TOP Chinese amateur Hu Mu will make his first local appearance
of the year when the BMW Asian Open tees off Thursday at Tomson
Pudong.
The Florida-based 17-year-old has been given a sponsor's invite
into the US$2.3 million tournament and he comes into the event amid
a frenzy of US colleges looking to recruit the Shenzhen native.
About 40 US universities have offered him full scholarships and
Hu said he has narrowed his choices down to Tiger Woods' alma
mater, Stanford University in California, and the University of
Florida.
"I have been getting a lot of offers but I want to take a year
off and play some tournament golf around China. I want to play
around here and see what I can get into. I need more time for
practice just to get better and then go to college in 2008."
Getting better is something Mu has done progressively as he
first came to notice in 2001 when he won the 15-18 years category
at the China Junior Golf Open as an 11-year-old.
Now ranked 25th in the Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings in
America, Hu started the year out on a winning note when he captured
the Dixie Amateur in Florida in January.
"The game is feeling pretty good," said the David Leadbetter
prodigy. "The swing is getting better and I am making more contact
(with the ball). I am just trying to hit a lot more solid shots. I
tend to miss a few shots a round and I need to eliminate
those."
"I am just trying to focus on every single shot and not try and
get ahead of myself."
(Shanghai Daily April 17, 2007)
