Chinese aces secure Web.com cards

China will have its largest representation on the Web.com Tour next year after three players secured cards at a qualifying tournament in the US on the weekend to grow the Chinese contingent to four.

Zhang Xinjun tied for third, 'Andy' Zhang Huachuang tied for eighth and Yuan Yechun tied for 34th at Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona, to join the already-qualified 'Marty' Dou Zecheng on the North America-based circuit, which acts as a gateway to the PGA Tour.

University of Virginia graduate Danny Walker topped the leaderboard with a 27-under total of 261, with Chinese-American Norman Xiong a shot back in second.

Those who finished top-40 (and ties) all earned cards. This year, the cut off came at 18-under 270, with 49 players making it.

"I'm truly happy, but the priority was to produce a great performance," said Zhang, who carded rounds of 66, 63, 69 and 65 to finish with a 25-under total of 263.

"After all the hard training these past two years, I'm confident I've got even better to come.

"I felt good about my performance this week and it's great to get the card once again. I hope I can maintain this momentum to meet the challenge of the future Web.com tournaments.

"It's a great opportunity for me. Now I can start to make plans for the first 12 tournaments. It's important to be fully prepared, so I'll try to hit the ground running."

The 2019 Web.com Tour will feature 28 tournaments, but players are not guaranteed entry to all of them due to a re-ranking system that evaluates eligibility after the fourth, eighth and 12th events.

Also raring to test himself against at a higher level is Yuan, who in July became just the second amateur to win on the PGA Tour Series-China.

"I have been excited for a whole week because I have been preparing for the tournament for a very long time," he said. "I crave the opportunity to play on a bigger stage.

"Being able to play on the Web.com is very significant for Chinese golfers and the sport's development in the country.

"This result has showed that more competitive players are coming through and we are aiming for bigger challenges, such as the PGA Tour."

The future indeed looks bright for Chinese golf.

Li Haotong became the first male Chinese player to crack the world's top 50, while 178th-ranked Wu Ashun is also enjoying some success in the higher echelons of the game.

On the women's side, Feng Shanshan is a winner of one major (2012 LPGA Championship) and occupied the world No 1 spot from November 2017 to April this year.

Meanwhile, young gun Xiong, who was born to Chinese parents in Guam before moving to San Diego at age 6, will be looking to continue his rapid ascent after his second-place finish at Whirlwind.

The honors keep coming for the 20-year-old, whose coach at Oregon, Casey Martin, has favorably compared him to a young Tiger Woods.

"From what I've seen, at this age, I don't know if I've seen another 19-year-old in my 12 years of coaching that's where he is," Martin said of Xiong in April. "The only one I'd defer to is maybe Tiger."

Xiong claimed this year's Fred Haskins Award (most outstanding male collegiate golfer) and the Jack Nicklaus Award (top men's NCAA Division 1 golfer) after winning the Phil Mickelson Award last year as the top freshman in the US.

He also made his first PGA Tour cut in October at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

"Other than an unplayable shot after a wayward drive on the first hole, I played the front nine pretty well," Xiong said of his Arizona outing.

"I had some poor swings and a couple bad breaks, but that happens at some point over 72 holes, so I think overall it was pretty solid."