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SCMP Sport

The International Series tees off in the Philippines on Thursday, with Dustin Johnson running out of time to extend his impressive record of winning a tournament every year for the past decade.
A two-time major champion, Johnson has tasted victory consistently since his rookie PGA Tour season in 2008, when he won the Turning Stone Resort Championship.
But the 41-year-old 4Aces captain struggled in LIV Golf this year, with his best finish a third place in Indianapolis, the final event of the regular season.
Not in the field for next week’s Link Hong Kong Open, there are only two more International Series events after that - in Singapore and Saudi Arabia - for him to maintain his streak.
Given that, he might have been expected to take a greater interest in the Sta Elena Golf Club where he begins his tournament tomorrow in a group alongside Louis Oosthuizen and local hero Miguel Tabuena.

But Wednesday afternoon’s pro-am was the American’s first look at a course in a country he is visiting for the first time.
“It is a golf course,” Johnson said. “I have played enough courses by now. I have got a good caddie, so hopefully he will go out and scout the course, tell me where to hit it. Then as long as my game is in good form, I’ll be able to hit it very tough.”
Johnson will also be up against the strongest field ever assembled for a tournament in the Philippines, with fellow Masters winners Patrick Reed and Charl Schwartzel and 2010 Open Champion Oosthuizen all in the mix.
The Asian Tour’s best will have something to say about the title fight too, with series rankings leader Scott Vincent, and Jakarta International Championship winner Wade Ormsby, who is third on the list, chasing the points that would secure them a spot on LIV Golf next year.
Like Johnson, who won the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai in 2013, Reed knows what it takes to win in Asia and will be back defending the Hong Kong title he won last year.
First though comes a testing track the 35-year-old described as “a major golf course”.
“I saw the golf course on Monday,” Reed said. “I played nine and then nine yesterday. You have got to work the ball both ways, and as long as you are driving it relatively long and straight, the golf course is accessible.
“But if you are off with the tee shots, it could be a long week.”
Hong Kong pair Taichi Kho and Matthew Cheung are also in the field, with Kho starting his tournament alongside Richard Bland, and Macau Open winner Dominic Foos.
Cheung, meanwhile, gets his week under way in a group with Sihwan Kim and Lawry Flynn.
The International Series Philippines is one of nine enhanced events of the Asian Tour this season that carry a US$2 million prize fund, far bigger than regular Asian Tour events.


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Asian Tour

International Series reaches Philippines with time running out for Johnson to win this year

Wednesday’s pro-am was the first time Dustin Johnson had played the Sta Elena Golf Club course that will host this week’s International Series Philippines. Photo: Asian Tour

Wade Ormsby is among those in the running to top the season-ending rankings. Photo: Asian Tour.

Asian Tour: Dominic Foos breaks 29-year German drought with dramatic Macau Open triumph

Dominic Foos line sup his winning putt on the 18th green at Macau Golf and Country Club. Photo: Asian Tour

Talented teenager Pang Runzhi won the Women’s China Open on Sunday. Photo: Sportfive

China’s Ding Wenyi makes early running in Macau, injured Watson out of Link Hong Kong Open

Ding Wenyi set the early pace at the SJM Macau Open. Photo: Asian Tour

Bubba Watson has withdrawn from the next two International Series events. Photo: Getty Images

Sport

Golf

Dustin Johnson has won a tournament almost every year since 2008, but has only come close once so far this season


Dustin Johnson has won a tournament almost every year since 2008, but has only come close once so far this season.


International Series reaches Philippines with time running out for Johnson to win this year

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Dustin Johnson has won a tournament almost every year since 2008, but has only come close once so far this season

Dustin Johnson has won a tournament almost every year since 2008, but has only come close once so far this season