While I have to admit that I don’t follow any other top of the log golfer (US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel recently put out a pressie denying that he has a Twitter account, so I promptly un-followed that imposter) I must say that there are few more prolific Twits (can I say that?) than Ian James Poulter.

Let me rephrase that:

There are few more prolific sportsmen-who-tweet than world number 17 Ian James Poulter.

On his way to the official dinner at the Ballantine’s Championships in Korea a few days ago, the Englishman tweeted about his chauffeured car as well as his driver (“The car is all black. The driver is wearing all black. A bit gangsta ish“)

He also told, in less than 140 characters at a time, what he was wearing.  He told of how his velvet tie matched (in his opinion) his velvet slippers (I think he meant slip-in-shoes).  He hated his socks though.

His tweets were backed up with Twitpics from all the locations and of all items he was tweeting about so no imposter this time around.

Here at Howzit-HongKong HQ we receive tons of ‘official press releases’ about players (golfers, football players, sailors, rugby players, etc.) quoting said players as well as their vital statistics relating to their games, etc.

However, nothing tells one more about a player, his thoughts or his preferences that those 140-characters-at-a-time messages.

Some people speak out about Poulter’s on-course dress sense. What they cannot deny is that Ian James Poulter is a brand who uses the social-media age to promote it to it’s fullest.

Like in Sheung Shui, Hong Kong last year, a couple of championship trophies along the way also help.

All the best in Korea, playa.

All dressed up and ready to go. Ian Poulter on his way to the Ballantine’s Dinner (Picture via TwitPic)

I shook hands with Ian Poulter at the 2010 Hong Kong Open after sitting through yet another bizarre Hong Kong-style press conference following the tournament:

Ballantine’s has been title sponsor of the Ballantine’s Championship since 2008 and has committed to the event until 2013.

The 2011 Ballantine’s Championship takes place at the Blackstone Golf Club near Seoul, Korea.

please visit www.ballantineschampionship.com

(Additional picture of Ian Poulter: Paul Lakatos/Parallel Media Group)

A determined Ernie Els believes he can still win another Major and has made that his top target this year.

The ”Big Easy“ – who will return to Korea next month to play in the €2.2 million Ballantine’s Championship – is adamant he can still work his magic over the closing holes of golf’s big four tournaments.

“Yes, absolutely, I can win another Major,” insisted Els, winner of the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and the British Open in 2002. “That is what I’m working on right now.

“I’m trying to get my putting going as good as I can as that’s the one thing that’s holding me back a little bit, and then I’ll just work on my confidence and try and get it going.

“I’ve got all the experience in the world, I just need to let it all blend in and happen. I’m definitely looking forward to a Major this year.”

Ernie Els will return to play in the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea Pic: Parallel Media Group

Els, 41, famous for his globe-trotting schedule, revealed he was cutting back on tournament commitments and relaxing more.

“I did that this year for the first time. I had a five-week break before playing in the Match Play [WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson from 23-27 February]. I normally play in the Middle East and on the US West Coast, but I had a nice break and took it easy.”

Els started this season with a bang, winning the South African Open Championship for an astonishing fifth time, and will be looking to make it third time lucky at the Ballantine’s Championship after top 10 finishes in the past two years.

“I had a chance last year and I didn’t play a good final nine holes,” said the world No.13. “So I’m coming back this year with the objective to try and win the tournament.

“It’s a prestigious event and they get a number of really good players, so if you can win, you’ve beaten a really good field. I would love to win, especially on a new course.”

The Ballantine’s Championship, to be staged from 28 April to 1 May, is moving to the prestigious Blackstone Resort in Seoul after the first three editions were played at Pinx Golf Club on the holiday island of Jeju.

Joining Els in Korea’s biggest golf tournament will be world No.2 Lee Westwood, his fellow Englishman and world No.14 Ian Poulter, and Korean hero YE Yang, Asia’s first Major winner.

Els insisted he would do his homework ahead of the event. “I always read up on who designed the course,” he confirmed.

“It will be a long flight to get there so you can do a bit of background research and start reading up on the designer and his philosophy.

“You also take a look at the weather report, so you start to familiarise yourself with what you might expect.”

Els, one of golf’s truly global players with more than 60 victories worldwide, was full of praise for Asian golf and the advances it has made.

“The changes have been huge,” he said. “I’ve been playing in Asia since the early Nineties, so I’ve seen some of the players come and go, but I’ve never seen it as strong as it is now.

“Golf in Asia has exploded, everywhere you go it is such a popular sport. They televise tournaments from Europe and the US and, of course, there is such a large audience.”

The 2011 Ballantine’s Championship will once again be co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Korea PGA.

Blackstone Resort, in Incheon, just south of Seoul, will host the event for at least the next three years. It is the first time that the exclusive venue – which opened only in 2009 and has just 300 members – has staged a professional tournament.

I attended the official Hong Kong Sixes afterparty at Stormies in Lan Kwai Fong (LKF) a couple of weekends ago and was surprised at all the construction that’s going on in the city’s premier party district.  Seems Mr Lan Kwai Fong himself (Allan Zeman) has bigger plans for the district.

