There was plenty of drama at last week’s Mercuries Taiwan Masters and plenty of great comments from the players who were in the thick of the action. Here are the best of the quotes from a memorable week which saw Hung Chien-yao  claim his first title on the Asian Tour.

First Round

Jbe Kruger from South Africa, who won this tournament in 2024, after sharing the mid-day lead on Thursday with a 68 (-4):

• “It was brutal. It’s just a tough golf course. You have to play well. You can’t make mistakes. Every single shot you have to concentrate on because it’s just that tough. The greens are so fast, if you miss the fairways, you can’t stop it. So, you have to physically try and hit the fairway, and if you don’t, you’re just trying to get it on the green. So, it’s just not a normal golf course. It’s literally try to hit the fairway, then you try and hit the green because the greens are so fast and they’re so good.”

Kruger’s playing partner Malaysian Gavin Green, the winner of this event and the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2017 posted a 68 in the morning wave and had this to say:

• “Obviously, had not much real expectations. I’ve been injured for like three months now. The place has changed a lot for me; I think I just actually played quite well and had the feeling of playing nice again.”

Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai playing in the afternoon, on his 68 on the difficult Tamsui layout:

• “I am trying to get better every year and try new things. I have been playing in tough conditions already, so I am prepared for this week.”

Kevin Yuan from Australia took the lead late in the day after a 67 that included an eagle on the fifth hole, his 14^th:

• “So me and Clayton [his caddie] were thinking about hitting driver to reach because we had the front tee box this week, and driver’s been feeling good. So, I hit driver and hit it to like maybe 18 feet, just short of the flag, and I hit a really good putt there. So yeah, it was a driver and a holed putt.”

On his start on the notoriously tricky par three 10^th hole, the most difficult hole of the day:

• “I started off with a great birdie on 10, and 10’s always such a tough hole to start. Had a great four iron, and then holed a really good 15-footer, and then made a huge par on 11, and then yeah, it’s just been up and down. Like I made a few big pars today which really helped my score, because on this course it’s quite easy to make a bogey. The rough is really thick and the fairways are pretty tiny, so you miss the fairway and you’re just trying to save par.”

Gavin Green. Picture by Graham Uden.

Second Round

Hung Chien-yao from Chinese Taipei finished third the week before at Yeangder TPC and continued his good form of late on Friday with a 67 to sit T2 going into the weekend:

• “Ah, to be honest, after the pro-am I was playing nine holes on Monday with my wife, and I just feel like this is one of the toughest courses. You know, you just gotta stay with it, you just have to play smart. You don’t have to really attack. So my plan today was just hit more fairways and more greens than yesterday, and just give myself a lot more chances and I think I will just do well.”

On having his wife on the bag for the second week in a row:

• “I had a bogey on the first, so I was kind of not happy with it. But it’s all right because I talked to my wife, and she was like, “You know, this is one of the courses where it’s going to happen. So just stay with it, go to the next hole, next shot, and just do well”.

Asked about his recent form that has seen him with six top-10s in a row in tournaments on the Asian Tour, Asian Development Tour and local circuit he said:

• “Really? I never noticed, so I don’t know. But I think that’s a pretty good result. I mean, that means my game is getting there, so I just gotta be patient and wait, and then hopefully, you know, one day it will be coming.”

First round leader Yuan after finishing his round bogey, bogey for a 73:

• “Definitely up and down for me. It’s so tough, just you miss the fairway a little bit, and even if you have like 100, 120 meters, it’s still really tough to just guess what the lie is going to do, guess what the wind’s gonna do. And yeah, I think on 17 I just hit a bad tee shot, but it’s a tough par three. And then on 18, I was in the middle of the fairway and I had a great lie, and I was like, let’s try to attack this. And I must have just got a flier from the middle of the fairway, and I don’t know what to think about that.”

Green is on the comeback trail after posting a 71 to be five under and in joint second at the halfway stage:

• “Yeah, I mean it’s honestly a great feeling, and it’s good to be here again. Like I miss this, I miss this a lot, so I’m looking forward to the weekend. Look, it’s obviously going to be some challenges, and I just got to deal with it and kind of just play with it.”

Explaining his elbow injury he said:

• “It’s not 100%, it’s not. I’m still running a little bit on ibuprofen’s and just trying to calm it down a little bit. And then you know, in the room, in the mornings and nights, I still have to stretch it out and try to loosen it as much as I can. So, yeah, just managing it really.”

Tied with Green and Hung for second after a 69 was Suteepat Prateeptienchai from Thailand, the winner of the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open in 2023 and 2024 and the Yeangder TPC in 2024. Asked why he plays so well in Chinese Taipei he said:

• “I think it’s that I have many good friends here. I like the food, and I play local tournaments every year that I got the card. I think that is an advantage.”

