Jimenez wary of threat to Hong Kong Open title defence

Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain Miguel Angel Jimenez denied on Tuesday he was a shoo-in to successfully defend his Hong Kong Open title because golf's biggest stars had decided to skip the tournament for other events. The veteran Spaniard is this week bidding for a fourth victory in the southern Chinese city, but insisted his task had not been made easier by the absence of the likes of 2011 champion Rory McIlroy.
The $1.3 million Hong Kong Open, which runs from Thursday until Sunday, clashes with the $6.5 million NedBank Golf Challenge in South Africa and a Tiger Woods-hosted competition in California.
Without a title sponsor to boost the prize fund and appearance money, many of the game's top players have opted to miss the European Tour event at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling.
"It's a pity we don't have more weeks in the year," 49-year-old Jimenez said, adding that the schedule is "very, very tight".
"It is very important for the tournament to have all the big names but it's very tough when you have different tournaments in the same week.
"But does it make it easier... to win if the big players don't come? No.
"You need to always give 100 percent. It doesn't matter who's in the field."
Jimenez, who at 48th place is the highest-ranked player in Hong Kong this week, picked out Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang as a threat to his title defence.
The 15-year-old, who in April became the youngest player to ever make the cut at the US Masters, is competing at the Hong Kong Open for the first time and told reporters he was "very much looking forward" to the challenge.
Other players likely to mount a charge are colourful American John Daly, Italy's Edoardo Molinari and India's Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is fourth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
Previous winners of the Hong Kong Open include Jose Maria Olazabal and Padraig Harrington.
Source: AFP