While it was a Sunday evening, LKF was nevetheless quite busy.  I even saw some folks in their pajamas (we don’t bat our eyelids upon seeing this here in Hong Kong).  They obviously live in the area.  Age is probably catching up with me but I could never understand why someone would want to live so close to Lan Kwai Fong, or SoHo for that matter.

James Durston obviously does and he recently went into quite a public (online) rant about it.

Here’s an extract:

Li Ka-shing recently asked the Hong Kong citizenry for some “good ideas” that could make Hong Kong a better place. Here’s one:

Sentence all drunken idiots stumbling around Soho/Central/LKF to 100 days chained to a bar in Soho/Central/LKF … with no booze. Let’s see how many a cappella renditions of Frankie Valli’s “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” they can take, then throw in a few strangers draping their arms around them and breathing over and over into their face, “Yuh know, I dunno whoyooarr, buh I love you sho mush.”

An eye for an eye, and all that.

And if they happen to be English, castrate them too. That might sound a bit severe, but if someone insists on singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” at 4 a.m. outside my apartment, as many Brits do, the least they can do is make sure they hit those high notes.

Anecdotes about drunken British morons abroad are about as original as … the antics of those drunken British morons. But that’s exactly my point. How many times do we have to hear about some beered-up banker arrested for indecently assaulting a taxi exhaust before we make an example of him?

Just to give this some context, I’m English, and I’m no stranger to the odd beer or six on a Saturday night. But I’ve never felt the urge to take off my pants, wrap them around my head and sit in the middle of the street singing “We Wish You A Beery Christmas.”

Yes, I saw that, from my apartment window. In August.

Read more: James Durston: Drunken British expats should be chained up | CNNGo.com http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/life/drunken-british-expats-in-hong-kong-113818#ixzz16G7oranJ

On this website’s homepage, I write of how I often meet fellow-South Africans around Hong Kong and how easy it is to recognise our countrymen and women in this cosmopolitan city.  Funny enough, I probably meet most Saffas in the party-district of Wan Chai.  Regular readers of this Blog will know that I hang out at Delaney’s Irish Bar because we often meet there to watch rugby (they have a satellite dish that picks up Supersport).  Whenever I cover a major Hong Kong sports event, Wan Chai is often where after-work drinks are to be had.

So it was, late one night during the 2009 UBS Hong Kong Golf Open.  A friend and I literally bumped into a Saffa coming out of, shall I say, one of the popular ladies establishments in Lockhard Road.  He recognised us because we were speaking Afrikaans and the connection was immediately made.  The next day I followed that guy for the first couple of rounds at the Fanling golf course where he was playing.

James Kamte is a real stand-up bloke and a good golfer, though not in Hong Kong last year.

Here are some of the pics I took of “The Cobra” on the second hole at the Hong Kong Country Club:

Jason Dasey wrote this article about James Kamte in today’s Sunday Morning Post:

Rory Sabbatini is aiming to make all the right moves in this week’s UBS Hong Kong Open after likening the tournament course to chess. 

“It’s a very traditional course with everything out there in front of you,” the South African star said of the tight par-70 layout at the Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling. 

“You know exactly what’s ahead. It’s a course which requires you to put it in all the right spots.  “It’s like a game of chess where you have to get in the right position all the way round the golf course. Ultimately you have to putt well to give yourself a good chance.”

Sabbatini is making his second successive appearance in the UBS Hong Kong Open, which teed off at 06:50 (local time) this morning. 

“Last year was my first trip to Asia and it was a very entertaining one which I enjoyed very much,” he said. 

“The tournament here at the UBS is a very historic one with a lot of tradition and history behind it and it’s a pleasure to be here.”   

He agreed that golf in Asia is going through boom times. “I think the whole world realises Asia is becoming more important in every regard. Especially in China, golf is exploding into their culture, it’s very exciting.  “It’s great to see the knowledge of golf expand and it’s now been included in the Olympics so that’s even more exciting. It’s something to keep your eye on.” 

Although he claimed his fifth career PGA Tour title at the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Texas last May, Sabbatini feels his season could have been better.  “I’d say even though I won it’s been a disappointing year. I felt I was striking the ball well and doing all the right things but not getting the ball in the hole. 

“Ultimately, golf is a game where you have to get the ball in the hole so I was doing things backwards.  “But I learnt a lot about my ability on the course and the way I hit the ball so I’m very excited about next year.”

Sabbatini played an expanded schedule in 2009 but is keeping an open mind about next year. “This is my first year being a member of the European Tour and I have enjoyed it,” he said. 

“Next year I can’t make any predictions on my schedule. I play full time on the PGA Tour so that is my first priority and then in regards to the European Tour, it depends on the schedule.  “This week, I just want to go out and put in a good performance.”

Sabbatini is one of a contingent of eight South Africans competing at this year’s UBS Hong Kong Open.  Joining him at Fanling is fellow-South Africans James Kamte, Andrew McLardy, Hendrik Buhrmann, Charles Schwartzel, Jbe Kruger, Anton Haig and Keith Horne.

Rory Sabbatini follows his drive at the part-four seventh hole on Wednesday, 11 November 2009, during the pro-am tournament at the UBS Hong Kong Open. (Pic: Parallel Media Group)