PGA / Chris Ryan / 05 November 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

That the Far East is in the midst of a golf craze there can be little doubt. And we're beginning to see the results in the form of top professional players bubbling to the surface, writes Brian Heard.

Look at the LPGA Tour - 47 players from South Korea, five from Taiwan, four from Japan, three from Thailand and one from China.

Then on the PGA Tour Korea's Y.E. Yang made a big splash this season, winning twice, including the PGA Championship, of course. Japan's Ryuji Imada won for the first time on Tour last season and 18-year-old starlet Ryo Ishikawa has already won six times in Japan, played on the International team at this year's Presidents Cup and made five starts on the PGA Tour. It can't be too long before he's here full-time and that others will follow.

In China, where a star-studded international field of professionals is getting together this week at the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions event at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, growth of the game has been slow, but is picking up momentum fast.

The late start isn't shocking considering the first golf course wasn't built in China until 1984. Now there are approximately 400 - which still isn't a lot to service a country of 1.3 billion. But it's a start.

And events like this week's, the fifth HSBC Champions, but the first as a WGC event, will only help grow the game in Asia.

"China is obviously a growing market, and the growing power of the game of golf obviously is reflective in this event; to be at the level that it is now the World Golf Championship," said Tiger Woods this week. "I think it's a celebration of what all of Asia is trying to do for the game of golf and how it's trying to grow. And to have a World Golf Championship for the very first time in Asia is tremendous."

The field

Like the other WGC events, players need to qualify for the HSBC Champion's select field of 78 - there is no cut. The qualifying system is pretty complicated (13 separate categories are used). But suffice it to say the event gets the best players and/or top winners from the PGA, European, Japanese, Asian, Australasian and Sunshine tours, plus some Chinese players.

To the point, that means 15 of the top 20 players in the world are in Shanghai. You'll be familiar with many of the names (World Ranking in parentheses): Tiger Woods (1), Phil Mickelson (2), Paul Casey (4), Lee Westwood (5), Padraig Harrington (6), Henrik Stenson (7), Sergio Garcia (9), Jim Furyk (10) and so on.

What that means is that after four weeks - though last week's Viking Classic never did tee off and was eventually cancelled due to weather - of the Fall Series featuring many of the lesser-known players on the PGA Tour, we finally get a chance to see the big boys and some players we may not be all that familiar with.

Of the 78 in the field, 21 countries are represented, including rarely heard from Eastern countries (from a golfing point of view) India, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore and obviously China.

Should be entertaining stuff.

Predictions

Picks to win:

Tiger Woods - Look, I'm no idiot. The dude's made 17 starts on the PGA Tour won six times, finished second three times and made the top 10 14 times. Do I really need to say he's the best golfer on the planet? Something he'll likely prove this week amid a very international field?

Geoff Ogilvy - This is the kind of event where the talented Australian seems to thrive. He certainly won't be fazed by the star power or what's sure to be a massive gallery. Is he in top form? No, you can't say that. But after a slow start he finished well at the Presidents Cup a month ago, including a singles win over Steve Stricker.

Lee Westwood - He's going to win something really big on the world stage sooner or later, so why not sooner. We know the 36-year-old Englishman has the game, we know he can compete with the best in the world - eight top-10s at Majors in his career, including five top-5s, and he tied for second at last year's WGC-Bridgestone. He's coming off a win two weeks ago at the Portugal Masters. Maybe it's time.

Others to watch:

Padraig Harrington - The 38-year-old Irishman has turned around a season that began miserably - no top-10s and six missed cuts in his first 14 PGA Tour starts. But in the last six, he's been in contention in each, finished in the top 10 in each, including two runners-up, and would have won two or three of 'em if he hadn't hit some truly bizarre shots down the stretch and taken some back-breaking scores on several key holes. That said, he's a proven winner with a good all-round game.

Rory McIlroy - Let's stay with the Emerald Isle theme, albeit moving up the coast a few miles to Northern Ireland. Wins like this would be are expected for the 20-year-old wunderkind. No time like the present to start delivering on the potential. Played well at The Masters (tied for 20th), the U.S. Open (tied for 10th) and really well at the PGA Championship (tied for third) - the limelight won't bother him this week. Plus, he won earlier this year for the first time as a pro on the European Tour and is third on that tour's Order of Merit (money list).

Y.E. Yang - Hey, we've been talking Asian, so why not continue the conversation? He's a more likely choice than the other Asians in the field and he'll certainly be a fan favorite. Obviously he has the mental capacity to handle a big stage - having reeled in then surpassed one Eldrick T. Woods on Sunday at the PGA Championship. Plus, a win this week just might put him in the conversation for PGA Tour Player of the Year.