Manila: Reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand is ready to put up a commanding performance worthy of his stature at next week’s inaugural Resorts World Manila Masters.
Thaworn, who sealed his 16th unprecedented Asian Tour title in Chinese Taipei in September, will be up against a strong line-up of players expected to ignite fireworks at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club from November 14-17.
The decorated Thai will face off against the likes of two-time PGA Tour winner Daniel Chopra of Sweden, China’s Liang Wen-chong, Singapore’s Mardan Mamat and Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, who have both enjoyed wins in the Philippines.
Angelo Que and Antonio Lascuna, who are representing the Philippines in the upcoming ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf, will also headline the strong field consisting of an international mix of players from over 22 countries at the Asian Tour newest US$750,000 event.
Thaworn, a two-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, will be looking to boost his current ranking on the merit list where he is currently in 16th place after a season’s haul of $129,634.
"I'm looking forward to returning to the Philippines to compete at the Resorts World Manila Masters. The field is going to be a strong one and I'm determined to put up a good performance worthy of my reputation as the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion," said the 46-year-old.
Thaworn showed never to write off an old man when he claimed three victories in 2012 to become the oldest Order of Merit champion at the age of 45 years and 354 days on the region’s premier Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season this year.
“It’s amazing that I can still win at the age of 46. I’m rediscovering my best form and I’m feeling great at the moment. Age is not a barrier to success,” said Thaworn.
Mardan is also among the 40-something brigade eager to amass more victories on the Asian Tour.
The 46-year-old Singaporean will return to the country of his famous victory where he ended a six-year winless run last year.
“I was really happy when I won in the Philippines last year. All the good memories from winning the Singapore Masters (in 2006) came back. When I won then, I led from the first day to the end. That gave me a lot of memories which boosted my confidence. My wife was very encouraging and supportive too,” said Mardan, a three-time winner on the Asian Tour.
Other likely contenders at the Resorts World Manila Masters include Thailand’s Pariya Junhasawasdikul and Arnond Vongvanij, India’s Digvijay Singh and S.S.P. Chowrasia as well as Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea, who is currently fifth on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
To further develop the game of golf in the Philippines, 30 spots will be given to players from the ever-growing Philippines Golf Tour (PGT) to compete against the region’s best at the Resorts World Manila Masters.
As the sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour believes that partnering the PGT is important to help grow the game domestically, especially in view of golf returning into the Olympics programme in 2016.
