Rookie pro is proving he can play with world's best

Coming off his best finish of the year at last week's Guangzhou Open, Jin Cheng is primed to make a charge at this week's PGA Tour Series-China Dongguan Open.

Although bad weather reduced the Guangzhou tournament to just 36 holes, China's former top amateur finished tied for third and is looking to keep the ball rolling at Mission Hills Dongguan - the world's largest golf resort.

Jin is having a solid rookie pro season. After winning mainland qualifying school by an impressive seven strokes to earn full playing status for 2019, he currently sits 26th on the money list through nine events - roughly 200,000 yuan behind compatriot Bai Zhengkai, who is in ninth place.

"Last week gave me a lot of confidence. I've been telling myself to stay confident and just try to keep the momentum going and see what happens. If I can get a similar result to last week, that would be great," said Jin.

"This is just my first year as a pro and I feel like my game has been improving. Finishing tied for third last week was a great sign and I hope I can do even better at the Dongguan Open."

The top 25 players on the order of merit at the end of this year will earn entry into the second stage of the Korn Ferry Tour qualifying tournament, while the top 10 earn entry into the final stage.

A top-45 finish in qualifying guarantees starts on next year's Korn Ferry Tour.

China's Yuan Yechun finished inside the top 25 on the 2018 Series order of merit to qualify for this year's Korn Ferry Tour and is currently ranked No 62 on the points list, within striking distance of earning a PGA Tour card.

Jin is hoping to give himself the same opportunity.

"I think it's been a great season so far. There are five tournaments left, so I'm going to give it my best to finish as high as possible on the order of merit," he said.

"I'm not going to try to force anything; I'll just keep working hard and stay patient and stay humble."

As a junior, Jin was one of China's top amateurs and became the youngest champion on the PGA Tour Series-China when he won the 2014 Nine Dragons Open as a 16-year-old. In 2015, he won the Asia-Pacific amateur championship to earn entry into the following year's Masters and British Open.

Commitment

Mission Hills Dongguan is one of China's leading golf venues and has hosted several top international tournaments. It started to work with PGA Tour Series-China in 2014, the year the tour was established, and is committed to the development of the sport in China.

Mission Hills Dongguan also has a history of offering programs to young players who aspire to achieve something greater on the international stage.

"Mission Hills has a youth development program and we give youngsters from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong a lot of opportunities to get better training and competition when they are very young," said Mission Hills Group vice-chairman Tenniel Chu.

"Starting from here they rise to bigger stages, like the PGA Tour Series-China. Competing in top-level tournaments like the PGA Tour Series-China gives them a great chance to learn from some of the world's best players."