Justin Rose will hope to add a European Tour title to his success in America this season when he joins a world-class field in the UBS Hong Kong Open from December 1-4.
Rose recently captured his third US PGA Tour title in the past two seasons with a wire-to-wire victory in the BMW Championship but has to go back to 2007 for the last of his four European Tour wins, which came at the Volvo
Masters.
The 31 year old Englishman will be hoping to change that at Hong Kong Golf Club where he will make his debut in the $2,750,000 UBS Hong Kong Open won last year by his close friend Ian Poulter.
“I’m looking forward to being part of what is shaping up to be a tremendous field for the UBS Hong Kong Open,” said Rose. “I know there was a great atmosphere when Ian won there last year and I cannot wait to be part of it.
“My recent win in the United States gave me a lot of confidence going into the final part of 2011 and it would be great to round the year off with a victory in Hong Kong and win another European Tour title.”
World Number 17 Rose is one of seven big-name players who have today confirmed their participation in the UBS Hong Kong Open. Joining the Englishman will be Miguel Angel Jimenez, Ross Fisher, Edoardo Molinari and Peter Hanson, four of the victorious 2010 European Ryder Cup Team, as well as the big-hitting Alvaro Quiros of Spain, who won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic earlier this season.
Also heading to Hong Kong is Korea’s YE Yang, who became the first Asian to win a Major Championship when he held off Tiger Woods down the stretch to win the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine National in 2009.
Yang will be looking to become only the second Asian player to win the UBS Hong Kong Open since it became co-sanctioned by The European Tour and Asian Tour in 2002, following in the footsteps of Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei who triumphed in 2008.
Kathryn Shih, CEO, UBS Wealth Management, Asia Pacific, said:
“Since becoming title sponsor of the Hong Kong Open in 2005, UBS is proud to have helped increase the profile of this historic tournament. The addition of Justin Rose and YE Yang to a field that already features Ian Poulter, Rory McIlroy and Matteo Manassero, promises to ensure that this year’s UBS Hong Kong Open will be among the most competitive ever staged.”
Lin held-off Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the title that year and McIlroy is one of the players already confirmed to return to the UBS Hong Kong Open for the penultimate event of The 2011 European Tour International Schedule.
The generous support of the Mega Events Fund for the 2011 edition of this historic Championship has helped enable the UBS Hong Kong Open to attract an extremely strong field of players and will also support a programme of initiatives to promote the Tournament and Hong Kong as a prime tourist destination.
The Hon Jeffrey Lam, Chairman of the Mega Events Fund Assessment Committee said: “The Mega Events Fund (MEF) is pleased to support the UBS Hong Kong Open and glad to see the gathering of world-class players in this international golf tournament. I am confident that with the concerted efforts of participating parties, this event not only adds colour and vibrancy to our city, but also enriches the travel experience of visitors from all over the world and raises the profile of Hong Kong globally.”
Tickets to see Justin Rose and the rest of the field are now available through www.europeantourtickets.com, www.cityline.com, any Parsons Music branch or via the Cityline hotline: +852 2111 5333. Fans can save 20% on all tickets if they purchase before October 31.
About the UBS Hong Kong Open
The Hong Kong Open is Hong Kong’s oldest professional sporting event. Beginning in 1959, the Hong Kong Open has a rich history of winners including nine different Major Champions who have amassed 25 Major titles between them. UBS, the diversified global financial services company, has been title sponsor of the event since 2005 during which time it has overseen a substantial rise in the tournament’s prize money. Under the stewardship of UBS, the total prize fund has increased every year from US$1.2 million in the 2006 season to the US$2.75 million figure which will be on offer at the Fanling venue in December.
The UBS Hong Kong Open is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the Hong Kong Golf Association.
About the Mega Event Fund
This year, the UBS Hong Kong Open is supported by the Mega Event Fund of the Hong Kong Government. The Mega Events Fund was set up in 2009 to support mega arts, cultural and sports events to be staged in Hong Kong.
About UBS
UBS draws on its 150-year heritage to serve private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland. We combine our wealth management, investment banking and asset management businesses with our Swiss operations to deliver superior financial solutions.
For further information, please contact:-
The European Tour Communications Division
Tel: +44 (0)1344 840400; Fax: +44 (0)1344 840444
email: [email protected]
Winnie Wong
PEOPLE Marketing
Tel: +86 21 6091 3791 ext. 102
+ 852 9622 9502/ +86 1366 170 3809
Fax: +86 21 6124 8759
Email: [email protected]
