Golfing stars converge on China

Tue Nov 3 2009 14:37:31

The world's top golfers are meeting in China this week to compete in Asia's first World Golf Championship.

World number one Tiger Woods, making his third trip to Shanghai is still looking for a first HSBC Champions title but now has the added incentive of claiming what would be his 17th World Golf Championship (WGC) victory.

Asked about his hopes for next year, Woods said he was always looking to improve on his performance after recovering from injury.

"As far as 2010, I am looking forward to hopefully building on what I have done this year. After coming off of the surgery last year and playing consistently this year, it was a big bonus and I'm really looking forward to continuing that and hopefully trying to improve on that and obviously win a few more tournaments and hopefully get a major in there," he said.

The HSBC Champions tournament has been elevated this year to become one of the four annual WGC events and the first in Asia.

With last month's vote to include golf in the Olympics, China is also looking to roll out the red carpet for such high-key tournaments to spur on the development of golf in the country.

Woods will face no easy field, with world number two Phil Mickelson and defending champion Sergio Garcia both looking to get their hands on the coveted trophy and prize money.

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