Golf is still pretty young in China

It was a comment made in a light-hearted moment, Liang says, but the sentiments are serious.
"I was joking a little but I did indeed think that way. I wanted the whole world to be aware that there are some pretty good Chinese golfers," Liang tells China Daily.
"Golf is still pretty young in China, with a history of less than 30 years. There is still a long way to go and a lot to learn from the US and Europe."
Unlike most successful golfers, who acquired their first clubs and were inspired by big names at an early age, Liang followed a very different path.
He was a peasant's son in Guangdong province, and spent most of his childhood in the field with his parents, sowing and gathering their peanut crops. For leisure, he was fishing in the ditches and chasing chickens around.
He could have become a farmer like his father or one of the millions of migrant workers in the big cities nearby.
However, the first golf club on the Chinese mainland was built in his hometown, Sanxiang, Zhongshan. The club was talent-spotting in his secondary school when Liang was picked. He was 15 and had never touched a club.
Many of the trainees dropped out of the demanding training, but it was Liang who persevered, training at 5 am for more than two hours without interruption before school, in all weather.