Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: China’s Jin Cheng continued his rich vein of form by capturing the individual prize at the 2015 Nomura Cup.
Three weeks after winning the 2015 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Jin triumphed at Yas Links Abu Dhabi with a 13-under-par total.
Putting aside any thoughts of his 2016 visit to Augusta National, the 17-year old completed the four-day Asia-Pacific Amateur Golf Team Championship with scores of 67, 69, 70 and 69, to finish with a total of 275.
Unable to help his country claim a maiden win in the biennial Nomura Cup, Jin was in reflective mood after the official prize-giving, hosted by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan, the UAE’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.
He said: “I had a great week. It was a disappointing finish from the team’s point of view but I feel very lucky to have won.”
A firm grasp on his game was the key for the scratch handicapper who was playing in Abu Dhabi for the first time. Acclimatising with relative ease, Jin recorded sub-par rounds on each day of the tournament.
“I just tried to play consistently and happily my long game was really good. I didn’t miss too many fairways or greens throughout all four days. My putting was alright, so I did enough.”
Thanks to his victory at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Jin’s next high-profile outing will be at The Masters in April 2016 with a professional career surely calling. But for now, Jin is humble in his victory.
He said: “I’m not sure how this will affect me moving forward. But I have really enjoyed the week in Abu Dhabi and the time I have spent with my team-mates and all of the competitors. I enjoy playing team events even though we don’t get to play them a lot and I’m always proud to represent my country.”