Liu Leaves it Late

It wasn’t to be however, with the 18th providing the final twist in what proved to be a roller-coaster ride of a tale. With Liu in the back bunker and facing an extremely difficult shot to a tight pin, and Ng having his own problems on the home hole, Ong was firmly in the driver’s seat after hitting his approach to 35-feet. But then a piece of magic. Undaunted by his situation, Liu played a high-risk splash that just cleared the lip of the bunker and rolled to within two-feet of the cup. It was a tremendous shot in the circumstances and Ong, perhaps still reeling from his earlier error, proceeded to charge his first putt eight feet past and then lipped out with the comebacker. With little more than a tap-in for victory, Liu made no mistake to seal his first win in Hong Kong.

"I was so focused on my own game that I didn’t really know the state of the tournament, which probably helped me," said Liu, who captured the Singapore Amateur title in August. "I feel sorry for Marc, who played so well for 17 holes today, but I was proud of the way I never gave up. It’s very satisfying to win."

Liu, who became the first winner from Chinese Taipei since Chan Shih-chang in 2004, was more than delighted with not only the fine old trophy, which dates from 1931, but also the news that he’ll be returning to Fanling next month to tee it up at the European and Asian Tour co-sanctioned Hong Kong Open.

"I’m really looking forward to playing here again – but this time with the pros," said Liu. "I’ve taken part in a few smaller professional events back in Taiwan but the Hong Kong Open will be much bigger. It’ll be a great experience I’m sure."

Joining Williams in the top-10 for Hong Kong were Shinichi Mizuno, who tied for fifth, Ian Chiang (tied 10th) and Humphrey Wong (tied 10th), whose fine 67 in the second round was bookended by scores of 81 and 75.