The day before the Grand Abaco Classic in the Bahamas, January 22, is Dou Zecheng's 25th birthday. On this day, his girlfriend Wu Muyu specially made a short video to celebrate his birthday.
In the video, Dou Zecheng arrives in the Bahamas to prepare for the game and participates in the previous Grand Exuma Classic. The photographer was Wu Muyu herself, who accompanied Dou Zecheng to the Korn Ferry International Tour for the first time in several years. "Keep walking with your head held high, keep moving forward." In the video, the girlfriend blessed Dou Zecheng.
Perhaps it is the inspiration of true love that Dou Zecheng handed over 4 six-character scorecards in a row from the last round of the Grand Exuma Elite to the first three rounds of this week's Grand Abaco Classic, and caught as many as 25 small birds, especially the 66 strokes of the 8 birds and 2 bogeys in the early morning this morning, allowing him to rush to the single lead of the Grand Abaco Classic with a one-shot advantage, and is expected to impact the championship trophy of his third Korn Ferry International Tour tomorrow morning!
"Coming here (the Bahamas) is a new year for me." Dou Zecheng said after the game, "I am really happy that my girlfriend can spend these two weeks with me here. ”
Dou Zecheng once again rushed to the crown as a leader
In fact, the Bahamas is a big "blessed land" for Dou Zecheng - he once won a championship and a 3rd place at the Korn Ferry Tour held here. However, winning the 2019 season opener, the Exuma Classic, did not bring the PGA Tour tickets of his dreams to the Chinese rising star, who only reached the top ten once in the following season, and finally finished 28th in the regular season standings, missing out on the PGA Tour membership card with less than 75 points.
Perhaps it is also the "lessons learned from the past" three years ago that dou Zecheng has now broken out again at the beginning of the season, maintaining his sobriety and calmness.
"It's a very long season and it's only the second week." In an official PGA Tour interview, he said, "I just think it's an ordinary game. I don't have to start a season, or that this lead will ensure I win. I just want to enjoy and play at my own level, like I've done in the last three days. ”
In 2019, also in the Bahamas, Dou Zecheng won the second crown of the Dingguang Tour
However, from the past war history, Dou Ze Chengguang won the final victory twice in his career when he took the 54-hole lead, and the winning rate of the lead was as high as 100%! And once he succeeds in holding the upper hand at Abaco next morning, he will once again create Chinese golf and the entire history of the PGA Tour II – becoming the first Chinese player to win the Three Glory International Tour!
It was also the second consecutive week that golfers from China created a chance to compete for the title on the Light Tour. Six days ago, at the Grand Exuma Classic, Yuan Yichun, also born in 1997, still had two shots left in the final round with only 9 holes left! Unfortunately, a mistake in the closing stage made him tied for 3rd place, and he regretted that he lost the first personal light tour title in the season opener.
A week later, of the three Chinese players who played on the Light Tour, only Dou Zecheng successfully advanced to the last two rounds, but he also planted the five-star red flag at the top of the leading list! At 22:12 Beijing time tonight, he will kick off from Abaco Club's No. 1 hole, the last group to be the last in the 54-hole leader, to Chinese mainland player's fifth Korn Ferry Tour title.
Dou Zecheng and his girlfriend (Photo/Weibo)
"Everything we do here is because of golf. We compete on the Tour, try to make a living, and the pressure is all on our minds. In an interview with the PGA Tour earlier this season, Dou Zecheng once said, "The extra pressure [on returning home] means that we are starting further back than others." That's why it's important to have friends (Yuan Yechun and Zhang Xinjun) because they gave me a different perspective on things and taught me a lot of things. ”
In fact, five months ago, although not as a leader, Dou Zecheng also launched an attack on a light tour champion - that is the last leg of the 2021 light tour regular season, Dou Zecheng must win the championship at the summit bank championship, in order to enter the final 25 of the standings at the last minute and return to the PGA Tour. He almost did it - the birdie on the penultimate 2th hole allowed Dou Zecheng to equalize the leader at one point, but unfortunately the leader Of Englander David Skinnings caught the birdie at a critical moment and finally won the game by a one-shot advantage, thus replacing Dou Zecheng, who was tied for runner-up, and took the last ticket to the regular season direct promotion to the PGA Tour...
It's only a shot away from returning to the PGA TOUR. Unwillingly, Dou Zecheng did not return to China to participate in the final of the National Games, risked being sued by the Guangdong team, and participated in three light tour playoffs, but he was already upset and failed to break through. Then, in the two months after the end of the season, he put away his clubs and took vacations across the United States to relax.
"That defeat changed my whole mindset." Dou Zecheng recalled, "I don't even remember how I finished the season last year..."
Pursuing the PGA TOUR dream may mean loneliness, it means sacrifice, it means being far away from family. Unlike Yuan Yichun, who accompanied his beloved wife, and Zhang Xinjun, who moved to the United States with his family, Dou Zecheng has been promoted to the United States since the 2016 PGA Tour China, and has spent Christmas, New Year, and his birthday for several consecutive years.
Can Dou Zecheng become China's first light patrol "Triple Crown"?
"The year before, when I was Chinese New Year's Eve, I went to a hot pot restaurant to eat alone, and there were many families around to celebrate the festival. The waiter asked me why I was alone, and at that moment I thought to myself, I am achieving a goal. If I didn't have a goal, I wouldn't want to come here, I would live in China. In an interview with the PGA Tour, Dou Zecheng said.
Fortunately, at the beginning of 2022, he is no longer alone. No matter what the outcome of the Bahamas race, Dou Zecheng will be accompanied by a lover. Perhaps, this is the most precious thing on the tour.
"For the past three years, I have come to this place alone. So these weeks of this year have been really happy for me. The 25-year-old said.
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