By IANS
Shanghai : Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, after a two-year hiatus, returns to Shanghai as the top draw in $2.3 million BMW Asian Open that would be held here at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club April 24-27.
Stenson, the current leader on the European Tour Order of Merit and World No. 12, will be playing in China for the record eighth time and admitted that he was disappointed by the result during his last visit but was proud of the way he fought back to force the playoff.
“Of course, it is never fun to lose a playoff, but I know I can play well at Tomson Pudong. I am very motivated to try and go one better this time,” said the six-time winner on the European Tour.
Stenson also feels that with the young talent coming from Asia, it won’t be late when that the top rank golfers will be from Asia.
“I think Asia and China will continue to develop good players and I can’t see why in the future one shouldn’t get close to the best in the world,” said the Swede.
Stenson in 2007, won twice for a second consecutive year, including a victory in Dubai Desert Classic .The two wins in February 2007 helped him to career best of fifth in the world rankings that month, which is also the highest a Swedish player has ever been ranked.
This year, Stenson had started his season strong with an equal second in Abu Dhabi followed by a runner-up in Qatar. At the WGC Matchplay in February, he went into the tournament as the defending champion but finished third after seeing off Justin Leonard.
The BMW Asian Open is sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.