Tiger makes China debut

Tiger Woods steps into China for the first time

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) -- World number one golfer Tiger Woods arrived in China this weekend to yells of delight from local enthusiasts eager to embrace the capitalist lifestyle the game symbolizes.

"Tiger! Tiger!" screamed avid fans and invitees as Woods strode into the Mission Hills Golf Club late on Friday for two exhibition games over the weekend.

Woods stepped into China for the first time, having taken his first long-haul flight out of the United States since the September 11 attacks.

Flanked by aides, he appeared haggard and headed to his hotel room without a word.

Workers at Mission Hills, in China's southern city of Shenzhen, have been preparing for the event for weeks.

Few could have imagined such an opulent location in the communist country three decades ago, but China's opening up in the late 1970s spurred explosive growth which seems unstoppable, even in the current global economic slowdown.

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And with newfound cash in the pockets of a growing minority, golf -- frowned upon for many years as unforgivably capitalistic -- now draws a faithful following.

China has an annual per capita income of only US$1,251, low by most standards, but it has more than 130 licenced golf courses, 60 percent of them in the richer south.

The size of the golfing population in a nation of 1.3 billion is anybody's guess but most people in Shenzhen have heard of Woods.

Many feel that getting the world's number one golfer to play in China, so soon after it won the chance to host the 2008 Olympics, burnishes the country's prestige.

China wants its own tigers

Growing affluence has enabled many Chinese to take up the expensive game, where memberships command anywhere between HK$100,000 (US$12,820) and HK$550,000.

Feng Yue, a five-and-a-half year old girl from Wuhan, is just one of a growing number of rich Chinese children with their own sets of golf clubs.

Her father, businessman Feng Congde, introduced her to the game about a year ago, hired her a coach, and she went on to win the 10-and-under category in the Hong Kong Amateur Championships in July, shooting 42 for nine holes.

"She actually learnt the game from watching all these Tiger Woods tournament videos," he told Reuters.

"Tiger's my idol!" said the little girl, who was among a group of young golfers picked for a tee-off session to be instructed by Woods.

The sheer privilege the Fengs enjoy is in sharp contrast to China's overwhelming majority, where 10 percent survive on less than a dollar a day, according to Forbes.

Guo Zhongwei, one of 500 caddies at Mission Hills, earns just 25 yuan (US$3.05) each time she completes a four-hour round.

But the 21-year-old from Xian in Shaanxi province considers herself lucky.

"I can earn up to 3,000 yuan each month as the bulk of our earnings come from tips," Guo said.

"Though we sometimes work long hours, as many as 12 hours, financially, this work is very good. It is definitely better than working in a factory where the conditions are so bad, hours are even longer and you get less than 1,000 yuan a month."