Home player Chang Wei-lun topped the leaderboard on six-under-par through 36 holes and he had this to say after his 68:

• “Really very happy to play well in such a big tournament. We all know how challenging the course is, so we come here prepared. It’s tough, but at the same time the greens are just so good to play on. Course familiarity is key here. I’m using a local caddie, and he was able to read the greens well so that helped.”

Third Round

Hung again posted a score in red figures with a 70 to take over the lead from his countryman after 54 holes:

• “Yeah, I am excited about tomorrow, I’m always excited. I mean, I finished number three last week, and playing pretty good on this course. I know a lot of crowds, a lot of spectators, are actually here for me, so I’m just gonna enjoy the round tomorrow and just try to hit a lot of good shots to show everybody.”

Green remained in tied-second after a solid 71 and put himself in a great position for the final round, just one off the lead:

• “Yeah, I’m excited. Like I said, I think what it is for me is I’m just trying to get that consistency. As long as I can just continue with that consistency, whatever happens, happens. But all I know is I’m enjoying myself. You know, it’s fun, for me this is like home again. So, yeah, it’s good to be back.”

Jazz Janewattananond. Picture by Graham Uden.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is again having a good tournament after finishing T4 at the Yeangder TPC, coming back from a rough first round of 75 to post 68, 69 on Friday and Saturday to be T5 going into Sunday:

• “I think the first round I got a bit too eager, because the scoring last week and this week has been so different. I feel like I was chasing it a bit too much on the first day, because I still had that mentality of like, you gotta go out and shoot like five six under par or you’re dropping. In this case, you don’t really need to chase it here. You just like pop it along, and then you just gotta hole some chips, hole some big putts, and be on your merry way.”

Final Round

An elated Hung after making a birdie on the last hole to win, after bogeying 16 and 17 to drop into a tie with Australian Wade Ormsby:

• “I’m very excited and very, very happy, I think my whole body is still shaking. You know, I’m very happy and I’m thankful for all the people to come out here to support me. I know a lot of people were coming out here to watch me play, and I have to apologise to the spectators because I made people nervous because of my bogeys on 16 and 17. But on the last putt I made it, and I’m very happy with the final result. I’m very happy, I can’t say nothing more about it.”

Speaking about the birdie on the 72^nd hole he said:

• “It was actually 20 feet, uphill putt, I thought I had the line. I know it’s not gonna do much, so I’m just gonna go straight at it, and I just need to have good speed. I hit a good putt and then finally the ball went in, so I’m very, very happy. And I think my wife was really happy, she was crying, so thanks to her too.”

Wade Ormsby started the final round five shots behind Hung, but teeing off an hour ahead he posted a 67 to put serious heat on the leading groups:

• “Yeah, I’m satisfied with that one. I played well yesterday but I didn’t finish it off, so I was really determined to kind of knuckle down on that back nine, which I found pretty tough all week. I think it’s tough for everyone. I made a good save on the last there, so it always leaves a good taste in the mouth. Had a good chance on 15 and 16, but yeah, it’s tough out there. I did think I had a chance today. I had a look [at the scoreboard] after I hit my chip shot on 18, so I knew I had to make that to do anything. I guess you do think about it, but you kind of just try to keep doing your job.”

Green stayed positive after a round of 73 that saw him finish tied-third, his best result in the last two years:

• “Obviously, a little bit of nerves kicked in and it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. I don’t see it as a negative; I see it as a positive and I’m looking forward to the next one.”

Summing up his first week back on the Asian Tour since early 2024 he said:

• “I think it’s a pretty positive week, a very, very good week. You know, I was pretty lucky enough where I was able to hold myself in that position for pretty much the whole time, and you know, I was close to the lead and just didn’t get it done unfortunately.”

About his outlook on the rest of his season:

• “It does feel good, and the funny thing is, it doesn’t feel like it’s that far off. I mean, in this game the misses are so small and everything, but I definitely don’t feel that it’s that far off. I feel like I’m closer than what it looks like, and you know, it’s showing slowly. I mean, I have two weeks off now, and get my arm rested and go again in Macau.”

Jazz recapping his week in Tamsui after a final round 71 to finish T3:

• “Happy with the week, happy with how I finished especially after the first day, where I was sitting way below the cut line, to finish third again. To finish top five, is really something to be proud of myself and I know where my game is at the moment. Meaning, it’s a lot better because if you can do that every week, and then when you have all four good days, you can win the tournament.”