HONG KONG, 20 Sept 2016, (HK Golfer News Wire) - A rejuvenated Jason Hak Shun-yat will spearhead the local charge at the Clearwater Bay Open in early November after the 22-year-old pro received a sponsor invite from The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club, the title sponsor and host of Hong Kong’s first PGA TOUR China Series event.
Hak is still remembered for becoming the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event at the Hong Kong Open in 2008, aged 14 years and 304 days, a record broken at the 2013 Masters Tournament by China’s Guan Tianlang.
Hak went on to make the cut at his home Open in 2009 and 2011, and the tall teen also topped the American Junior Golf Association’s rankings before joining Georgia Tech in 2012. As an amateur, he represented Hong Kong in various international events including the 2011 Putra Cup at Clearwater Bay.
Hak was 19 when he turned pro in August 2013 after a year of college golf and won an NGA Pro Tour event in Florida in February the following year, but it proved a brief highlight in an otherwise frustrating first couple of years in the play-for-pay ranks.
However, Hak has rediscovered his self-confidence on this year’s PGA TOUR China Series, where he finished runner-up at this month’s Chongqing Jiangnan NewTown KingRun Open, having been the 36-hole leader at the circuit’s two previous events. On Sunday, he finished fourth at the Ping An Bank Open in Beijing, after leading for the first three rounds.
Based in Florida since the age of 11, having moved to Beijing when he was seven, Hak now cuts a confident figure as he looks forward to returning to Hong Kong in late October to prepare for the RMB1.2 million Clearwater Bay Open at a course he knows well.
“I’m so excited about returning to Hong Kong next month as I feel I have a lot more confidence now than when I came back here the past three years,” said Hak, who attended a Media Day on Tuesday with American pro Charlie Saxon, the new Ping An Bank Open champion.
“I’m really looking forward to playing the Clearwater Bay Open as I’ve played the course in the past, so hopefully that gives me a little advantage over some of the other players on the Tour. It’s really challenging, especially when the wind picks up. I remember some of the great hole designs, so I think the other players will love it, too. I’m really, really looking forward to it.”
Hak is not a member of the PGA TOUR China Series, but has competed in six successive events starting from June’s Lanhai Open in Shanghai, where he won the Monday qualifier before finishing 21st.
Although he missed the cut in Nanjing two weeks later, he bounced back in Baishan in early July, when he made the most of a sponsor invite to lead after 36 holes before falling back at the weekend into a share of 24th.
When the circuit resumed in Kunming in early September, Hak again won the Monday qualifier for the Yulongwan Yunnan Open and then led after a career-best 63 before a 65 on the Friday game him a share of the halfway lead. He eventually tied for eighth.
A week later, in Chongqing, Hak was a consistent presence on the leaderboard through all four days and closed with a 68 to share second place for his biggest cheque as a pro, earning RMB89,600. Established as one of the Tour’s in-form players, he led after the first three rounds in Beijing last week before dropping to fourth after a closing 71.
“I’ve been working hard with my coach, Mike Bender, practising not just on the skills but also on the mental game. I think my improvement is a combination of everything. I think I just know myself better,” he said.
“The past couple of years obviously wasn’t what I was hoping for, but I think for the future it was definitely a good thing for me to have all the experience I went through. I would like to take it as a positive way to get me better not just in golf but obviously in life, too.
“I think when you play bad, you question yourself sometimes, but everything now is trying to make it more simple. I’m definitely enjoying golf more. I always enjoy it and never try to give up, but playing better definitely makes enjoying it much easier.”
Hak’s first steps in the pro ranks included appearances on the former National Golf Association Pro Tour, the Mackenzie Tour – PGA TOUR Canada, missing the cut in eight appearances in 2014 and 2015, and in Monday qualifiers on the Web.com Tour.
The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club has also offered sponsor invites to the Hong Kong Golf Association and the Hong Kong Professional Golfers’ Association, while local golfers will also compete in the tournament’s Monday qualifier, which offers 10 places in the 120-man field. The Club will stage the Clearwater Bay Open for three years, through the 2018 season.
David Hui, Golf Committee Chairman at The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club, said: “The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club is proud to help with the growth of golf in Hong Kong and China, and delighted to work with PGA TOUR China for three years on the Clearwater Bay Open.
“This event will prove a spectacular stop on the Ping An Bank China Tour – PGA TOUR China Series and a proud addition to the many top-class professional and amateur tournaments the Club has hosted, showcasing one of the world’s most spectacular courses and one of Hong Kong’s best-kept secrets.”