Panasonic Open India Rd 3 highlights
By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional
The Tournament
The Panasonic Open India was inaugurated in 2011 and is the longest running full-field Asian Tour event in India. This year marks the ninth edition of the US$400,000 tournament and Indian players have dominated the event so far, winning seven out of the last eight years.
The first edition of the tournament in 2011 also turned out to be Indian star player Anirban Lahiri’s first career Asian Tour title, and he has since gone on to collect six more wins and an Order of Merit crown in 2015.
The other Indian winners of the event are Digvijay Singh (2012), S.S.P. Chawrasia (2014), Chiragh Kumar (2015), Mukesh Kumar (2016), Shiv Kapur (2017) and Khalin Joshi (2018). The lone exception to local rule was in 2013 when Wade Ormsby of Australia took the title by a shot over Thai legend Boonchu Ruangkit.
Last year’s event was played at Delhi Golf Club, with Khalin Joshi birdieing four out of the last five holes, including the last two, to beat Siddikur Rahman by a single shot.
The Course
Designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus, Classic Golf and Country Club will play as a par-72 and 7,114 yards from the championship tees.
The course opened for play in 1998 and though this is the first time that Panasonic Open India is played at Classic, the course has hosted four Tour events previously: the 2000 and 2001 Wills Indian Opens, the 2009 SAIL Open and the 2019 Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship in September this year when Rory Hie of Indonesia claimed his maiden Asian Tour title.
Eight-time Asian Tour winner Jyoti Randhawa of India won here in a play-off against South African Sammy Daniels in 2000, while Thai star Thongchai Jaidee claimed the 2001 edition by a single stroke over Ross Bain of Scotland.
The most notable event held at Classic was the 2009 SAIL Open, when Chapchai Nirat of Thailand recorded the lowest ever score to par after 72 holes in a major golf tournament, 32-under-par to win by 11 shots. This record still stands in the Guinness World Records today.
The Contenders
Khalin Joshi
The defending champion will be trying to reproduce the magic from last year, and with his winner’s category expiring at the end of the year he needs to have some good results in the remaining events.
Currently in 98th place on the Order of Merit with close to US$24,000, Joshi will likely need to make another US$45,000 to be assured of keeping his card for the 2020 season. A high finish this week could go a long way towards reaching that goal.
Suradit Yongcharoenchai
At number nine on the Order of Merit with just over US$237,000, Suradit is the highest ranked player in the field this week.
The winner of the Mercuries Taiwan Masters has had a solid season with two top-10’s in September at the Yeangder TPC and Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship, and finished a creditable tied-11th in Thailand last week.
Shiv Kapur
Almost got his fifth Asian Tour victory last week in Thailand when he was one of the three players in the playoff won by John Catlin. Kapur had a spectacular back-nine on Sunday where he made five birdies and an eagle on holes 10-16 to get himself into contention.
Although it was not enough to get him the win in the end, the week spent with his coach on the bag should have his game in good shape for the remainder of the season.
Pavit Tangkamolprasert
Having come close to winning his second Asian Tour title at Thai Country Club last week where he was one of the three players in the playoff, Pavit looks to be in great form.
The 2016 Venetian Macao Open champion has secured his playing rights for the 2020 season with the tied-second last week, and should be able to play stress-free golf the rest of the year.
Rory Hie
Posting his breakthrough Asian Tour win at the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship only two months ago, Hie should be very comfortable around the course.
Even though he is not the defending champion of this particular event this week, having won here so recently should have him playing with a lot of confidence.
Viraj Madappa
Playing in his second season on the Asian Tour Madappa has posted a tied-ninth at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters as his best finish of the year and is currently enjoying a solid stretch of events.
Including the top-10 in Taipei, he has also finished inside the top-25 in seven out of his last eight events and has not missed a cut since August. It would not be surprising to see Madappa have a top finish this week.
Ajeetesh Sandhu
The Indian has come close to winning twice this season with a second at the Bangabandhu Cup in April, and a tied-second at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters where only an untimely double-bogey on the 70th hole derailed his bid for a victory.
He also won the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE Solutions on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) two weeks later and had a good tournament in Thailand last week where he finished tied-11th.
Rashid Khan
The two-time Asian Tour winner in 2014 has had a great season while playing on a country exemption after losing his card in 2018.
Khan has posted four top-10’s in only seven starts on the Asian Tour, plus two wins back home on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
His best Asian Tour result of the year came at this course only two months ago, a tied-second at the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship where he finished two shots behind the winner Hie.
By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional
The Tournament
The Thailand Open was inaugurated in 1965 and is one of the oldest national Opens in Asia. The trophy is one of the most recognizable in golf with three elephants holding up a giant silver golf ball. Prizemoney for 2019 is US$300,000 of which the winner’s share will be US$54,000.
Past winners include Thai greats Boonchu Ruangkit and Prayad Marksaeng, as well as international stars of yesteryear such as Australians Graham Marsh and two-time Major winner David Graham.
The event came back to the Asian Tour schedule in 2017 after an eight-year hiatus, and the local contingent has proven very difficult to beat with Rattanon Wannasirichan claiming the title in 2017 and Panuphol Pittayarat in 2018.
