means, am I going to put extra pressure on myself to try and do it again.
“It's amazing when you get to play against the strongest fields in golf. There are so many massive names here as there was last year and it's the best way to test your game to see how good you stack up against the best of the best,” said Knox.
For more details on the WGC-HSBC Champions and all ticket information, please visit www.HSBCgolf.com/mens or follow official WeChat account: HSBCChampions
