The Open Championship: Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho ready for ‘special moment’ as he looks to embrace challenge that lies ahead
- Taichi Kho is the first Hong Kong-born golfer to compete at the The Open Championship
- The 22-year-old is hoping for a different experience on a links course than he had last year
A lot has changed for Taichi Kho in the year since he was last on England’s northwest coast, not least in his status as a golfer.
Twelve months ago, the Hongkonger was competing in The Amateur Championship and in final qualifying for The Open Championship, and not having a particularly happy time of it on the links courses.
Now he’s back, a professional with an Asian Tour title already under his belt and a more philosophical view of the test that awaits him in this week’s Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
With a break in the Tour, Kho, who is the first Hong Kong-born golfer to play in the Open and only the second to ever play at a major following Alex Yang’s appearance in the US Open in June, arrived in the UK a week early and has had the chance to play several rounds at the venue in Hoylake
“All the experiences last year helped me understand what it takes to play a round here,” the 22-year-old said. “The different questions it asks, I feel a lot more comfortable about it.
“Last year I was a little frustrated at the style of golf because it was so different, and I felt like I wasn’t really getting any reward for good golf. Now I realise it’s more just about embracing all these different elements and not trying to fight it.”
Kho’s victory in front of his home crowd at the World City Championship in March earned him a spot at the last major of the year, and he said he had tried to “roll with the punches” when it came to how quickly things had changed.
Experiencing the Open for the first time as a player or fan, Kho took the opportunity last week to walk the course and seeing the grandstands and signs for the tournament was something “the golfer in me” revelled in.
“It’s just really nice to be in this kind of atmosphere,” he said. “I want to feel a sense of belonging when I tee it up Thursday and walk it out Sunday.
“It’s a really special moment, especially for my parents as we’ve talked about playing in majors and winning golf tournaments, for it to come to this is pretty cool.”
Kho is just one of several Asian Tour players competing this week, and among the rest is Australian Travis Smyth, who got his spot by virtue of finishing third at Hong Kong Golf Club earlier this year.
New Zealand’s Michael Hendry, who was second at that tournament, has been unable to attend because he is battling leukaemia.
Like Kho, Smyth got out to England in plenty of time to practise and took advantage of the multitude of links courses in the area, playing rounds at Royal Birkdale, Royal Lytham, Southport and Ainsdale.
And while the preparation had been “really, really fun”, his first experience of Royal Liverpool on Sunday showed that the Open course was “way, way harder”.
“Just the rough, you can’t hit it off line and get away with it. You really need to get lucky to be honest,” Smyth said.
“It’s extremely thick in some areas and other areas it’s kind of OK, but you’re probably not going to score well from the rough. The preparation was great, but it wasn’t as hard as the test we’re up against.”
Smyth is no stranger to big occasions, having played in the early LIV Golf events, but said his first major was “obviously a step up” and he expected to be nervous.
Harnessing those nerves and dealing with his own expectations to do well will be half the battle for the Australian, who said he hoped to make it to the weekend so he could play alongside the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson or compatriot Cameron Smith.
“It’s the biggest event I’ve ever played so getting comfortable in this situation is probably going to be the main challenge,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be really, really nervous, but I just can’t wait.”
