China's Liang Wenchong, seen here in Shanghai 19 April 2007, has become the first Chinese player to earn one million dollars on the Asian Tour, narrowly beating mentor Zhang Lianwei to the milestone, officials said Monday. Liang reached the historic mark by pocketing 80,645 dollars for second place in this weekend's Maekyung Open, raising his career tally to 1.02 million dollars. [Photo: AFP/File/Mark Ralston]

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Liang Wenchong has become the first Chinese player to earn one million dollars on the Asian Tour, narrowly beating mentor Zhang Lianwei to the milestone, officials said Monday.

Liang reached the historic mark by pocketing 80,645 dollars for second place in this weekend's Maekyung Open, raising his career tally to 1.02 million dollars.

Trailblazing Zhang, the first Chinese player to win a European Tour event, is just 672 dollars short of a million.

Liang, 28, who becomes the Asian Tour's 12th million-dollar player, is now just 4,223 dollars behind South Africa's Anton Haig on this season's Order of Merit.

"I am hoping to challenge for the Order of Merit title, that was why I played in Korea," said Liang, who was playing in South Korea for the first time since 2003.

"I'm taking this week off and will then play in Europe. However, I will try to play in a few more Asian Tour tournaments to try and win the Order of Merit," he said.

The Asian Tour is staging a record 29 events this year, offering 28 million dollars in total prize money.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee leads the career money list with 2.4 million dollars. South Korea's Kim Kyung-tae, 20, won the Maekyung Open by five shots.