31-01-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Cheung ‘can compete with best' on Asian Tour return, despite struggles in India
Two weeks into the new Asian Tour season and Matthew Cheung has no doubts he belongs among the ranks of the region's best golfers – he just hasn't shaken off all the pre-season rust yet.
The Hongkonger was on course to miss the cut on Friday at the International Series India, the second tournament running in which he would not be playing at the weekend, after similar struggles at the Philippine Open.
But just being in the same field as the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Anirbhan Lahiri and other LIV Golf stars is a step up from the golfing backwaters he travelled in last year.
'I mean, of course, everybody wants to be out here, right?' Cheung said. 'But at the end of the day, only 65 guys keep their card every single year. So, it was difficult, but it was also a big motivator for me, you know, to just keep working hard. Matthew Cheung chips out of a bunker during the International Series Qatar in November. Photo: Asian Tour
'At the start of the year, I did question it a little bit. All golfers do, you know – you have one bad week and question whether you're good enough or not. So there are questions. But at the end of the day, if you can try to get 1 per cent better every single day, you're working in the right direction, and that's all you can really do.'
It is not the first time Cheung has played an International Series event. He finished in a tie for 10th in Vietnam in 2023, but that was a rare success in a rookie year when his inconsistencies ultimately cost him his tour card.
