Jin gunning for repeat in Hong Kong

Jin Cheng will compete in the Nov 2-5 PGA Tour China's Clearwater Bay Open at Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club in Hong Kong, scene of the Chinese teen's memorable victory at the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

Jin shot a first-round 62 on his way to winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur title, which earned him a spot in last year's Masters at Augusta National, where the-then 18-year-old missed the cut in his major championship debut but enjoyed global exposure.

Jin has plenty of experience of pro tournaments, playing regularly on the PGA Tour China since 2014. In April, he competed in the PGA Tour's RBC Heritage on a sponsor's invite.

In early 2016, he made the cut at both the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and Maybank Championship Malaysia - both European Tour events - after receiving invitations in the wake of his win in Hong Kong.

Now in his second year playing for the University of Southern California Trojans, the 19-year-old has accepted a sponsor's invite to compete at the second Clearwater Bay Open.

"My win there in 2015 was really special as it basically opened a lot of doors for me and obviously booked me a place at the Masters, which is every golfer's dream," Jin said.

"It was tough to win the AAC because I started out well, but then I had to deal with some difficult weather," said Jin, who hails from Beijing.

"It's going to be pretty special, pretty emotional, to go back to Hong Kong and play there again. A lot of memories will come back and hopefully I'll see a few people I remember."

Jin was only 16 in November 2014 when he became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour China title by claiming the Nine Dragons Open in Zhejiang province.

He recorded five other top-10 finishes in 18 events on the circuit in 2014 and 2015 before moving to the US last year, winning The Players Amateur in South Carolina in July.

"I played a lot on the PGA Tour China when I lived there, so I'm comfortable playing against pros," said Jin.

"I know a lot of the top Chinese players like Dou Zecheng and Zhang Xinjun, and it's been great to see them play their way on to the Web.com Tour and now the PGA Tour as well.

"This will be my first PGA Tour China event for a couple of years and hopefully I'll play well. I know the players are still strong because even when some guys move on to bigger Tours, others come back from the Web.com Tour and even the PGA Tour. It should be fun."

Lin Yuxin will be another amateur to watch after the 17-year-old lefthander shared seventh place at last week's Hainan Open in Sanya.

Lin was only 16 in April when he made the cut at the European Tour's Shenzhen International, while last November he was the top amateur at the inaugural Clearwater Bay Open.

(China Daily 10/22/2017 page12)