Tour Insider: BNI Indonesian Masters
By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional
The Tournament
The US$750,000 BNI Indonesian Masters will be played for the ninth consecutive year and during its history has seen two of the game’s top players and former world number ones win the title.
When Englishman Lee Westwood won the inaugural edition in 2011, the victory brought him back to the number one position on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) two months after losing the top spot to Martin Kaymer of Germany.
Westwood successfully defended his title in 2012, and also won the event in 2015, becoming the only three-time winner of the BNI Indonesian Masters.
While countryman Justin Rose did not reach number one on the OWGR with his win here in 2017, he did have a chance at last year’s event to reclaim the number one ranking he had briefly held twice earlier in 2018.
In tied-fourth place and in prime position to do so after three rounds, a tied-16th with one player would have allowed him to snatch the number one spot for at least one week, while a tied-12th or better would have guaranteed Rose the coveted world number one spot at the end of the year.
However, in an uncharacteristic final round that included a double-bogey on the second hole and a fatal triple-bogey eight after a four-putt on the par-five 12th, Rose settled for a tied-17th and saw his chance to end the year on top of the rankings disappear.
A player that did not make many mistakes in the final round last year was overnight leader Poom Saksansin of Thailand who fired a four-under-par 68 to claim the trophy by three shots over compatriot Jazz Janewattanond on 20-under-par 268.
Poom, already a winner of this title in 2016, also received the added bonus of an invitation to the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee for winning the event, along with 24 important OWGR points.
At last year’s event there were no fewer than five Thai players in the top eight spots, in addition to Jazz in second, Panuphol Pittayarat finishing third, Thitiphun Chuayprakong fifth and Jakraphan Premsirigorn in tied-seventh place.
The Course
The Royale Jakarta Golf Club has hosted the BNI Indonesian Masters every year since its inception, and this prestigious club on the outskirts of Jakarta will play as a par-72 at 7,368 yards from the championship tees this year.
The course rewards accurate tee-shots and staying out of the rough in order to take advantage of the scoring holes, the par-fives should be attacked from the fairway rather than the rough. It also has some strong par-fours where distance off the tee is an advantage, but from recent results it has also been proven that you do not have to be a long hitter to win here.
For example: two-time winner Poom ranked 136th in driving distance on the Asian Tour in 2018 with 266 yards, and at last year’s event he was ranked 100th with 263.5 yards off the tee.
Thai players have had more success here than any other nationality in the last five editions of the event. Out of the 54 players who has finished inside the top-10 in the last five years, 20 (or 37%) have been from the Kingdom.
The Contenders
Poom Saksansin
The defending champion has proven his ability to win at this course and will likely feel energized and very confident coming back to the venue which has rewarded him with two out of his three Asian Tour victories.
Even though the season has not been what Poom was hoping for after his big win here in the end of 2018, the good memories of Royale Jakarta Golf Club could help him finish the year on a good note and rescue an otherwise forgettable season.
Jazz Janewattananond
Having just secured the Asian Tour Order of Merit title last week after his closest pursuer Scott Hend elected not to play in Mauritius, Jazz now has an even bigger target to shoot for this week: finishing the year inside the top 50 on the OWGR and thereby earning himself a place in the Masters field next year.
A win this week will be worth a minimum of 20 OWGR points, which would likely be enough to ensure that he finishes the year inside the top 50. He is also scheduled to play next week at the Thailand Masters, so two second-place finishes (depending on number of ties) could also be enough.
His record this year speaks for itself, with two wins at the SMBC Singapore Open and Kolon Korea Open and 13 other top-10 finishes in the region. He clearly also likes the course as shown by his runner-up finish last year and tied-fifth back in 2014.
Scott Hend
Even though Hend can no longer catch Jazz in the Order of Merit race, the 10-time Asian Tour winner will be looking to add to this tally and finish the year in style.
When the big-hitting Australian is in form he is very difficult to beat, and after a two-week break he should show up in Jakarta well rested and refreshed after a long season playing the Asian and European Tours.
Pavit Tangkamolprasert
The winner of the Sabah Masters, who triumphed in a four-way playoff two weeks ago, has been in fine form the last month, having lost in a playoff at the Thailand Open and finishing tied-14th at the Panasonic Open India. He also had another top-10 finish at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open in September where he finished tied-sixth.
Pavit has also been playing great golf at home on the All Thailand Golf Tour (ATGT), posting eight top-10s in 10 events so far this season.
Currently in 14th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, a high finish this week could ensure that he eclipses his previous best year-end position of 12th from 2016 when he won the Venetian Macao Open.
Joohyung Kim
Korean “young gun” Kim has been one of this season’s breakout players, with a win at the recent Panasonic Open India and two other top-six finishes in only four Asian Tour starts this season. His worst result of the four events was a tied-12th at the Sabah Masters, missing out on another top-10 by only one shot.
