Yang leads strong Asian contingent at HSBC Champions

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Korea's Y.E. Yang will try for his second HSBC Champions title at Sheshan International Golf Club next week.

Y. E. Yang is a man used to making golfing history, and the 37-year-old Korean will attempt to carve another niche for himself in the game's record books next week when he bids to become the first player to win the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions twice.

Yang will headline a powerful Asian challenge for the event at the Sheshan International Golf Club from Nov. 5-8, an event he captured in November 2006 and which is now elevated to a World Golf Championships event for the first time.

When Yang triumphed at the Shanghai venue three years ago he was relatively unknown outside Asia, but that will most definitely not be the case when he returns thanks to his thrilling victory in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in August where he held off, among others, world No. 1 Tiger Woods, to become the first Asian player to capture a major championship.

"Even to this day, I try to revive the feeling I had the week I won the HSBC three years ago," said Yang, who also captured The Honda Classic in March. "It was such a big tournament and yet I played with such poise. I try to recapture that feeling every time I play -- it was my perfect tournament.

"On the final day at the PGA Championship, I was drawing on the feelings I had when I won in Shanghai. I was trying to recapture the calmness and the serenity, and it worked. A lot of players are usually forced out of their element because of their strong desire to win and thus try too hard. In my case there, I just tried to enjoy the moment because I had no pressure and nothing to lose."

Alongside Yang, the Asian challenge for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions will be bolstered by an impressive cast of champions from across the continent.

Japan will provide the precocious talent of 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa alongside established stars Daisuke Maruyama, Shingo Katayama and Yuta Ikeda. Ishikawa is already a superstar in the Land of the Rising Sun, having become the youngest winner of a men's regular tournament on the Japan Golf Tour in May 2007 at the age of 15 years and eight months.

His four wins in Japan this year persuaded Greg Norman to select him as a Captain's Pick for the International Team in The Presidents Cup, a decision which proved wise as he won three out of five points.

"I am delighted to have qualified for my first World Golf Championship event and looking forward to playing in Shanghai very much," he said. "It has been an exciting year playing in The Masters, The Open Championship and the U.S. PGA Championship and now I have earned my place in the WGC-HSBC Champions. I have heard very good things about the tournament and the course and I am very much looking forward to making my World Golf Championships debut at the Sheshan International Golf Club."

Elsewhere, the experienced Jeev Milkha Singh -- a winner of 18 tournaments around the globe -- spearheads the Indian challenge while another seasoned campaigner, Thongchai Jaidee, leads the quest to take the title to Thailand.

Jaidee, already a winner of the Enjoy Jakarta Indonesia Open and the Ballantine's Championship this season and the most decorated champion in the history of the Asian Tour, will have a special reason for wanting to claim the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions title, for the final day -- Nov. 8 -- also happens to be his 40th birthday.

Finally, the large crowds expected at the wonderful Shanghai course, while marveling at the gathering of the world's top golfers, will also be keen to see one of their own countrymen challenge for the title with the best chance for Chinese success lying with the experienced Zhang Lian-wei and his fellow countryman Liang Wen-chong.

Zhang, 44, made history in 2003 when he held off the challenge of Ernie Els to win the Singapore Masters and become the first Chinese golfer to win an event on The European Tour International Schedule. Incredibly, 31-year-old Liang followed him into the record books by winning the same event in 2007.