A welcome addition to the Asian Tour calendar, the US$400,000 Taiwan Glass Taifong Open will be staged at the Taifong Golf Club from November 30 to December 3.

Formerly a showpiece event on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open represents a fabulous opportunity for a Chinese Taipei player to finally enter the Asian Tour’s winners’ enclosure in 2023.

Since Chan’s triumph in last year’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters, Chinese Taipei players have endured an uncharacteristically barren spell on the Asian Tour.

Chan Shih-chang Image: Asian Tour

However, of a strong home contingent next week, Chan and Lee will have particular cause for optimism that they can bring an end to their country’s victory drought on the Asian Tour that now stretches to almost 14 months.

After a slow start to 2023, both players have enjoyed a recent upswing in performances.

A five-time winner on the Asian Tour, Chan has struggled for consistency this year although top-10 finishes at the Yeangder TPC and International Series Singapore have seen him climb to 50th in the Order of Merit.

That places him second among Chinese Taipei players, behind only Lee who is currently 15th in the standings, having missed just two cuts in 18 starts this year.

A tie for second in August’s Mandiri Indonesia Open was his joint best Asian Tour finish while four successive late-season top-10s – International Series Singapore (tied ninth), SJM Macao Open (tied fourth), Volvo China Open (tied seventh) and Hong Kong Open (tied eighth) – have fuelled his belief that a maiden Asian Tour triumph is within his sights.

Chan and Lee will also be boosted by the fact that they both have outstanding records at the Taifong venue.

Chan won the Taifong Open in 2014 and 2018 and finished equal fourth, alongside Lee, last year.

Over the course of the past decade, meanwhile, Lee has posted five top finishes at the Taifong Golf Club.

Another Chinese Taipei player expected to be vying for glory is Hung Chien-yao, victorious in last year’s Taiwan Glass Taifong Open when it was the concluding event on the ADT’s 2022 schedule.

Currently 64th in the Asian Tour Merit standings, Hung knows that a strong performance on home soil will go a long way to helping him confirm his playing rights for 2024.

Of the overseas players in the starting line-up, attention is sure to be focused on Thailand’s Poom Saksansin, who has already savoured success in Chinese Taipei this year.

Celebrating his 10th year as a professional, Poom has enjoyed the best season of his career to date, highlighted by his win at the Yeangder TPC.

It was his fourth Asian Tour title and has lifted him into fifth spot in the Order of Merit standings. Another victory in Chinese Taipei next week would put an exclamation mark on a memorable year for the Thai.

Images: Asian Tour

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Chan Shih-chang will be hoping a return to the scene of the most coveted win of his career will spark a strong finish to the 2023 Asian Tour season.

After a titanic battle with Indian Rashid Khan, Chan (main picture) emerged victorious in last year’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters at the historic Taiwan Golf & Country Club.

It’s a success he’ll be aiming to repeat when the 37th edition of the US$1 million event takes place from September 28 to October 1.

Set to act as the 16th leg of the 2023 campaign, confirmation of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters means Asian Tour members can look forward to a two-week swing in the country.

A week earlier, Linkou International Golf and Country Club will be the venue for the Yeangder TPC.

Cho Minn Thant, the Asian Tour’s Commissioner & CEO, said: “The Mercuries Taiwan Masters has been a backbone event on the Asian Tour since the turn of the century and returning to the Tamsui course at Taiwan Golf & Country Club is always a pleasure for our members.

Rashid Khan was beaten in extra time at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters last year. Picture by Chen So-ko/Asian Tour.

“As a popular stop on the Asian Tour for many decades, we’re delighted to be able to stage back-to-back events in Chinese-Taipei again this year.”

On the back of his defeat of Khan at the second hole of a sudden-death play-off last year, Chan placed sixth on the 2022 Order of Merit. It was the third occasion the man with five Asian Tour titles and six Asian Development Tour wins to his name had finished in the top 10 in the standings.

During the first half of 2023, though, Chan struggled for consistency, missing the cut in four of the nine events in which he competed. His best performance came in the International Series Qatar where he tied for 13th.

However, given his intimate knowledge of the tree-lined Tamsui Course that was founded in 1919, Chan will be looking to further improve on his remarkable record at the storied venue and become only the second player to make a successful title defence, after compatriot Lu Wen-teh (2007 and 2008).

Prior to his first Asian Tour victory on home soil last year, Chan tied for third in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in 2021 and equal second in 2020. Due to travel restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tournament was not part of the Asian Tour for those two years.

Lu Wen-teh is the only player to have successfully defended the Mercuries Taiwan Masters. Picture by David Paul Morris/Asian Tour via Getty Images.