He also won three times on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this year to earn a battlefield promotion to the Asian Tour and has four other top-five finsiheson that tour since the year began.
Kim has been getting some global attention on Twitter thanks to OWGR guru Nosferatu, or @VC606 as his handle is called, who has pointed out that Kim’s career top-10 percentage of 52.0% is second only to Tiger Woods at 57.6%. An extremely impressive start to his young career as a professional.
Rory Hie
Hie is enjoying his best season on the Asian Tour and became the first Indonesian to win an Asian Tour event at the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship in India in September. He opened the event with an eight-under-par 64 and won the event wire-to-wire.
Since taking his maiden title nearly three months ago, Hie has been playing very solid golf and is coming off a tied-12th at the Sabah Masters and a tied-fifth at the Panasonic Open India in his last two events.
He also has a top-10 in this event previously when he finished tied-ninth in 2011, the best result for an Indonesian player since the event started.
Mauritius, December 8: Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard announced his arrival on the biggest stage when he sunk an eagle on the third play-off hole to win the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on Sunday.
At 18, the Danish teenager secured his European Tour card at Qualifying School last month and his breakthrough at the Heritage Golf Club came very quickly in what was only his fifth appearance on the European Tour.
It took a crucial birdie on the 72nd hole for the young Dane to force his way into a three-way play-off with Italian Renato Paratore and Frenchman Antoine Rozner after closing with a four-under-par 68 and 19-under-par 269 total.
Hojgaard missed a 12-foot eagle putt for the title on his first trip back up the par-five 18. With Parattore bowing out after hitting his ball into the water then, it was left to Hojgaard and Rozner to battle for top honors again.
Both made birdies on their second play-off hole but Hojgaard’s moment of glory would come soon after when he eagled the hole in his third attempt for an emotional triumph on the paradise Indian ocean island.
China’s Wu Ashun and India’s Jyoti Randhawa flew the Asian flag when they finished in a share of 13th and 17th place respectively at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open which was inaugurated in 2015.
It was the first tournament to be tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and European Tour.
Did you know?
- The Heritage Golf Club was staging the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open for the third time (2015, 2017 and 2019) and each time a play-off was always need to determine the winner.
- Alongside twin brother Nikolai and John Axelsen, Rasmus Hojgaard led Denmark to a first World Amateur Team Championship win at the 2018 Eisenhower Trophy
- The Hojgaard brothers also played in the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup.
- Victory for Italy’s Renato Paratore would have been his second win on the European Tour in his 152nd appearance after his maiden win at the 2017 Nordea Masters.
- Antoine Rozner finished seventh in his only previous appearance at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open last year.
- Jyoti Randhawa recently celebrated his career milestone on the Asian Tour when he teed up for his 300th event at the Panasonic Open India last month.
- He once reached a career high of 70th place on the Official World Golf Ranking in March 2008.
- Randhawa enjoyed his best finish of 2019 when he finished tied-14th at the Thailand Open in November.
Rasmus Hojgaard (Den) Fourth round 68 (-4) Total 269 (-19)
I’m loss for words. It’s amazing and I’m over the moon. This is a dream come true for me. I just kept telling myself to believe in yourself and trust the number. I did what I could and it was enough for me to win. I was obviously nervous, playing in my first play-off but I was in a situation where I had nothing to lose. So I was confident especially with my shots coming in. It was pretty cool to close out the 18th hole today. My approach shots were all very good there and I just managed to do what I had to do. It’s cool to win so early in my career and it’s something just very amazing and I’m looking forward to the next challenge. I’m going to celebrate this victory when I get home to my family and friends.
Antoine Rozner (Fra) Fourth round 69 (-3) Total 269 (-19)
Everything comes down to one playoff hole. I made some amazing birdies on the first two playoff holes. I have nothing to regret. I gave my best. Congratulations to Rasmus. He hit some amazing shots down the stretch. That bunker shot, I told my caddie right before that this can go in the stand or stay in the trap because I was trying to catch it so clean. But yeah it was probably one of the best bunker shots I’ve ever hit. All the hard work is paying off. It’s a very good result and I’m very happy.
Renato Paratore (Ita) Fourth round 67 (-5) Total 269 (-19)
I pulled my second shot too much to the left. It was not the best shot I made and it landed off the green and I knew I had no chance. I could have aimed more to the right. I played really solid all week and even though I didn’t win in the play-off, overall it has been a good week.
Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) Fourth round 65 (-7), Total 274 (-14)
I’m pleasantly surprised with my result this week. I played well today and I was really comfortable with my swing and the pace of play. I was playing with Mercel and he was very quick so I didn’t have to hurry that much too. I made several good putts and I’m happy with the week. I’m swinging much better and feeling much better. I did some swing changes before coming here. I went back to what I should do when I was playing my best golf and that helped. I hope to keep this going. I’ve got two more events left and I’m feeling good about the game.
Mauritius, December 7: France’s Antoine Rozner together with Belgium’s Thomas Detry and Scotland’s Calum Hill will head into the final round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open with a one-shot advantage after sharing the third round lead on Saturday.
A graduate of the European Challenge Tour, Rozner showed his promise in his rookie season on the main Tour by closing with a pair of birdies in his last two holes to sign for a six-under-par 66 along with a place atop the leaderboard.
Hill, who started the day with a one-shot lead on his own, mixed his card with two bogeys and six birdies for a three-day total of 16-under-par 200 at the Heritage Golf Club.
While it was not enough to give him the outright lead again, it was still a rewarding day as he showed great character by recovering well with a bogey on 16 to close with birdies on 17 and 18.
Asian Tour member Sihwan Kim of the United States trailed the leading trio by a single shot as he returned with a 67 to share fourth place with promising Danish youngster Rasmus Hojgaard.
China’s Wu Ashun emerged as the highest placed Asian after signing for a 68 to stay four shots off the pace in a share of 10th place while India’s Jyoti Randhawa posted a 70 to lie in tied-35th place, nine shots off the leaders.
The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open was inaugurated in 2015 and was the first tournament to be tri-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, Sunshine Tour and European Tour.
Did you know?
- Antoine Rozner graduated from the European Tour Qualifying School this year and is playing his rookie season.
- Thomas Detry has 13 top-10s from 84 European Tour events, with two coming in his last four starts. He is seeking his maiden win this week.
- Calum Hill has won twice and enjoyed three other top-10s in five starts on the European Challenge Tour before going on to secure his European Tour card this year.
- Wu Ashun finished tied-20th in his AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open debut at the Heritage Golf Club in 2017.
- The Chinese played predominately on the Asian Tour and in Japan since he turned professional in 2007 before he started playing regularly on the European Tour following his win at the Volvo China Open in 2015.
- With that victory, Wu became the first Chinese golfer to win a European Tour title on home soil.
- Wu has since followed up with that victory with wins in Austria and The Netherlands which made him the first Chinese player to win three times on the European Tour.
- Jyoti Randhawa recently celebrated his career milestone on the Asian Tour when he teed up for his 300th event at the Panasonic Open India last month.
- He once reached a career high of 70th place on the Official World Golf Ranking in March 2008.
- Out of his eight Asian Tour victories, five of them have come from home. Randhawa has also captured the titles of five National Opens, with three Indian Opens, one Thailand Open and one Singapore Open.
- Randhawa enjoyed his best finish of 2019 when he finished tied-14th at the Thailand Open in November.
Antoine Rozner (Fra) Third round 66 (-6) Total 200 (-16)
I’m happy. I played really solid and I had a great front-nine again. Probably the best I’ve played all week so far. I played great on the back as well and I’ll take six-under anytime. I was lucky enough to play with Benjamin and he’s a relaxed guy. We can talk between shots and that helped me to stay relaxed too. Unfortunately, I’ll not be playing with him again tomorrow. But that’s just golf. I’m not going to lie but I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully get that win. It’s a packed leaderboard but a victory tomorrow would be a huge accomplishment. I need to shoot something really low and I got to keep playing the way I’ve been doing.
Calum Hill (Sco) Third round 68 (-4) Total 200 (-16)
It was nice to have a couple of birdies to finish off and sneak back into a tie for the lead. Happy with how it finished off. It was similar to my morning round yesterday, wasn’t much wind then either. The scoring was good out there if you played well. I hit a lot of nice shots to start off the back nine until the par five but couldn’t get my putts, needed to hit it six inches harder on every hole. Then on the par five – if you get your driver right it should be a birdie today or even better if I managed to drop it into the hazard. Got lucky, managed to whack it out and save par. Hit a few not spot-on iron shots after that which cost me a shot, but coming in with two good putts was nice. Eight under might do it. I could do with another one of those and I might be able to come in with a smile on my face.
Thomas Detry (Bel) Third round 67 (-5) Total 200 (-16)
I got off to a better start today compared to yesterday – two under after five. A great drive in nine, hit the green there and got it going. I made two silly mistakes. I think we misjudged the yardage on 12, we hit the wedge shot about 25 metres short. Don’t know what happened there. The 16th is a bit of a tricky green very firm. But very, very happy with the way I played today. We’ve had a few good breaks, took advantage of the birdie putts we had. Very pleased with the way I played. Ball striking wasn’t 100 percent on the first few holes, but I got some confidence and felt pretty good out there.
