International Series Macau: star-struck Taichi Kho torn between respecting his golfing heroes and beating them
- The Hongkonger says he is still in awe playing with the likes of Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia, who are among the 20 LIV golfers in the Macau field
- Poulter says the 23-year-old Asian Games gold medallist is ‘definitely one on the radar’ to be part of his Majesticks team on the LIV circuit
One of Taichi Kho’s early meetings with Ian Poulter was at the 2011 Hong Kong Open, when the Englishman was defending his title and the Hongkonger was a star-struck 10-year-old.
Kho grabbed a picture that day at Hong Kong Golf Club, and on Tuesday he sat next to his hero at the Wynn Palace hotel in Macau for a press conference ahead of this week’s International Series event in the city, in which they are both playing.
It is not the first time the pair have been in the same field; they were together last March when Kho won the World City Championship at the course in Fanling, and have been at other Asian Tour events since.
But the 23-year-old said he was still in awe when lining up against the likes of Poulter, and Sergio Garcia, who are among the 20 LIV golfers playing in Macau.
“It’s incredible, really,” Kho said. “I’m so star-struck whenever I’m playing these International Series events, or seeing LIV Golf in Hong Kong last week, because I literally grew up watching all these players win major championships.
“You know, [holing] winning putts at the Ryder Cup and, you know, these are my heroes growing up, so to be sat next to them and to be playing along with them is a real dream come true.
“So, part of me really wants to beat them, but part of me also really appreciates, respects and understands the greatness in front of me.”
Poulter and Kho could even end up being teammates. The winner of the International Series order of merit gets direct entry into LIV for the following season, and the season-ending promotions event offers another three spots.
When asked about the possibility of a player from Greater China making it onto the LIV circuit, Poulter said the Asian Games gold medallist was among those on his Majesticks team’s radar.
One of the three co-captains, alongside Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson, Poulter said the team had an entire department focused on looking into “the next generational player coming through” and was sure there were “a couple” from the region on the list.
“But Taichi’s definitely one on the radar of someone you would look at probably from this region,” Poulter said. “And certainly, if I go back 10 or 15-20 years, you know, there really wasn’t really anybody that was from here that played as well as he has.
“So you know, Li Hautong has been a good player for a long time. Kind of hasn’t played as great in the last few years. But, there’s a number of guys I’m sure that are ready to come through.”
