Jonathan Wijono will have another crack at trying to become the first Indonesian to win an Asian Tour event on home soil in 35 years at the BNI Indonesian Masters, which starts Thursday.

It’s a big ask for the 23-year-old but of all the Indonesians competing at Royale Jakarta Golf Club this week, the young man from Surabaya has emerged as far and away the most likely candidate.

Two factors have led to this, firstly form and secondly for earning a reputation as a player for the big occasion.

Wijono is the highest ranked Indonesian on both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series Rankings, lying 68^th and 44^th respectively.

Jonathan Wijono. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

A number of very impressive performances recently have led to his rise, in particular at the International Series England in August, where he finished 9^th– his best finish on the Asian Tour – and the Black Mountain Championship just under two weeks ago, where he tied for 14^th.

Both tournaments are part of The International Series, 10 upper-tier multi-million-dollar events that offer a pathway onto the LIV Golf League and the type of events that bring out the best in Wijono.

Explains the Indonesian: “I’m more focused if I play in the bigger tournaments, rather than just having fun, playing around. But I think I’m more focused on big tournaments, maybe that’s why the results are better, I would say.

“And I play better in the Asian Tour events than on the Asian Development Tour, I don’t know why. I’ve been hitting it well these couple of weeks, and hopefully I can just make the putts.”

Wijono has also worked very hard to get himself into this position, particularly focusing on the mental side, as arguably the country’s top golfer.

Jonathan Wijono. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.

“I think it’s just my mindset that’s a bit different than most of the players,” he adds. “I have been working with my coach on focusing on each and every shot and don’t really care about the result. Because when I play bad it’s when I start to overthink, trying too much, you know – I’m on hole one but I already think about what’s happening on the fifth hole. So, it’s like I have to make it so that my mind is still here, still in the present. And I would say that’s one of the things that helped me the most throughout these few weeks.”

His countryman Rory Hie, also playing this week, won the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship in India in 2019 to become the first Indonesian to win on the Asian Tour while the country’s legendary Kasiadi remains as the only local to win on home soil, at the 1989 Indonesian Open.

Judging by his present trajectory Wijono has the potential to join them in the winners’ circle, not least because he likes a challenge.

“I started playing golf when I was four, I watched TV at the time, so back then, I usually watched Cartoon Network and ESPN,” he says.

“Tiger was my favorite, so because of him, I play golf. So based on watching TV I actually start playing golf. I picked up the sport because it’s the hardest. I played all the sports, sports that have a ball in it, but I stuck to golf because it’s the hardest.”

Wijono also has the propensity to shoot low: he fired a 64 in the final round in England and a 65 on the last day at Black Mountain.

At last year’s BNI Indonesian Masters he closed with a 67 to tie for 24^th but for a player growing in confidence the nation will be expecting so much more this week.