Liang Wenchong, Zhang Lianwei and Li Chao head a cast of 25 Chinese players competing in this week's 2.2 million U.S. dollars Volvo China Open at the Beijing CBD International Golf Club, a joint-sanctioned event between the Asian and European Tours.

Liang, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, recently returned to China after competing in The Masters last week, when he followed in the footsteps of Zhang, the first Chinese to compete at Augusta in 2004.

The 29-year-old Liang now hopes to follow in his mentor's footsteps again by becoming the third Chinese to win his national Open, following Cheng Jun in 1997 and Zhang in 2003.

"I want to win my national Open at least once in the next 10 years. If it was a choice between making the cut in the British Open and winning the China Open, I would choose to win the China Open," said Liang, who will compete in The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in July.

"Since the Volvo China Open became a European Tour co-sanctioned event, it has become more competitive. I want a Chinese player to win, so we need to build a bigger foundation of players. The Omega China Tour has offered a great opportunity for Chinese pros and they've improved very quickly," added Liang, who won three events on the domestic circuit in 2005 and 2006.

Zhang, who won the Omega China Tour's season-opening Guangzhou Championship last month, is also in determined mood.

"I've played in the China Open since 1994 and I feel lucky and proud to have won in Shanghai in 2003," said Zhang, who rested last week in preparation for the event. "I've never given up on winning again. Even though I'm 42, I still want to win. That's why I'm here."

The 27-year-old Li, the two-time Omega Order of Merit winner, will be desperate for a good performance following last week's Kunming Championship, where in windy conditions he missed the cut for the first time in 21 events on the Omega China Tour. Li had finished in the top 10 in every previous Tour event and won eight times.

There will also be a lot of focus on excitable 16-year-old Benny Ye Jianfeng, the youngest player in the tournament.

The Shenzhen Nanhua High School student, who earned a spot by winning last year's Volvo China Junior Championship, is on a high after finishing runner-up in Kunming behind Chinese Taipei's Lu Wen-teh, who will also be playing in Beijing.

"I'll try my best to make the cut. Recently, I've been putting well, so I hope I can score well. In the past year, I've developed my game a lot and become more mature, and I'm also hitting my driver and long irons further," Ye said.

"I never thought I would finish runner-up in Kunming, so I just hope I can carry my form into this week. However, I won't put too much pressure on myself. I will just relax and enjoy the event."

Hu Mu, the 18-year-old Florida-based amateur, is among nine Omega China Tour players who progressed from three qualifying events. Hu, Ryan Huang Yonghuan and Deng Yonghong all progressed from the Northern China qualifying event earlier this month.

"Physically, I feel fine, better than in my first few weeks in China," said Hu, ranked 11th in the American Junior Golf Association rankings. "Mentally, I'm getting a little tired as I'm in the middle of playing eight events in nine weeks.

"This is all new to me, as every event takes up the best part of a week, whereas college events are one practice day and three rounds. However, competing on the Omega China Tour and in other pro events has been very beneficial. Mentally I feel tougher and I'm starting to prepare better for competition."

Fan Zhipeng, Gu Cuilin, Zhang's caddie in the 2003 Volvo China Open, and 22-year-old amateur Hou Jian topped the Southern China event last month. Liu Anda, Kong Weihai and Wu Ashun, who qualified for this year's Asian Tour, progressed from the Middle China tournament.

Furthermore, the Chinese Golf Association (CGA) is allocated 14 spots. As well as Li Chao, the players include Wu Kangchun, victorious in last year's Sofitel Golf Championship, and Zheng Wengen, who last year won the Kunming Championship and finished third in the Omega Order of Merit.

Other Chinese stars set to test themselves against Asia's finest and some of Europe's big stars include Yuan Hao, the Omega China Tour's longest hitter, Huang Mingjie and Shang Lei, fourth in this year's Asian Tour Qualifying School.

Chen Xiaoma, Liao Guiming and Wu Weihuang, eighth, ninth and 10th respectively in last year's Omega Order of Merit, will be looking to do the local Tour proud, while other Chinese players include Ye Xionghui, Qiu Zhifeng, Xiao Zhijin, Shi Ningjie and Yang Wenzhang.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2008)