Fearless at Forty

AP: The Golf Connection

Audemars Piguet's links with professional golf stretch back many decades, although these have strengthened in recent times thanks to the brand's affiliations with a handful of the game's finest talents. Ambassadors for Audemars Piguet include the ever-consistent Lee Westwood, 2011 Open champion Darren Clarke, 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell, the popular Miguel Ángel Jiménez and – lest we forget – world No 1 and reigning Hong Kong Open champion Rory McIlroy, who just last month added to his major haul by claiming the PGA Championship in record-breaking fashion.

Another Hong Kong Open winner, the stylish Ian Poulter who claimed the title at Fanling two years ago, became an ambassador for Audemars Piguet in 2011, while glamorous LPGA player Belén Mozo joined the brand this June. Mozo, who hails from Cadiz, became the first player since 1972 (the same year the Royal Oak was launched) to win both the Women's British Amateur Championship and British Girls' Amateur Championship in the same year when she achieved the feat in 2006. The 23-year-old Spanish star, who turned pro in 2010, is now part of a wider line-up of Audemars Piguet LPGA ambassadors that includes Americans Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel and wears Royal Oak and Royal Oak Offshore pieces.

Locally, the brand hosts the Audemars Piguet Golf Trophy, a qualifying competition held exclusively for its Hong Kong and China-based clients. This year's event, which was held across the border at Mission Hills Golf Club in June, was won by Byron Tang and Jiawei Ma, who will join victors from different markets across the world at the final, which is to be played at the Club de Bonmont in Switzerland.