Korea’s Y.E. Yang is determined to recapture his past glory especially after resurrecting his career with his latest win in Japan last week.
The Asian Tour honorary member has been installed as one of the early favourites for this week’s 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship, which last featured on the Asian Tour schedule in 2009.
Yang has not reached the dizzy heights of 2009 where he defeat former world number one Tiger Woods to lift the PGA Championship. The 46-year-old enjoyed a career high of 19th place on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) in 2010 but has since slipped to 349th place.
However, with his return to the winner’s circle again, Yang is buoyed with confidence and knows he can regain his place among the world’s elite again.
India’s Jyoti Randhawa, who will turn 46 in two days, has been encouraged by the latest successes of Yang and compatriot Rahil Gangjee.
The Indian’s last win on the Asian Tour was in 2009 when he won his eighth Tour title in Thailand and he will be looking to break the stronghold of the Koreans at the 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open.
Thailand’s Pannakorn Uthaipas, who was crowned the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit champion in 2017, will meanwhile have another opportunity to tee up alongside some of the region’s best players after his ADT merit win earned him an Asian Tour card.
Who said what?
Y.E. Yang (Kor)
It’s nice to see old friends from the Asian Tour back in Korea again. I enjoyed playing with them and it’s good to have familiar faces back here. I’m really happy with my win in Japan last week. I know I have not won for a long time but I kept believing in myself as I know my next win will come again if I stayed patient. It has been a long time but it’s certainly feels good now that I’ve won again. I know I can still compete and put myself in contention. I’ll be focusing more on Japan this year and playing on a couple of the Asian Tour too. I’m expecting a good crowd to come out here to watch us play and it’s going to be a good tournament.
Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)
It’s definitely nice to be back in Korea after such a long time. We last played here in 2009 and we had lots of good memories here. The weather’s cool here and the conditions are as always perfect. Rahil’s win has inspired me a lot as it shows that perseverance will eventually pay off. We’re all in the same boat, trying to do our best every week and hopefully it can be my turn this week.
Pannakorn Uthaipas (Tha)
I’m really excited to be playing this event. It’s my first visit to Korea and first time playing this tournament too. I finished tied-fourth at a local event last week which is very good especially for my form coming into this event. I’m feeling confident. I’m gaining a lot of experience playing on the Asian Tour especially since winning the ADT Order of Merit last year. I’m not going to put much pressure on myself as everything’s still new to me and I just want to gain as much experience and do my best.