Very happy (to be one of the favourites). My first time here, a lot of people speak French, get a lot of Belgian people here, lots of crowds following. It’s nice to have that.I’m very exited and looking forward to tomorrow. I’ve been in this position a few times. Was in this position three weeks ago in Sun City at a big event. A few weeks before at the French Open gave myself a chance to win – Nico (Colsaerts) won there, which was great. I’ve got some experience in this domain so let’s just play our own game and have fun like we have the last three days. Sometimes you over think a few things instead of just letting it go. I think it’s all about keeping it simple. Just play like you have been playing in practice rounds. It’s easy to say, but I think that’s how you approach the fourth day.
Sihwan Kim (Usa) Third round 67 (-5), Total 201 (-15)
I played well today. Stayed patient and made some pretty good putts in the middle of my round which got me going. If there’s no wind like today, the scores are going to be low tomorrow and we’ll just have to see how the wind blows then. But whatever it is, you still got to go out there and play well. I’ve been bad off the tee the whole week but I putted really well. I got the speed right and that has been the key.
Wu Ashun (Chn) Third round 68 (-4), Total 204 (-12)
I was playing a domestic event last week and it was really cold back home in China. So it was a big change in weather and I was trying to adjust back to the tropical climate conditions here. The first two days were also all about getting familiar with the golf course again and today, I felt I managed to do well. I took advantage of my chances and I’m in a good position heading into the weekend. I’m not that far off the lead so anything can happen. My wife’s with me this week and her presence has kept me very relaxed too. It’s like a holiday feeling especially when we get to stay in a nice resort too.
Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) Third round 70 (-2), Total 209 (-7)
Today was a little patchy day as I was playing slowly and was being monitored and had to speed up play. I missed a few shots there but overall it’s still okay. I guess I need to play a little quicker now. I’m not used to playing fast in a two-ball. Just need to play faster than what I did today and I should be fine.
Calum Hill (Sco) Second round 64 (-8), Total 132 (-12)
It’s been very warm. It’s hot and humid so you are sweating buckets for the whole round, but I seem to be getting used to it. You have to position it quite well here. There are a few holes where you’ve got to keep an eye out. One errant shot can cost you quite a lot. The greens have been immaculate, this course is in very good condition. It’s a pleasure to play on. The last couple of days the game has been nice. Managed to get the putter going well today, which added up to a good score. Last week was a slow start and I played better at the weekend. It’s just built on from there. I’m happy with that, especially to make a putt on the last hole to finish off a good round. I made a lot of long range putts – 20, 25 foot – probably made four of those. It would be good fun (to be in the final group), it would be an experience that I’ve never had before.
Brandon Stone (Rsa) Second round 67 (-5) Total 133 (-11)
I’m very happy with how things went today. I got off to a nice start this morning; a couple of birdie early which kind of settled the nerves a little bit. And then from there I just played great all day. Very low stress, always in play, gave myself a lot of opportunities and managed to convert a fair number of them and sitting 11-under-par going into the weekend is exactly where you want to be. Putting is an important component every week. I think that was the missing factor I had last week because I felt like I hit the ball as good last week as I am this week, but I just didn’t convert. It felt like your back was against the wall, whereas this week, I’m giving myself a lot of opportunities and managed to convert the majority of those and that’s why I see myself at the top of the leaderboard and not at the cut line like I was last week.
Sihwan Kim (Usa) Second round 67 (-5) Total 134 (-10)
I’m really happy. It was very hot out there and I had to stay focus with every shot. When I was in trouble, I ended up making a par and I managed to make some key putts coming in and made some birdies. It was so humid without the winds this morning and it kind of drains you out. I had to make sure I was hydrated. I’ve been putting well. I have a little trouble hitting off the tee but my putting makes up for it. If I can correct my tee shots, I should be okay. I’m going to have my lunch now and head to the beach!
Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) Second round 69 (-3) Total 139 (-5)
I hit my irons very well today unlike yesterday where I’ve been struggling. But overall it was a solid round although I wished I could have putted better where I missed a few birdie chances. But other than that, I’m pretty pleased. I know I can still shoot good numbers but my problem is to do it consistently for four rounds. I still have the much gas left in the tank but I have to be cleverer in the way I approach my game. My body cannot take so much of the workout anymore and I’m counting on my experience to give me that advantage.
Abhijit Chadha (Ind) Second round 70 (-2) Total 139 (-5)
I played well today and just had one really bad hole on number one where I made a seven. That actually hampered my score. I want to get to double digit and under par as fast as I can. I feel that when the wind picks up, it’s going to be challenging. So let’s see. But for tomorrow, I want to get off to a fast start and play a good round.
Recent Comments