The richest professional men’s golf tournament in the country, the Mercuries Taiwan Masters has been dominated by home players since its inauguration in 1987.

With four wins, Lu Wen-teh is the most successful player in the tournament’s history followed by Lu Wei-chih (three wins) and Tsai Chi-huang (two).

The most recent overseas players to triumph are Thailand’s Suradit Yongcharoenchai (2019), Brazilian Adilson da Silva (2018) and Malaysian Gavin Green (2017).

The post Chan eyes Mercuries Taiwan Masters return appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Kent Gray
Like most everyone else, at Golf Digest Middle East we’re genuinely excited to see Tiger Woods back on his feet, lighting up social media again – all it took was one swing – and even planting the seeds of a top-level comeback.

About the only thing that would make his annual Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas better would be if the Big Cat was playing himself this week. With that said, the revelations about the seriousness of his Feb. 23 car accident — “I’m lucky to be alive” and “Yeah, it [amputation of his injured leg] was on the table.” — means no one is getting ahead of themselves.

There are still a plethora of PGA Tour superstars teeing it up in New Providence – McIlroy, Koepka, Thomas, Morikawa, DeChambeau etc. etc. – so by all means, enjoy the limited field show and repeated sightings of Tiger.

But if you’re not quite ready for the start of golf’s made-for-TV silly season, there’s a strong argument – and Middle East motives – to switch attention 14,000-odd km away to the $1 million Laguna Phuket Championship.

With the worrying Omicron-enforced demise of the DP World Tour’s South African swing, the second leg of the Asian Tour Phuket Series is the only main tour in full-field action this week.

After its own pandemic enforced shutdown – 20 long and frustrating months – the Asian Tour returned to action with Chan Shih-chang’s victory at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship last week. But it’s what happened on Monday, namely the release of the 25-star players headed to February’s Saudi International – Johnson, DeChambeau, Schauffele, Mickelson, Watson etc. etc. – that has really upped the ante.

To catch you up, the Saudi International has become the Asian Tour’s $5 million, “flagship” season-opener and the 144-players in Phuket this week are all striving to make it to Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Feb. To achieve that a top-30 finish in the final Asian Tour Order of Merit is required so with just three events of this severely disrupted season to play – at Laguna Golf Phuket from tomorrow and a Singapore double-header next month– there’s a lot on the line.

There’s also the prospect of a 2022 schedule not only bolstered by the Saudi International but also 10-new premier events made possible by a $200 million investment by the Saudi-funded LIV Golf Investments.

But that is for next season. Right now, the inaugural Laguna Phuket Championship has plenty of storylines to draw your attention. Here’s eight, with the prospect of more to emerge as the Middle East discovers more about the emboldened circuit on its geographical back doorstep:

Suttijet Kooratanapisan returns to his beloved Laguna Golf Phuket.

The Asian Tour’s original Mr. 59 returns

Suttijet Kooratanapisan is one of 58 Thais in the field but the only one who can claim to be the first Asian Tour player to shoot golf’s mythical number – 59 . The now 34-year-old achieved the feat on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) at the 2017 Singha Phuket Open, notably on the same layout to be used this week, Laguna Golf Phuket. Another Thai, Naras Luangphetcharaporn, is the only other player to shoot 59 in official Asian Tour competition ‒ at the circuit’s 2019 Q-School. There was also lift, clean and place rules in play then but hey, 59 is 59 no matter how you slice and dice it.
“I remember hole No. 7 was a par-5 last time, now it’s a par-4. I loved that because when I shot 59, I made eagle there,” said Kooratanapisan who has one ADT title to his name but is still searching for main tour breakthrough. “This week is a lot harder though as the rough is very long and the fairways are very narrow. It’s not the same as last time. My goal this week is just to play under par every day. Right now my putting is so good.”

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Have we mentioned the precociously talented Thai teen Ratchanon Chantananuwat?

Why yes, yes we have – here and here in the past week – and right here again. So what’s all the fuss about? For starters, the Bangkok schoolboy became the third-youngest player in Asian Tour history to make the cut at last week’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship. Then he stormed home with a Sunday 65 to finish his Asian Tour debut T-15. Not bad for a 14-year-old. It would be something else if he can make it back-to-back cuts but perhaps no surprise either given he finished second in the Singha Laguna Phuket Open – an All Thailand Golf Tour event – at Laguna Golf Phuket recently. Whatever happens, Chantananuwa looks set to play a big part in the Asian Tour’s suddenly bright future.

