Norman hails growth in China

Australian legend Greg Norman hailed the growth of golf in China on Sunday and said he would welcome a Chinese player into his International Team for next year’s Presidents Cup.

The 53-year-old former world number one wrapped up his campaign at the BMW Asian Open with a one-under-par 71 which was good for a top-20 finish at the US$2.3 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and China Golf Association.

Norman also hopes to see the Presidents Cup come to the Far East in the near future to support the rapid development that the game is enjoying under the stewardship of the Asian Tour.

“I love to see it (Presidents Cup) come to China somewhere down the line,” said Norman. “China is a power player in the game of golf now and it’s going to become bigger and bigger.

“With the growth, you can see that the Presidents Cup and all the players would want to play in China. I’m would be a big proponent for that, absolutely. We know the Presidents Cup will be in the US in 2009 and Australia in 2011 and beyond that, it’s time to move it around where we can give the Presidents Cup the exposure of the game of golf to the Chinese nationals.”

Norman has started monitoring the progress of international players on the various Tours around the world as part of his task would include selecting two captain’s picks.

He hoped to see Asian Tour players performing well to warrant a selection. “I’m studying the results of the respective tournaments in Asia, Europe, US and in Japan as I need to follow the game of golf and understand how the players are performing.

“You’ve got your best eight or 10 players and I’ve got to pick two players. I’m going to pick the best two players, and if one is a Chinese, absolutely, he’ll be on the team,” said Norman.

He also reiterated his support for golf to be included into the Olympic Games and said Beijing would be a wonderful host for the summer extragavanza.

“With the Olympics coming, it’s a great testament to China for their commitment to sports. Their performances in the Olympics have been phenomenal to say the least. Golf is the fastest growing sport in this part of the world, and I applaud the Chinese government for growing the game of golf. You’ll see great players coming out from China like you’ve seen the athletes come out.”