Frantic Faldo Finale

Faldo: For China, It’s a Tough Climb up the Ladder

Sir Nick Faldo believes strength in numbers will be the best way for China’s rising stars to succeed in the cut-throat professional men’s game.

Speaking during the Faldo Series Asia, the six-time Major winner said young Chinese players needed to emerge as a group to spur each other to greater heights.

While China has four players in the top 200 of the women’s world rankings, including world number four and Major winner Feng Shanshan, it currently has no one in the men’s top 200 - but Faldo can spot the remedy.

"They need to come and attack the big tours in numbers because, at the moment, it’s a little thin,” he said. “China needs to have at least half a dozen really good young golfers working their way up, winning in China, then winning in Asia and Europe to get to the PGA Tour.

"That’s all going to take time. And at the same time, the rest of the world is moving on as well. There’s a lot of competition out there. You see how Japan has struggled to hit the American tour in numbers, it’s almost like they come one at a time. So that has to be the Chinese players’ goal if they want to set the world on fire, they need to inspire each other.”

Asked how soon the golf world could expect to see a Chinese man in the world’s top 10, Faldo responded: “I would say it will arrive within the next 10 years or so, but you can’t see it happening immediately. They have to climb the ladder and it’s a tough ladder right now because international golfers are very strong.”