Taiwan’s Pan Cheung-tsung has broken into the World Amateur Golf Ranking top 10 with victory in The Prestige, an event on the US college golf circuit.
Pan made history in Hong Kong in 2007 when he claimed the second of the four available spots in the Volvo China Open International Qualifying at Discovery Bay Golf Club, and at the tender age of 15.
Perhaps equally remarkable was the fact that his elder brother, 18-year-old Pan Fu-chiang, claimed the third of the four qualifying places that year behind outright winner Han Lee.
The younger Pan, the individual silver medallist at 2006 Asian Games in Doha, was one of a group of five players on five under par chasing the third and fourth places over the closing holes at Discovery Bay.
The 15-year-old then hit a sensational three iron second shot to within four feet at the 536-yard par five final hole and sank the putt for an eagle to jump out of the pack and into second place with a round of 68.
Last week Pan, who is studying at the University of Washington, was the only player in the field to return three rounds in the 60s over the demanding Greg Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta, California.
Pan’s scores got progressively better with rounds of 69, 67 and a closing seven-under-par 65 for a 15-under-par total of 201, which earned him a three-shot win over Oregon’s Eugene Wong.
Pan, now 19, is currently in his first year at Washington, but gave notice of his arrival in the US earlier this year by qualifying for the US Open at Congressional, and shooting a respectable 74 in the first round.
Although expected to do well on the tough US college circuit, Pan is quickly into his stride, and has jumped a hefty 15 places on this week’s World Amateur Golf Ranking table to number 10.
2011-10-28
