Li Haotong was full of confidence as he prepared to tee it up in China for the first time since his victory at the Volvo China Open.
The local favourite finished second in last season's Shenzhen International but truly announced himself on the world stage with a tie for seventh at the WGC-HSBC Champions before going on to win at Topwin Golf and Country Club.
He returns to Sheshan International Golf Club as the second highest-ranked home player in the field and is feeling good as he approaches the end of a season that sees him placed 42nd in the Race to Dubai.
"I feel good about my performance from last year in the WGC-HSBC Champions," he said. "This year up until now I've had wonderful performances and I'm very encouraged.
"I see a lot of good friends coming to support me this year and I feel that the course this time is in a pretty good condition. It's going to be challenging, but I'm looking forward to it."
The 2016 campaign has also seen Li represent his country in the Olympic Men's Golf Competition and he will once again be going up against the world's elite, with eight of the top ten in the Official World Golf Ranking appearing in Shanghai.
The 21 year old admits he has some work to do before he can join that sort of company but he feels comfortable following his experiences in the last 12 months.
"There's still a long way to go," he said. "So I think just try my best. I think just keep working hard and one day I will be there for sure, I know that. So let's see.
"I did gain quite a lot of confidence and, in particular, gained a lot of experience because not everyone had the opportunity to participate in the Olympics. I did put in a lot of effort to make this happen and I'm glad that I got a really good opportunity to participate in the Olympics.
I feel that if I can play in my own style, I will be able to win - Li Haotong
"I'm already looking forward to participating in the next upcoming Olympics in 2020.
"The difficulty level to win a WGC-HSBC Champions is basically equal to all the four Majors because they all have the best line-up of players participating.
"I feel that if I can play in my own style, I will be able to win.
"The rough will be one of the biggest challenges for me. It would be another motivation for me to hit the greens and the fairways more than leaving the ball in the rough, so this will be my biggest challenge."
