Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam: Thai star Thaworn Wiratchant hopes to shake off his inconsistent form when he defends the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters which starts on Thursday.

The veteran Thaworn has been struggling to find his ‘A’ game this season after winning three titles in 2012 en route to a historic Order of Merit triumph. But he remains hopeful of turning the corner at the popular RM1.2 million (approximately US$400,000) Asian Tour event this week.

He headlines an elite cast at the challenging Seri Selangor Golf Club which includes Scott Hend of Australia, who is currently third on the Order of Merit, Anirban Lahiri of India, Siddikur of Bangladesh and Angelo Que of the Philippines, the 2010 Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters champion here.

Jonathan Moore of the United States, Shaaban Hussin and Nicholas Fung of Malaysia, Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka and Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea are among the other notable stars looking for a first victory on the region’s premier Tour which is celebrating its 10th season this year.

Thaworn, who holds an unprecedented 15 Asian Tour titles and two Order of Merit crowns, has struggled to strike it hot with his irons which saw him miss the cut at last week’s Queen’s Cup on home soil where he was also the title holder.

“I’m not in form. This is not an easy golf course so it is going to be difficult for me. I can’t say that I’m confident to win but I’ll try my best. I hope I can get my best game back,” said the 46-year-old Thaworn.

“The course suits my game but the greens are quite hard. It will be easy if you can find the fairways. But I’m not feeling confident with my game because I’m not hitting it great with my irons at the moment,” he added.

Que, a three-time Asian Tour winner, is delighted to return to the scene of his last victory in 2010 where he defeated Chris Rodgers of England on the first play-off hole.

“It was a great feeling winning here the last time. I like this course but the greens are so much faster compared to 2010 when we were here. All of us will struggle on the fairways so it will take a lot of patience and thinking about your shots towards the green,” said the bubbly Filipino.

Moore, who is among more than 30 different international players in the field, hopes to notch his first Asian Tour title in same country which he won his first professional title at the 2011 PGM-ADT-CCM Impian Classic on the Asian Development Tour (ADT).

“Malaysia, for my wife Claire and I, was one of our first trips out together in Asia in 2011. It was a lot of fun. We did a lot of things including a visit to Batu Caves,” smiled Moore.

“My form hasn’t been quite there this year. I need some time to practice and my game feels like it is starting to turn up. My goal is always to try to play in the best tournaments in the world and one of the perfect examples is playing on the Asian Tour. Look at what Thaworn did last year and he had the chance to play in so many big tournaments in the world,” he added.

Local hope Shabaan, who won an event in Penang last week, hopes his local knowledge will propel him to a first Asian Tour win. “My driving and putting have been good so hopefully I can continue with this form and become the Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters champion. I’m looking forward to win my first Asian Tour title, that’s my target. I think this week will be my best chance to win,” said Shaaban.

Worldwide Holdings, a 100 per cent subsidiary of PKNS – the development arm of the state of Selangor – will title sponsor the Selangor Masters for the sixth successive year. The state-linked company has an impressive portfolio of businesses which include property development and investment, environmental management services and investment holding in Selangor.