The Mercuries Taiwan Masters may not have been staged on the Asian Tour for the past two years, a result of travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, but it was played on the local circuit and witnessed a rare and unique double.

In 2020 Wang Wei-hsuan was victorious, in what is one of Chinese-Taipei’s most sought after titles, and the following year Wang Wei-hsiang lifted the trophy.

Yes, you guessed it, the two Chinese-Taipei golfers are indeed brothers, and they are back to compete in the tournament, which tees-off tomorrow at Taiwan Golf and Country Club.

“This is a really special tournament for me and my younger brother Wei-hsuan as we both won the last two years,” said Wang Wei-hsiang, who is three years older than his brother.

“I take it as a healthy competition between us! Really looking forward to this week. Mr. George Wong [the event’s founder] has been a great supporter of us. It’s really inspiring to see. We are all very thankful.”

Wang Wei-hsiang. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

Their back-to-back success was a first the event, although the famous Hsieh siblings Yu-shu (1993) and Chin-sheng (1995) have also tasted victory, adding to the rich history of an event first played in 1987 and which boasts a purse of US$1 million, the most lucrative in Chinese-Taipei.

Adds Wang Wei-hsuan: “Feels good to be back here at the old Tamsui course. Every time I come back here I feel like the course has improved. The fairway condition is getting better and better. It’s good to see. Lots of good memories from last year.

“Coming back to play here as a defending champion and with the event back on the Asian Tour, I’m really excited. Feeling more confident than before as well. I hope to play well this week.”

He has set himself the goal of finishing in the top three and says the key to playing well at Taiwan Golf and Country Club is to have the short game on point and to avoid the rough, which is grown every year specifically for the event.

Wang Wei-hsuan. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

Wang Wei-hsuan has the benefit of playing on the back of brilliant performance in last week’s Yeangder TPC, where he tied for third, five shots behind the winner Travis Smyth from Australia.

“I am really pleased with my result last week,” said the younger Wang, who celebrated his birthday yesterday.

“I played well on the last day, bogey-free round. My mental game was good too. I was playing in the United States the week before so to come back to finish well at the Yeangder TPC gave me a great boost of confidence.

“It sets me up well for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters this week. I have a lot of good memories here, winning here two years ago and my older brother won last year as well.

“I just want to enjoy and play my best out there. I know the course pretty well, I know the key will be my driving strategy and also how good I can gauge the wind direction. That will be main challenge I think.”

No doubt another challenge will be to beat his older brother.