If it's possible for three generations of Chinese golf to already exist (modern China didn't get its first course until 1984), they will all be proudly on display in the third round of the US$2.3 million BMW Asian Open, a European Tour event, today at Shanghai's Tomson Golf Club in Pudong. Forty-two-year-old Zhang Lianwei, the trailblazer among Chinese pros, shares the lead at 5-under with Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands, one stroke clear of Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke. Liang Wenchong, 29, China's current No. 1 and the 2007 Asian Tour money leader, is tied for sixth, three strokes off the lead, along with teenager Hu Mu, a Florida-based, David Leadbetter-coached amateur who will enroll at the University of Florida this fall. And just one stroke back of that group, at 1-under, you'll find big Li Chao, 28, the top player on China's domestic circuit, the Omega China Tour. more ›

Have you ever heard of Henrik Stenson? He's a very good golfer, but not exactly a household name (unless, of course, you are from Sweden). He is, however, the highest ranked golfer participating in this week's BMW Asian Open in Shanghai. Ernie Els, Luke Donald and David Howell all pulled out of the tournament, citing one ailment or another. It's leading some to wonder: Are the world's top athletes allergic to Shanghai? You may remember the mass exodus of top names at the ATP Tennis Masters Cup last fall. And more recently, many of the big guns did not make the trip to the World Short Course Swimming Championships. The South China Morning Post has taken to calling this the "Shanghai Sickness" -- we always thought that was food poisoning. Anyway, here's a list of athletes that don't seem to be current on their Shanghai shots: more ›

Photo by Ya Ya taken from the Shanghaiist photos page. To see your photos on our photos page, use Flickr and tag your photos "shanghaiist". Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site. more ›

The opening day of the HSBC Champions tournament at Sheshan International Golf Course was … well, wet. But that didn’t deter a gallery of 500 or so (that’s our guess ... some said later in the day the figure approached 2,000) traipsing around for 18 holes to watch world number one Tiger Woods. In contrast, world number two Vijay Singh, playing in the group ahead of Tiger, had just a couple of dozen spectators watching on. Such is life. more ›

We will soon find out. The HSBC Champions golf tournament hits Shanghai's Sheshan Golf Club -- which touts itself on its website as "Shanghai's first truly private and exclusive 'members only' golf club" -- November 10-13. Private. Exclusive. That about sums it up. Tickets for the tournament are RMB 500 (around $60) for Thursday and Friday and RMB 1,000 for Saturday and Sunday. A tournament pass that includes all days is RMB 2,000, just RMB 319 more than the monthly income for the average Shanghai household. Not exactly the best way to grow Chinese interest in golf from the bottom up, as is necessary. But who cares about that? Tiger is coming to town! more ›