Reality bites for youngster Isabella Leung
Hong Kong amateur starts off great with two birdies, but misses the cut, finishing way behind the world's best at Mission Hills
Two holes in to the US$600,000 World Ladies Championship at Mission Hills Haikou and Hong Kong youngster Isabella Leung must have been wondering what all the fuss was about.
The 18-year-old amateur's first taste of what life might be like on the professional circuit - among a field that includes four of the top six players on the planet - had begun with birdie-birdie and a big, beaming smile.
"I was wondering what was going on," said Leung. "I definitely started really well and better than I had hoped. It still wasn't as easy as it looked but it was fun."
I definitely started really well and better than I had hoped. It still wasn't as easy as it looked but it was fun
Golf, however, has a habit of sneaking up and biting you, just when you think you've got it all sorted out. An eight on the par-four 10th ensured Leung's feet were kept planted firmly in the Hainan turf and she finished the first day at Mission Hills' Blackstone course with a six-over par 79 that was always going to make her chances of playing on into the weekend tough.
Four-over par on day two saw her at 10-over and planning a few days of watching and of practise rounds - it was 21 strokes off the pace being set at the halfway point of the tournament by Norway's power-hitting world number two Suzann Pettersen.
But as recently as November, the simple opportunity to mix it with the world's best players, in an event co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the China LGPA Tour, was still the stuff of dreams for Leung.
It was then that the call came through to the University of Hawaii student saying that she would be offered a place as an amateur in the field here thanks to an invite arranged by the people behind Mission Hills and the Hong Kong Golf Association. "It wasn't something I had expected but I said yes straight away," said Leung, winner of last year's Hong Kong Junior Close Championship. "At this stage of my golfing career I know I have to take every chance I can because the more you play the more you learn."
Leung has followed in the footsteps of fellow Hong Kong international Michelle Cheung, who made the cut at the same event last year, and her presence here has continued the event's push to include some of the region's - and the world's - top young talent in its field.