By Kent Gray
While the PGA Tour paused for a Thanksgiving exhibition match that failed to live up to the made-for-TV hype and the new DP World Tour season worryingly hit the COVID-19 pause button almost before it had begun, a truly uplifting counter-narrative was playing out on the Asian Tour.

As special as Chan Shih-chang’s first win in five years was at the $1 million Blue Canyon Phuket Championship, arguably the more seismic performance was that of 14-year-old Thai Ratchanon Chantananuwat. In his Asian Tour debut and just two days after becoming the third-youngest player in the circuit’s 27-year-history to make the cut, Chantananuwat stormed home with a Sunday 65 to earn a share of 15th place at the circuit’s first event in 20 months.

The thoroughly impressive eight birdie-one bogey 65 – bettered only by Korean Bio Kim’s Sunday best 64 – included just one missed fairway, two missed greens and a mere 28 swipes of Chantananuwat’s trusty mini-mallet putter. It was also nothing more than the teen had hinted at all week in a performance belying his tender years and relative inexperience, notwithstanding his impressive lead-up form on the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT).

Chantananuwat signed for rounds of 71-72-68-65 and a -12 total – just six strokes adrift of now three-time Asian Tour winner Chan who is 21 years his senior. It was an eye-catching performance that would have earned a $12,950 payday were he not an amateur still mixing golf with his schooling at Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok.

Chantanauwat with his low amateur prize.

TK, as Chantananuwat is nicknamed, got his Sunday off to a self-described fluky start with matching 30-foot putts for par and birdie on the 1st and 2nd. Then again, he left quite a few putts out there as well.

“I am going to be completely honest, if that didn’t happen on one and two, I probably would have finished two over. Those putts turned my day around. I made all the birdie putts when I had to, but I did still miss quite a lot. I am really happy to win best amateur in my first Asian Tour event.”

Chantananuwat now heads 19km down the road to Laguna Phuket Golf for the second leg of the Asian Tour Phuket Series starting on Thursday. After playing his first weekend on the Asian Tour in 11-under par, it’s a fair bet he’ll take a healthy dollop of confidence into the $1 million Laguna Phuket Championship, along with his father Tara who will again presumably be on his son’s bag. And why not. In addition to finishing top amateur in six successive ATGT events prior to last week, Chantananuwat starred on the two courses that make up the Asian Tour Phuket Series; he was joint fifth in the Singha All Thailand Championship on the Canyon Course at Blue Canyon and second in the Singha Laguna Phuket Open at Laguna Golf Phuket.

Tara and Ratchanon Chantananuwat.

For the record, Jazz Janewattananond holds the record as the youngest player to make an Asian Tour cut, a feat he achieved at age 14 years, 71 days at the Asian Tour International in Bangkok in 2010.  He was an amateur at the time and has since gone on to win the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit, although missed the cut last week by four strokes.

Chantananuwat was 14-years, 268 days old when he made the cut on Friday. China’s Kuang Yang holds second place – at 14 years, six months 12 days  – after making the weekend at the 2019 China Open at Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen.

Achieved at a young age of 14 years and 268 days old, behind record-holder @jazzjanegolf and Kuang Yang.

Well done, kid! ???#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/nHnfTz96ya

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 26, 2021

The post Thai 14-year-old Ratchanon Chantananuwat savours dream Asian Tour debut appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Asian Tour waited 20 months to resume play post the COVID-19 outbreak. Chan Shih-chang’s patience was tested even longer.

By Kent Gray
When Chan Shih-chang won back-to-back Asian Tour events in Asia (keep reading for globe-trotting context) in mid-2016, it seemed Chinese-Taipei had unearthed a potential world-beater.

The victories at Thailand’s King’s Cup in June (then co-sanctioned by the European Tour) and two months later at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup (a tournament still co-sanctioned by the Japan Golf Tour) propelled the pint-sized Taiwanese player to a career-high 164th in the OWGR by years end. In between those two heady weeks, Chan made the trek to the OMEGA European Masters in Switzerland for another duel Asian-European Tour stop at famed Crans Sur Sierre, the useful T-49 finish contributing to an eventual fourth-place finish on the 2016 Asian Tour Order of Merit with $542,820 in earnings.

