TFirst held in 1959, the Hong Kong Open (the Open), considered one of the "jewels in the crown" of Asian golf, has a history of more than half a century. With the passage of time, the Open keeps developing and its level continues to go up. However, there is an interesting thing that has never changed ever since its inauguration. That is the venue for the Open, the century-old Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. Apart from the US Masters in Augusta, the Open is the only tournament in the golf world that is held each year at the same venue and has cherished such a unique tradition for so long.

Having a long history, the Open is one of the most important professional golf championships in Asia. Remarkably, nine major winners have won the tournament, including golfing legends Peter THOMSON, Greg NORMAN, Bernhard LANGER, Tom WATSON and Jose Maria OLAZABAL - a list of champions unrivalled by any other tournaments in the region. Recent winners are also golf stars, including Padraig HARRINGTON, Colin MONTGOMERIE, Miguel Angel JIMENEZ, Rory MCILROY and Justin ROSE, the champion coming to defend his title this year.

In 2001, the Open was sanctioned by the European PGA Tour on top of the Asian one. Since then, it has become the leg of two PGA tours and attracts quite a number of the world's best golfers to compete at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling every year.

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The above information is provided by the Hong Kong Golf Association.