Asia's No 1 golfer Liang Wenchong will make a historic appearance at the British Open this week, fully aware that a strong outing will reinforce the growth of golf in the region.

Liang Wenchong from China tees off on the first hole to start the first round of the Scottish Open golf tournament at Loch lommond near Glasgow, Scotland July 10, 2008. [Agencies]

The 29-year-old will become the first Chinese mainland star to play in the British Open at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, after gaining an exemption through his success in last season's Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Liang realizes the enormity of his landmark appearance in the world's oldest championship and is determined to rise to the challenge.

"Being the first Chinese at the British Open is an honor for me," Liang said. "I hope to play to my best ability and produce a good result. It will be important for golf in Asia and China."

This will be Liang's third appearance in a major after last year's appearance at the US PGA Championship and the US Masters in April. In his previous major outings, the Chinese star missed the halfway cut. He will naturally be hoping the third time is the charm when he tees off at Royal Birkdale.

"My experience at the Masters was especially good. I know what to expect in a big event and hopefully this time, I will play in all four rounds," he said.

"I was nervous playing in front of big crowds at the Masters so I will learn from that. Golf is such a difficult game to predict and you never know what will happen. All I can say is that I will play my hardest."

The trip to Royal Birkdale will test Liang's game to the fullest. His only previous experience on a links course was at the former Dunhill Cup in St. Andrews, Scotland.

"I enjoyed St. Andrews, but during that week the weather was nice and the winds were not blowing. I know the British Open will be very gusty but I am comfortable playing in those conditions as my ball flight is normally low and I feel I have good ball control," said Liang, who played in the Barclays Scottish Open last week as part of his preparations.

Liang was crowned China's first Asian Tour No 1 after a stellar season in 2007 in which he won once and posted eight top-10 finishes. While he has yet to reproduce his winning form this year, Liang has achieved four top-10s, twice on both the Asian Tour and in Japan.

"At the start of the year, I was not happy with the way I was playing as I was thinking too much about the Masters. But once that was over, I started playing a lot better and the results started to show," Liang said.

"I'm happy with how my game has been shaping up the past few months. I've had a good break before heading out to Europe and I think I'm playing better now than before.

"The years of competing on the Asian Tour have certainly helped me become what I am today."

Liang will be part of a strong Asian Tour contingent featuring next week in the year's third major. Joining Liang at Royal Birkdale will be Malaysia's Danny Chia, Angelo Que of the Philippines, Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, Singaporean prospect Lam Chih Bing, Japan's Yoshinobu Tsukada and Australians Scott Strange and Adam Blyth.

(Agencies via China Daily July 15, 2008)