Golf was easy and life was good. With five (of now six) Asian Development Tour wins, Chan had served his apprenticeship and was on his way at the elite level, the world his oyster. Until golf happened that was. You know, that sport where the only guarantee is absolutely no guarantees whatsoever.

Fast-forward 1890 days bouncing between various circuits with varying success and Chan became an Asian Tour winner once again on Sunday. A fittingly topsy-turvy closing 68 got the job done at the $1 million Blue Canyon Phuket Championship, securing victory by a stroke from exciting Korean 19-year-old Joohyung Kim and Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana who might just be the fastest player in professional golf, a trait that should be celebrated nearly as much as Chan’s brilliant Sunday display.

That winning feeling ???#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/aIaM5yF3rd

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 28, 2021

The Asian Tour was paused the best part of 20 months by the pandemic and this absorbing Phuket comeback  – including a noteworthy T-15 finish for 14-year-old Thai amateur Ratchanon Chantananuwat – almost made the enforced wait worth it. For Chan, who recovered from two bogeys in his opening seven holes on the Canyon course Sunday to eventually post a winning score of 270 (-18), there was no almost about it. What’s an extra 20 months when you’ve been waiting, grinding and hoping for five years?

“It’s impossible, it’s amazing!” said Chan, 35, who banked US$180,000 for this third Asian Tour triumph to rocket 20 places up the 2020-21 Asian Tour OOM to second place behind Aussie Wade Ormsby.

“I am so happy to be back after the problems everyone has had with COVID. My front nine was not very good but an eagle on nine turned things around.”

That deftly drained eagle putt on the reachable par-5 saw Chan turn in 36 strokes – even par for Canyon’s outward nine – but still three shots adrift of playing partner Sihwan Kim, the lanky American who played a pivotal role in Sunday’s narrative before slipping to a share of fourth.

Sihwan Kim.

At least Chan’s backwards momentum had been reversed though, the eagle triggering a run of four successive birdies from the 13th. There was shot after impressive shot down the cliched stretch, the most impressive of them a laser beam to five-feet on the nerve-jangling 14th where water overpowers grass on the island green par-3, at least to the naked eye from an elevated tee pushed back to an extra intimidating 197 yards on Sunday.

Sadom Kaewkanjana.

Chan had a decent look for a fifth straight birdie on 17 as Sihwan Kim’s challenge ended with a bogey and Kaewkanjana, who contributed so much so quickly to the final threesome, hung tough with a gritty par save. It sent the final round drama to the 72nd hole where a pulled drive and resulting tree trouble saw Kaewkanjana send his approach long and left of the green. Chan, meanwhile, also tugged his tee shot left to avoid the water right, and was only able to advance his second shot to just shy of the green from a gnarly, ball-swallowing lie. From there (after Kim missed a decent birdie attempt that might have forced a playoff had Chan and Kim both bogeyed) Kaewkanjana slightly undercooked another knee-knocking par save following a delicate chip across and down the final green. The stage was set for Chan who had pitched to three feet and he didn’t disappoint, calmly nailing the putt to avoid any chance of overtime. The lottery of extra holes is not something you spend five years grinding for. The door was opened and Chan quickly slammed it shut, leaving all challengers behind him.

“I always enjoy coming to Thailand. I feel very relaxed playing here. Actually, I feel less pressure playing here than playing back home,” said Chan who warmed up for the season resumption by finishing second at the Yeangder TPC on home soil last week, an event normally part of the Asian Tour schedule but this year scuppered by COVID-19 restrictions.

Mission accomplished

Chan Shih-chang closes out his third Asian Tour victory at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship ??#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/ax0Jpp2VB5

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 28, 2021

“It’s my second win since my baby boy arrived eight months ago. I guess its baby luck!”

