The final tournament of the regular 2015 European Tour season will feature a world-class field, with World Number Seven Justin Rose one of four Major Champions in action in the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Rose will warm up for his assault on the ‘Final Series’ with a first appearance at Hong Kong Golf Club since 2011. The Englishman currently sits in fifth place in The Race to Dubai, thanks in no small part to top six finishes in the US PGA Championship, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, Open Championship and Masters Tournament.
A maiden victory in Fanling – and his first on the European Tour since last year’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open – would see Rose close the gap on World Number Three Rory McIlroy, who leads The Race to Dubai with 3,012,000 points.
Rose said: “Hong Kong is one of my favourite cities in the world, and Fanling is a great golf course. I haven’t played there for four years now, but decided to add the tournament to my schedule to give myself as good a chance as possible of winning The Race to Dubai.
“Fanling is a very traditional, tree-lined, tight course. It’s not long, but a great test of golf and not easy – as the winning score usually tells you. It’s also great to have UBS back on board as title sponsors – they have a great association with the tournament, and we are delighted to have them back.”
The Irish duo of Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell and Korean Y E Yang make up the quartet of Major winners who will descend upon Hong Kong for the 57thedition of the US$2 million tournament.
In recent years, the name of Miguel Angel Jiménez has become synonymous with the UBS Hong Kong Open, the Spaniard having lifted the trophy three times in the last eight editions.
Other notable names in the field include the American duo of Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed, respectively eighth and 20thinthe Official World Golf Ranking.
Defending champion Scott Hend arrives in Fanling on the back of a victory in last week’s Venetian Macao Open on the Asian Tour, which will again co-sanction the UBS Hong Kong Open.
Another recent winner, England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, also makes his return to action following his breakthrough victory in the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
Talented teenager Li Hao-tong, who came agonisingly close to winning the Shenzhen International in his homeland earlier this season, will spearhead the Chinese Challenge along with Liang Wen-chong, the winner of the 2007 Singapore Masters.
The tournament, which was first established in 1959 and joined The European Tour International Schedule in 2001, marks the final chance for players to retain their privileges for next season, with the top 110 players in The Race to Dubai keeping their cards.
