2009 SAIL Open

Rory finished T-9 in the 2009 SAIL Open, held in Classic Golf Resort, New Delhi. He shot a 67 in the final round with 6 birdies and 1 bogey, for a total of 67-70-67-67–271.

European Tour TV – Interview

You were one of the leading amateurs in the US; part of the USC golf team. Why return to Indonesia to play golf? Why not try out for the PGA Q School and work your way up there?

The level of amateur competition in the U.S is probably the most competitive in the world of amateur golf and because I was one of the leading amateurs there, I felt it was the right time for me to move on to higher levels. My goal is to be the one of the top ranked golfers in the world, not only in Asia. And in order to do that I needed to take it step by step. My main goal is to play on the PGA tour, but I realize that as of now, the best way for me to start off my career is through Asian tour or European tour, especially since I received an exemption to the second stage of European tour q school through my amateur world ranking. I realized that even a successful amateur career will not guarantee that players will successfully qualify to play on the PGA tour from the Q-school right away, as many have tried and failed. It is harder to work my way up if I don’t make it through to the final stage of PGA tour Q school; at least now I have secured a place to play in Asia. I believe that Asian Tour will give me a lot of experience of playing with world class competition and that the experience will give me the edge over other players trying to get through to the PGA tour.

You’re now part of the Asian Tour, Indonesia’s first golfer to do so in quite a while. What are your goals? The European Tour? PGA? What are your plans to achieve them?

My goal for the Asian Tour is to be able to stay exempt and play in the Asian Tour again next year (2010) without having to go through qualifying school again. I am also fully exempt to play on the European Challenge tour this year, as well as to 7 to 8 main European tour events. I will pick the best events to play in that won’t clash with the Asian Tour schedule, and I’ll strive to play my best and perform well in those tournaments in order to work my way up in the world rankings.

You’re now a full time golf professional. Do you think you’ll go back to school to finish your degree at some point?

Yes, education is very important for me. I have been fortunate enough to be able to complete 2 years of college education at University of Southern California, and I will finish my degree in the future. Right now I’m still young; I want to fully focus on my career in golf, not other paths, so I have chosen golf over school. Golf is very time consuming and in order to be a world-class golfer I need to focus my time on learning new skills and sharpening it.

Based on your experience, what can you share to other aspiring golfers that strive to be the next Tiger Woods or Rory Hie?

I consider myself to be one of those aspiring golfers that strive to be the next Tiger Woods, so I don’t think I can say much yet to other golfers. From my experience though, people should do the best at each level, from junior, college and amateur, and play in the strongest field tournaments and tough courses to gain experience as much as possible and get better.

Most golf pros require sponsorship for them to practice and travel to compete in events. What is the difference, do you believe, in the sport of golf in Indonesia and the US, and what can be done to improve golf in Indonesia?

I believe the future of Indonesian golf is definitely brighter than it was ever been before with Ancora Sports company in Indonesia that helps develop the sport of golf by providing juniors with the best means and facilities to practice, and by hosting high-quality local tournaments for Indonesian golfers. This has never been done before in Indonesia when I was younger.

Ancora Golf Institute provides free practice balls and quality coaching staff from all over the world, like Australia. They further ensure the best for Indonesian juniors by providing dormitories and fitness centers to improve their overall wellness and ability to support more focus in golf.

I certainly benefited from the support from Ancora Sports and I am especially thankful to Mr. Gita Wirjawan for developing such a team and therefore allowing me to be able to compete in international events. I believe this is the key to improving golf in Indonesia; we need more people like him to support golf in Indonesia and allow Indonesian golfers to improve and be able to be recognized internationally.

European Tour Weekly

Rory was featured on a segment in the European Tour Weekly on March 4, 2009. See here for the video.

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