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Jordanian trailblazer Shergo Al Kurdi

Followers of MENA Tour will know how critical the regional development circuit has been in the rise and rise of Jordanian teen Shergo Al Kurdi, including an OWGR feat for Middle East and GCC golfers at the opening event of the 2020 MENA Tour season. What Middle East fans may not know is that Al Kurdi turned professional at last week’s Blue Canyon Phuket Championship. Things didn’t quite go as planned, rounds of 76-74 seeing the 18-year-old miss the cut by seven strokes. But with his pro debut out of the way there will be added resolve this week. The three other MENA Tour regulars in the field be looking for better weeks as well; at +2, Englishman David Langley (76-70) was the best performed at Blue Canyon but still three strokes shy of making the weekend. Compatriot Curtis Knipes (75-73) finished +4, a shot worse than Scot Ryan Lumsden (70-77).

Teenager @SHERGOKURDI shares his thoughts ahead of the Laguna Phuket Championship and talks about his hopes to inspire others ?

The 18-year-old ?? became the first Jordanian to tee up on the Asian Tour last week.?@LagunaGolfHKT #LPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/jKdJFlAi68

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) December 1, 2021

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Saudi stepping-stones

Faisal Al Salhab, H.R.H. Prince Khalid Saud Al Faisal, Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Golf Saudi, Saud Al Sharif and Othman Almulla.

Saudi Arabia’s investment in the Asian Tour – separate deals incorporating the Saudi International and the 10 new premier events starting 2022 – will help fast-track the development of the Kingdom’s leading players. It won’t be smooth sailing as the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship highlighted with pro Othman Almulla (+4) the best performer. But the only way to learn how to cope at the highest level is to experience the highest level and amateurs Faisal Al Salhab (81-72), Saud Al Sharif  (78-85) and Abdulraham Al Mansour (81-85) will measure improvement by trying to improve on their respective +9, +19 and +22 aggregates. The Saudi trio join Ratchanon Chantananuwat among six amateurs in this week’s field.

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 Tight at the Top

OOM leader Wade Ormsby finished T-23 last week.

Wade Ormsby won the season-opening Hong Kong Open (way back in Jan. 2020) and led the Order of Merit when the Asian Tour shut-down after the Malaysian Open in March 2020. The Aussie still leads the moneylist (US$237,003 ) after a decent T-23 finish at Blue Canyon but it’s getting tight at the top. Blue Canyon champion Chan Shih-chang ($211,775) is up to second while the monster birdie putt Joohyung Kim binned on the 72nd hole Sunday earned the 19-year-old Korean a share of second place and bumped him up to third overall ($194,628).  Who will lead going into the Christmas break and January’s Singapore double-header? Don’t be surprised if it is Kim who won has kicked on from his Asian Tour breakthrough at the 2019 Panasonic Open in India to become the highest-ranked player this week at No. 130 in the OWGR.

Joohyung Kim.

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A little more Jazz

Jazz Janewattananond.

 If there was a genuine shock at last week’s season resumption it was that Jazz Janewattananond, a former MENA Tour winner and the reigning Asian Tour No.1,  missed the cut by four strokes. Count on the Thai getting his bid to become the first back-to-back OOM winner firmly back on track at Laguna. He enters the week in 7th on the moneylist with $113,000.

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Are you not entertained?

So you haven’t paid much attention to the Asian Tour until now and wonder what’s the standard like? Allow us to present Chan Shih-chang’s tee shot on the tricky par-3 14th at Blue Canyon during last Sunday’s final round as an example of the quality shot-making that marked the week.

Accuracy off the tee ?#BCPC2021 #whereitsAT pic.twitter.com/DGtgD3aK2F

— Asian Tour (@asiantourgolf) November 28, 2021

It was a pivotal laser beam, setting up the Chinese-Taipei 35-year-old for his third Asian Tour title after a five-year title drought on the circuit. So yes, the quality is world-class. Tune in any way you can. You might just be surprised.

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Speedy Sadom Kaewkanjana

Sadom Kaewkanjana.

It seems everything Sadom Kaewkanjana does he does so quickly. Like securing his Tour card at his first attempt via Q-school before becoming the fastest graduate to win on the Asian Tour (at the 2019 Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open)… in his very first Asian Tour start. A 72nd hole bogey scuppered his chances of a second title last week but the eventually second-placed Thai is in sublime form; he’s returned sub-par scores in his last 20 competitive rounds. And he does it all at an impressively giddy pace, as in one of the fastest pro golfers we’ve witnessed on any tour type-cadence. Pull a club, pick a target and pull the trigger. We love it. And Kaewkanjana’s chances this week.

The post Eight (sometimes Middle East) reasons why Phuket, not the Bahamas, deserves your golf attention this week appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

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.

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