A large crowd spent much of Saturday following Jon Rahm around Fanling as he made his way up the leaderboard at LIV Golf Hong Kong – further evidence, if any were needed, that the tournament is quickly establishing itself as an important part of the city’s social and sporting calendar.
And while attendance figures will not be announced until the tournament has finished, officials said a large number had made the trip from mainland China and overseas, with many paying thousands of dollars for hospitality tickets.
They certainly got their money’s worth at Hong Kong Golf Club, with Rahm’s five-under-par 65 taking him to 17 under and into a three-way tie at the top alongside Harold Varner III and Thomas Detry.
Among those watching the action was tourism chief Peter Lam Kin-ngok, who was given special permission by Beijing to skip part of China’s annual “two sessions” to attend.
The chairman of Hong Kong Tourism Board, who is a member of the CPPCC Standing Committee and will return to the country’s capital on Sunday, told reporters in a brief stand-up that it had become “one of the city’s most significant events”.
Between 40,000 and 50,000 people are expected to watch over the course of four days, Lam added, with a number of those the high-end visitors the city is so keen to attract.
