Lawrence Ting secured his place in the 156-man field for the Volvo China Open after an impressive two-shot victory in the international qualifying event at Nansha Golf Club on Thursday.
The 15 year old sensation from Taiwan showed no sign of nerves as he fired a one over par front nine of 36 blows, with his sole bogey coming on the par fourth fourth following a hooked drive.
For the second day running, Ting kickstarted the back nine with an impressive birdie on the 486-yard par four tenth hole - the longest par four on the Nansha course.
Another birdie from six feet on the 11th took Ting three clear, but bogies on the 12th and 14th placed him in a tie for the lead with Benjamin Lein of the USA and Korea’s Lee Chang-woo.
“I hit my tee shot out of bounds on the 14th but did well to make bogey there,” said Ting, as he clutched the low amateur trophy after the round, his third straight year to accomplish this impressive feat.
“I hit two good drives on 15 and 16 and they settled me down again,” added Ting, who is in the third grade at middle school in Taipei.
“This has been a great experience for me and it was great to once again have my dad as my caddie.
“We get on very well on the golf course and we work well together to figure out which shot to hit.
“My dad wants me to play in a few professional events so that I can learn from the pros. He would also like me to go to the USA on a golf scholarship after I’ve graduated from high school.”
Lee played the best golf of the day to post a bogey-free five-birdie round of 65, the joint lowest score of the two-day event.
“I really didn’t expect to qualify this week as I was very tired yesterday and didn’t putt very well at all,” said the 21 year old Seoul-based Lee.
“I just tried to enjoy my game today and to focus on each and every shot. It was a totally different day to yesterday and now I’m looking forward to competing in the Volvo China Open."
Lein, 23, had a fairly poor start to his round but then almost aced the par three eight hole and followed a short birdie putt there with an eagle on the par five ninth hole after a three-wood and a six iron left him with a ten foot putt.
“The poor start didn’t really worry me as there was plenty of holes left to get back some shots,” said Lein, who lives in Los Angeles.
Ting had to regroup after the two dropped shots on the back nine and he did that with a timely birdie on the par five 16th hole, and then for good measure the teenager holed an audacious 25-foot putt across the 18th green to seal overall victory on five under par 135.
The three qualifiers can now plan their schedule for April as they are assured a coveted place in the RMB 20 million Volvo China Open at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club.
