Tournament Information

• Tournament: Mercuries Taiwan Masters
• Date: October 3-6, 2024
• Venue: Taiwan Golf and Country Club, Tamsui Course, Taipei
• Par/Yards: Par 72 / 6,923 Yards
• Purse: US$1million
• Asian Tour leg: 13th event of 2024 season
• Edition of tournament: 38th
• Total number of players: 125
• Format 72-hole stroke play with a cut made after two rounds to the leading 50 pros plus ties
• Social Media Hashtags: #TimeToRise

Chan Shih-chang receives the winner’s trophy from Mr George Wong, chairman of Mercuries Group, at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters in 2022. Picture by Chen So-ko / Asian Tour.

Field Breakdown

• Order of Merit winners: Sihwan Kim (2022), Jazz Janewattananond (2019), Scott Hend (2016)
• Nationalities: 21
• Past winners of tournament in the field: Jaco Ahlers (2023), Chan Shih-chang (2022), Wang Wei-hsuan (2020), Suradit Yongcharoenchai (2019), Lu Wei-chih (2016, 2011, 2005), Scott Hend (2013), Tsai Chi-huang (2012, 2002), Lu Wen-teh (2008, 2007, 1996, 1994), Hsieh Min-nan (1992), Chen Tze-chung (1989)
• Defending champion: Jaco Ahlers (RSA)
• Top contenders: Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA), Lee Chieh-po (TPE), Miguel Tabuena (PHI), Sarit Suwannarut (THA), Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE)
• Highest ranked player on OWGR: Suteepat Prateeptienchai #329
• Highest ranked player on 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit: Suteepat Prateeptienchai #8
• Number of amateurs: 5
• Number of Chinese Taipei players in the field: 53

Suteepat Prateeptienchai and his friends celebrate on 18 after winning the Yeangder TPC on Sunday. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

Tournament Notes

• Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai is fresh from his win at the Yeangder TPC last week – his second consecutive Asian Tour win in Chinese Taipei after posting a victory at last year’s Taiwan Glass Taifong Open. In the 2023 edition of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters Suteepat finished T16, a solid finish in which was his first time playing on the historic Tamsui layout. Currently number eight on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, he also posted a T6 at the recent Mandiri Indonesia Open and has a win and a runner-up on the All Thailand Tour in his home country this year.
• Sarit Suwannarut, also from Thailand, is a two-time winner on the Asian Tour and is entering the week with two T6 finishes in his last three events, the Yeangder TPC and the Shinhan Donghae Open. Sarit has made nine out of 10 cuts on the Asian Tour this season and ranks 22^nd on the Order of Merit. He finished T3 in 2022 in his lone previous appearance in the tournament.
• Chinese Taipei’s Wang Wei-hsuan won the tournament in 2020 when it was played on the domestic tour during the Covid 19 pandemic. While Wang has not been a regular on the Asian Tour this season, he has posted creditable T8 and T13 finishes in his last two events, the Yeangder TPC and the Mandiri Indonesia Open. He has also collected two victories on the domestic Taiwan PGA Tour this year and sits in fourth place on their Order of Merit.
• The Asian Tour’s highest ranked Chinese Taipei player Lee Chie-po currently sits in 28^th place on the Order of Merit and is coming off a very good week at the Yeangder TPC when he finished fourth. At his previous event, the Shinhan Donghae Open, Lee finished T9. He also has a win and three other top fives on the Taiwan PGA domestic tour in 2024 and currently ranks second on that Order of Merit. Although he has not yet won on the Asian Tour, nobody should be surprised if he picked up his maiden Asian Tour victory this week.
• Filipino Miguel Tabuena is starting to pick up the pace in his 2024 campaign and is coming off a third at the Yeangder TPC and a T9 at the Shinhan Donghae Open in his last two events. Add a fifth at the Kolon Korea Open and a T8 and the International Series Morocco and it adds up to a good season so far after slow start. The top-talented Miguena is due for another win after his last triumph that came in the DGC Open in early 2023.
• This week’s host, the iconic Taiwan Golf and Country Club, nicknamed “The Old Tamsui Course” layout, is the oldest club in the country and was established in 1919. The notoriously difficult course, while not long by modern standards, features treelined holes on both sides and what can be very tricky greens for first timers.
• The 66-year-old Chen Tze-chung, also known as “TC”, who is also playing in his home country this week is perhaps mostly known internationally for his T2 finish at the 1985 US Open at Oakland Hills G&CC, where he double hit a chip shot in the final round after leading by two going into Sunday. It should be remembered that Chen was a formidable player in his prime, winning the 1987 Los Angeles Open on the PGA Tour against two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw in a play-off. Chen won 16 professional events during his career.
• “TC”s older brother Chen Tze-Ming, known as “TM”, is also in the field this week at the age of 72, and he holds a fantastic professional record of his own. While he’s best known for his T3 finish in the 1985 PGA Championship, three shots behind eventual winner Hubert Green after shooting a final round of 65, “TM” owns 21 global titles as a professional. Nine of the wins came in Japan and seven on the old Asian Circuit. It should also be noted that the Chen family dominated the final round of the 1985 PGA Championship, as the second lowest score on Sunday belonged to his brother “TC” who shot a 66 and finished tied for 23rd.
• The only player to have won the tournament four times is Chinese Taipei’s Lu Wen-teh, first winning the title 30 years ago in 1994 before adding wins in 1996, 2007 and 2008.