Last year’s edition saw Thai players grab the top five spots in the tournament and also had seven out of the top 10 finishers in the event.
Last year Panuphol, also known at Coconut or just Coco on Tour, held off compatriot Poom Saksansin to win the title by a single shot after shooting scores of 67, 64, 66 and 70 for a score of 13-under-par 267.
The Course
Thai Country Club is one of the premier courses in Thailand with perfectly manicured fairways and smooth fast greens, and the club has won multiple awards for its clubhouse, F&B and well-appointed locker rooms.
It is also one of the few courses in Bangkok that has a true “club atmosphere”, due to an extensive events schedule with member tournaments and other social activities such as charity events etc. that promote membership interaction.
The course will this year play to 7,198 yards as a par of 71 with the fourth hole converted to a par-four, whereas last year’s championship played as a par-70 with the fourth and seventh holes converted to par- fours.
New tees have been built on the 11th and 18th holes adding length, and especially on number 18 this might make a big difference on Sunday afternoon.
The prevailing wind this time of year should be into the players face from the left, and if the pin is tucked back into the far-left corner of the green it will make the approach very demanding as there is a bunker guarding the front left and water right behind the green.
Adding 20 yards to the hole, and essentially two clubs on the approach shot, it would be a treacherous pin to attack with a mid-iron or longer. The shot would demand pinpoint accuracy and a very soft landing in order to hold the green and staying out of the water.
An existing back-tee that was not used during 2017 and 2018 will now be used on number 10, which will also add 50 yards to the hole.
The course will however offer up plenty of birdie chances as it’s not overly long by modern Tour standards. The main trouble off the tee will be the rough which can be thick in spots, and the greens that can play very firm if they are dried out and it doesn’t rain during the week.
Players will likely need to shoot some low scores to have a chance at winning the title, as shown by the 267 (-13) and 263 (-21) winning scores in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
The Contenders
Panuphol Pittayarat
Defending champion Panuphol will be trying to retain the title on his home course, and he has proven the last two years that it fits his game like a glove: a win last year and a tied-second in 2017.
Starting out the year with a tied-ninth at the SMBC Singapore Open it remains his only top-10 this season, but with over US$106,000 in earnings he is still inside the top-30 on the Order of Merit.
Known as a very solid ball-striker Panuphol is always dangerous when his putter gets hot, and if recent history at Thai Country Club is any guide to who will be the man to beat this week, he is at the top of the list.
Suradit Yongcharoenchai
The winner of the last Asian Tour event, Mercuries Taiwan Masters, has had a solid season with top-10’s in September at the Yeangder TPC and Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship in addition to the win last month.
At number nine on the Order of Merit with just over US$232,000 he is the highest ranked player in the field this week and will be looking to continue his good form of late.
Miguel Tabuena
A player with one of the most complete games on the Asian Tour, Tabuena narrowly missed out on his third career Asian Tour title in Taipei last month. Bogeying the last two holes to finish one stroke behind the winner, he would dearly like to make amends with a win this week in Thailand.
The Filipino also posted a fifth-place finish at the Sarawak Championship in August, and with over US$146,000 he is currently ranked 16th on the Order of Merit.
Ajeetesh Sandhu
The Indian has come close to winning twice this season with a second at the Bangabandhu Cup in April, and a tied-second at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters where a double bogey on the 16th hole on Sunday derailed his bid for a second career Asian Tour title.
Sandhu ranks highly in the Greens in Regulation (GIR) stat this year with 71.3%, which should serve him well this week. He is currently 15th on the Order of Merit with just over US$157,000.
Kosuke Hamamoto
One of the top rookies this season, Kosuke came close to winning in his first season on tour when he finished second to Yikeun Chang at the Yeangder TPC in September, and he also posted a tied-10th at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open in August. A very impressive start to his career for the young Thai.
One of the highest ranked in the GIR stat this year with 74.4%, he also has one of the best scrambling percentages with 67.5%. With over US$88,000 in earnings Kosuke has already secured his playing rights for next season, and a maiden win this week at Thai Country Club should not come as a surprise to anyone.
Rashid Khan
The two-time Asian Tour winner in 2014 has been in great form this season while playing on a country exemption after losing his card in 2018.
Khan has posted four top-10’s in only six starts on the Asian Tour, plus two wins back home on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), and is coming off top-fives in his last two events: a tied-second at the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship and a tied-fifth at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters.
Near the top of the list in both GIR (73.2%) and Putts/GIR (1.73) and with his playing rights for 2020 already locked up, Khan looks ready to get back into the winner’s category once again.
Joohyung Kim
The 17-year-old Korean recently earned a battlefield promotion from the Asian Development Tour (ADT) to the Asian Tour by winning three ADT events in the same season and looks very much like a future star player.
In addition to these three wins, Kim posted a third-place finish at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open and has recorded eight other top-10’s on the Asian Development Tour and All Thailand Golf Tour in 2019.
It will be very interesting to see if he can bring his winning ways from the Asian Development Tour to the Asian Tour the rest of the season.
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