The Asian Tour makes its first visit of the year to Chinese-Taipei this week for the Yeangder TPC.

Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai is the defending champion and has a monopoly on titles in Chinese-Taipei having triumphed three times there in the past two years.

The Yeangder TPC is one of the jewels in the crown of tournament golf in Chinese-Taipei and has always been an important event on the Asian Tour schedule.

Thailand’s Thaworn Wiratchant had the distinction of winning the inaugural edition 15 years ago and is the first and only player to have lifted the trophy more than once. He is part of an impressive list of past champions that includes last year’s Asian Tour Order of Merit champion John Catlin. The American was triumphant in 2018. He is in the field this week.

Chinese-Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po, also competing, and Lu Wei-chih are the only local players to have their names inscribed on the trophy – in 2021 and 2011 respectively.

For the second season in-a-row the tournament will boast prizemoney of US$1 million – the joint most lucrative in the nation.

Suteepat Prateeptienchai. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Tournament Information

• Tournament: Yeangder Tournament Players Championship
• Date: 18th – 21th September
• Venue: Linkou International Golf & Country Club
• Par/Yards: 72 / 7,108 yards
• Purse: US$1million (US$180,000)
• Defending champion: Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA)
• Asian Tour leg: 11th
• Edition of tournament: 15th
• Total number of players: 144
• Format: Stroke play tournament over four rounds of 18 holes with a cut after 36 holes to leading 65 pros plus ties.
• Social media hashtags: #TimeToRise #YeangderTPC

Field Breakdown

• Order of Merit winners: John Catlin (USA), Sihwan Kim (2022), Jazz Janewattananond (2019), Scott Hend (2016)
• Nationalities: 25
• Top contenders: Kazuki Higa (JPN), Suteepat Prateeptienchai (THA), Taichi Kho (HKG), Chieh-po Lee (TPE), Danthai Boonma (THA)
• Highest ranked player on OWGR: Kazuki Higa #155
• Highest ranked player on 2025 Asian Tour Order of Merit: Kazuki Higa (JPN) #2
• Number of amateurs: 2
• Number of Chinese Taipei players in the field: 44

Lee Chieh-po. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

Tournament Notes

• Last week’s winner Kazuki Higa from Japan got off to a great start in his 2025 Asian Tour campaign strong, going T8, T5 and T2 in the Smart Infinity Philippine Open, International Series India Presented by DLF and New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sports respectively, before finally getting his hands on a trophy at the Shinhan Donghae Open in Korea last Sunday. He is currently second on the Order of Merit and the highest ranked player in the field going into this week. On the Japan Tour he has recorded six top 10’s this season, including wins at last week’s tri-sanctioned Shinhan Donghae Open and at the ISPS HANDA Explosion in the Summer in mid-August.
• Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai is the defending champion, and he recently won his fourth Asian Tour title at the Mandiri Indonesia Open three weeks ago. Although not happy with his game in Korea last week, Suteepat is always one of the favourites in Chinese Taipei having won three of his four titles here.
• Currently in sixth on the Order of Merit, Hong Kong’s Taichi Kho is coming off back-to-back top-four finishes after a second in the Mandiri Indonesia Open three weeks ago and a T4 at last week’s Shinhan Donghae Open. In addition to those top results, he has also posted a T4 at the Kolon Korean Open, a T6 at the International Series Macau presented by Wynn and a T10 at the International Series Morocco. The winner of the 2023 World City Championship presented by Hong Kong Golf Club looks good to continue his great run of form.
• Danthai Boonma from Thailand is the third highest ranked player on the Order of Merit in seventh place, after a T4 last week in Korea, a runner-up at the International Series Morocco in July and a T8 at the season opening Smart Infinity Philippine Open in January. He also recorded a win on All Thailand Tour’s Singha Championship in early August as well as a runner up on the same tour two weeks earlier.
• Local hero Lee Chieh-po has been playing in the LIV Golf League all season, after earning his spot at the LIV Golf Promotions in Saudi Arabia last December. His best results on LIV this year have been a T12 in Hong Kong and a T13 in Chicago. Lee won the International Series Thailand last year during a stretch of events where he finished in the top-10 seven out of eight events. He won the 2021 edition of this tournament when it was only held on the local tour because of Covid, finished second in 2022 when it returned to the Asian Tour schedule, and came in fourth last year. The number four on the 2024 Asian Tour Order of Merit will be playing in his first Asian Tour event this season.
• Australian Travis Smyth, who won this tournament in 2022 and was runner-up in 2023, is entering the tournament in good form after a T8 in last week’s Shinhan Donghae Open and a T3 in the Mandiri Indonesian Open two weeks earlier. He has so far this season recorded four top-10s, as in addition to the before mentioned events he posted T10s in the International Series India presented by DLF and International Series Macau presented by Wynn.
• Thaworn Wiratchant is the only player to win the tournament more than once, in 2010 and 2013, but the legendary Thai player is not in the field this week.