LEISHMAN HUNGRY FOR MORE

Red-hot Australian looks to double up at CJ Cup

MARC Leishman will be looking to claim a second successive title on the US PGA Tour’s Asia swing and hope to make up for an agonising nearmiss when he tees it up at the CJ Cup in South Korea starting today.

After a winless 2017-18 campaign, the burly Australian started the new season with a bang at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, blitzing a quality field by five strokes on Sunday after a stellar week on the greens.

Leishman will also be eager to tear into the Nine Bridges course after last year’s heartbreak, when his victory hopes sunk in a water hazard on the second extra hole of a playoff against eventual winner Justin Thomas.

The disappointment proved to be a taste of things to come for Leishman, who was also runnerup at the Byron Nelson and had four other top-10 finishes in a solid but ultimately frustrating year.

Back in the winner’s circle, the 34-year-old is keen to cash in at the US$9.5 million (RM39 million) tournament in Korea.

“I’m excited to be back in Korea, I have a lot of good memories here. It’s going to be a good week. Hopefully, I can play well again and go one better than last year,” he said.

“The course is amazing. I think the fairways are firmer than they were last year, they’re a little

I’m excited to be back in Korea, I have a lot of good memories here. It’s going to be a good week. Hopefully, I can play well again and go one better than last year.

shorter. The greens are perfect again... I’m excited to get out there on Thursday and get into it.”

Now a Virginia resident, Leishman has been a regular on the PGA Tour for years but is no stranger to South Korean golf, having played the local circuit in 2006 when starting out as a professional. “The KPGA (Tour) was a very good experience,” he said.

“I met a lot of friends, a lot of Korean golfers that I’m still friends with now.

“Travelling in a foreign country by myself, that teaches you things very quickly.”

Leishman will again lock horns with former World No 1 Thomas, who finished strongly at the CIMB Classic, a tournament he has won twice before, to tie for fifth and the American should hit Nine Bridges full of confidence.

The 78-player field also includes the PGA Tour’s 2017-18 player of the year Brooks Koepka, who won the US Open and PGA Championship last season, and major-winning Australian duo Adam Scott and Jason Day.