Player’s prediction 12:00, 11/01/2018

Gary Player

The South African golf legend, who has won a staggering 165 tournaments in six continents, regularly imparts his honest-to-goodness views on the ever-expanding landscape in professional golf.
After decades of success, the octogenarian - who turned 82 in November, made a few folks sit up and take notice during a recent Rolex event at an LPGA tournament. Player made a bold prediction that male Chinese golfers would one day take over and dominate the world golfng order despite the current state of affairs where fve American stars - Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka - occupy positions in the world’s top-10 ranking.
“They’ve got this enhanced desire to do well,” Player said about Chinese golfers, which Global Golf Post reported in late November.
Player revealed he wasn’t optimistic when then 14-year-old Chinese amateur Guan Tianlang earned his place at the Masters Tournament in 2013 after winning the Asia-Pacifc Amateur Championship. He feared that Guan would be so out of his depth and be put off from the game.
As it turned out, the youngster proved doubters including Player wrong by making the weekend cut. Player conceded he “couldn’t have been more wrong about the child.” Throw in Li Haotong’s mesmerizing third-place fnish at The Open Championship, Player is convinced the Chinese brigade will soon burst through the gates. WithDou Zecheng, who at 20 is two years younger than Li, and Zhang Xinjun earning PGA TOUR cards after taking a journey which began at the PGATOUR China, the signs are becoming evident that Player could be spot on with his prediction.
His views coincided with another Chinese teenager, 17-year-old Lin Yuxin, earning the dream trip to the Masters Tournament this coming spring after he prevailed in the AsianPacifc Amateur Championship in October.

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Interestingly, Lin has come onto the scene after enjoying numerous opportunities to grind his teeth on the PGA TOUR China, the very same platform which has propelled Dou and Zhang into the world’s premier golf circuit. Over the past three years, Lin played on the PGA TOUR China, making 11 cuts from 13 starts and fnishing as low amateur in seven events throughout 2016 without missing a weekend cut. With the PGA TOUR announcing that it will partner with the China Golf Association (CGA) to stage a full PGA TOUR China schedule in 2018, Commissioner Jay Monahan emphasized the importance. “This is signifcant, really signifcant, for Chinese golf, because Zecheng and Xinjun are the frst two players from China to hold PGA TOUR membership,” Monahan said. “They followed the path from PGA TOUR China to the Web.com Tour, to the PGA TOUR, and they are ideal examples of what you can do when you have immense talent, you dream big and you play on PGA TOUR China.”
With the some of the game’s biggest backers like HSBC collaborating with CGA through itsjunior programme where  players such as Li, now ranked 59th in the world, and Lin have benefted from, Player’s prediction could well become true.