Five Minutes with Tom Phillips

The Hong Kong-based CEO of the Faldo Series, Sir Nick Faldo's industry-leading youth development programme, tells us about a solid showing at Chung Shan, his thrill for watching the likes of Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng and why football hard man Vinnie Jones would be in his dream fourball

Yani Tseng

Who is your favourite player?

Through my work on the Faldo Series I've seen many young kids go on to become great players. In the early days it was the likes of Nick Dougherty; then came Rory McIlroy and Yani Tseng, who have since gone on to become world number ones. There are a host of others who now play on the men's and ladies' tours in Europe and Asia. Seeing them progress and do well is a huge thrill.

What, if anything, drives you mad when playing?

Slow play is the obvious one. From a personal standpoint, three-putting after playing a good shot to the green can be really annoying, too.

Who would be in your dream fourball?

Boris Becker, Ian Botham and Vinnie Jones – they were my sporting heroes when I was growing up. The first two don't need much of an explanation, but I was an ardent Wimbledon Football Club (now AFC Wimbledon) fan and Vinnie was my favourite player.

What's in your bag?

I carry a TaylorMade R9 driver and woods, R9 irons, a Rossa mallet putter and two Faldo by Edel Golf wedges.

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