Hong Kong: LIV Golf League champion Talor Gooch is hoping that his incredible 2023 season form can translate to winning at the Hong Kong Open after getting the inside line from one of his stablemates and rivals on a unique course that is "a little bit different" to the norm.
Gooch, a member of the Range Goats Golf Club, finished top of the standings in the LIV Golf League ahead of Cameron Smith thanks to three tournament wins around the world this season -- at Adelaide, Singapore and Andalucia.
Smith clearly didn't take the overall result too badly; the Australian was still happy to give Gooch the benefit of his experience on the Composite Course at Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling after finishing T9 in 2014.
The American is relishing the prospect of testing himself on a renowned course and tournament which has an illustrious line of champions including Greg Norman, Tom Watson, Bernhard Langer and Rory McIlroy.
He said: "You only hear great things about this place. A couple months back, when I knew I was going to come out here, I was talking with Cam and he was raving about the golf course.
"With Wade Ormsby [defending champion and a fellow Australian] playing with him a little bit the last year and a half, he likes this place a little bit I think, you just hear great things about this place. It is my first time to Hong Kong obviously so I'm very excited.
"I am looking forward to the week. I was at the golf course yesterday and played the front nine and it's in great shape. It's a little bit different to the golf I am used to back home, but in a good way, so I'm excited and we'll see if we can go and have a good one."
Patrick Reed is another big-name American golfer who loves playing in this part of the world.
He will be lining up in his fourth attempt at the Hong Kong Open, and he admits marquee events like this on the International Series have all the ingredients needed for a top weekend's work on a course he loves to play.
"I love the golf course. I think it's one of these that is more a kind of old style so it's not just a ball hitter's golf course -- you actually have to think and methodically place your way around the golf course," said Reed, the 2018 Masters champion.
"I feel that's what separates golf these days, when it seems like everyone gets longer and longer and longer. With defences in place, where it's more positional. If you're hitting the ball really well, you can attack but at the same time if you're just a hair off, you struggle."