Fatherhood has indeed been kind to Chan who has risen from 1366th to 428th in the latest world rankings and has taken his season earnings to $211, 775. That’s just a whisker more than $25,000 behind Ormsby (T-23 at Blue Canyon) as the field contemplate the 19km journey sou-west to this week’s $1 million Laguna Phuket Championship. It’s the second of four events the Asian Tour has been able to tack onto its 2020-21 schedule to deliver a meaningful season that, ironically, won’t climax until early January 2022 after the just confirmed $1 million Singapore International (Jan. 14-17 at Tanah Merah Country Club) and the $1.25 million SMBC Singapore Open (Jan. 20-23, Sentosa Golf Club).

The great news for Chan? A top-30 finish in the OOM is now guaranteed, meaning a start in February’s Saudi International, the Asian Tour’s new $5 million “flagship” and 2022 season opener, is assured. The world, though vastly different from five years ago, is at Chan’s feet once more.

The post The Asian Tour resumption proves a timely re-set for a Chinese-Taipei journeyman appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
After a 20-month pandemic enforced hiatus and a recent $200 million cash injection, the resumption of the Asian Tour in Phuket is the only fresh storyline the rejuvenated circuit really needed this week. But how about young Ratchanon Chantananuwat for a worthy subplot.

The 14-year-old Thai amateur is set for his Asian Tour debut at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship on Thursday and will also tee it up in next week’s Laguna Phuket Championship, the second leg of the Asian Tour’s much-anticipated Phuket Series. Given the teen’s form in the lead-up to the $1 million event, this is no thinly-veiled publicity stunt either; the kid’s clearly got game.

Chantananuwat, or “TK” as he is nicknamed, has been the find of the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT) this year, finishing top amateur in six successive events. Even more impressively, Chantananuwat starred on the two courses that make up the Asian Tour Phuket Series; he was joint fifth in the Singha All Thailand Championship on the Canyon Course at Blue Canyon and second in the Singha Laguna Phuket Open at Laguna Golf Phuket.

Throw in the fact he finished T-16th at the Thailand Open last month and owns the ATGT record as the youngest player to make the cut at 13 years, four months and 18 days, and it’s hardly surprising that there is genuine interest in the youngster who will have his father, Tara, on his bag this week.

Meet @ratchanon_tk ?? – The youngest player in the field this week at 14 years old.?#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/M3MklT9eLG

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 24, 2021

“Obviously, this is my first Asian Tour event, I am aware that the players are really good, there’s a lot of top players here, so I am just mainly focusing on myself,” said Chantananuwat who led after the third round of the Singha All Thailand Championship on the Canyon course.

“I have played well at these clubs at the recent ATGT events. It feels really good to finish as best amateur six times in a row, I am just trying to go for the big one now.”

Studying for his IGCEs at Shrewsbury International School in Bangkok, Chantananuwat isn’t letting this momentous week keep him from his school work either. He missed a double English lesson to play a practice round on Monday but made up for it with some online physics and English classes yesterday.

“Obviously it should be 50/50 for the most part but at certain times I have to focus on one thing or another depending what is more important at the time. For example, right now I have to pretty much put my full attention on these two events, therefore I am prioritising golf and practice way more than school.

“I know if I spend a bit of time revising and talking to my teachers I can catch up. Depending on my tee times this week, if early or late, I can slot in a period to study.”

It is the start of this new four-event stretch (including two events scheduled for Singapore in January) that will finish the stalled 2020-21 season that has  Chantananuwat’s “full attention” this week. While most are focused on playing their way into the top-30 in the Order of Merit come late January to secure a place in the Asian Tour’s new $5million, 2022 season-opening Saudi International in February, TK’s motivation is more refined.

“My game is ok. I just want to make sure I am dialled in because if I want to do well then the driver’s got to be on point, hitting has to be on point, I have to make the putts, put my irons close, everything has to be as good as possible.”

The Asian Tour’s 2020/21 season resumes this week at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship #BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/KHuG57W18R

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 22, 2021

The post Thai teen’s debut makes for a tantalising subplot at Asian Tour resumption in Phuket appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.