Cheonan, Korea, June 21: Korea’s Heungchol Joo set the early pace by posting an opening six-under-par 65 to grab the first round lead at the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship on Thursday. 

Korean Amateur Seungtaek Oh showed he can also match up against the professionals by returning with a 66 to take outright second position while American Kevin Na ensured his homecoming got off to a good start when he signed for a 67 to trail Joo by two in equal third place at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

Thailand’s Pannakorn Uthaipas also got off to one of his best starts this season when he signed for a 68 to be bunched in tied-seventh place that includes Korea’s K.T. Kim and Sanghyun Park, who recently won on home soil last month.

Joo, who is chasing his fourth win on the Korean Tour and first on the Asian Tour, got off the blocks quickly when he reached the turn in 33 after carding four birdies and one bogey.

He extended his advantage with another birdie on 11 and had a closing eagle on 18 to thank for giving him the outright lead at the KR₩1,200,000,000 (approx. US$1,125,000) event.

Oh, who is part of the Korean national team, also showed his potential when he mixed his card with six birdies and two bogeys to stay close to Joo at the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship which is part of The Open Qualifying Series this year.

Na was delighted his patient approach paid off and believes he can mount a serious challenge as the week progresses.

Did you know?

• Heungchol Joo turned professional in 2006 and made his debut on the Korean Tour the following year.
• He holds three wins on the Korean Tour and his best result in 2018 was a tied-11 finish at the DB insurance Promy Open.
• Seungtaek Oh is a member of the Korean national golf team.
• He was the winner of the BEAR CREEK CUP Amateur Golf Championship in 2016
• Kevin Na is the highest ranked player at world number 63 this week. He finished tied-13th at the Kolon Korean Open Golf Championship last year.
• Pannakorn Uthaipas topped the Asian Development Tour Order of Merit title in 2017 to earn his Asian Tour card for 2018.
• He has missed the cut twice in six starts on the Asian Tour.

Players’ Quotes

Heungchol Joo (Kor) First round 65 (-6)

It was a good day and I managed to take advantage of most of my birdie chances. That eagle on 18 was a nice way to finish off the round as it meant I could take bragging rights for the day. I’m playing well and I just have to stay focused as it’s only the first day and anything can happen. I don’t want to get ahead of myself just yet.

Seungtaek Oh (Kor) First round 66 (-5)

It was a good round and I’m enjoying myself especially with this opportunity to play in a professional tournament like this. It’s still early days but I hope to maintain this form throughout the week.

Kevin Na (Usa), First round 67 (-4)

I felt really confident today. Obviously you don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself but I felt really good and I struck the ball very well today. I got off to an average start, I three-putted 15 but continued to stay patient. I made some putts coming in and managed to shoot four-under. It was a good day. I still feel like Korea is home and I’ve got to remind myself to get a visa when I come here. I keep forgetting. The crowd was great today and it helped I was playing with Sangmoon Bae and Sanghyun Park who are household names here too. It was a lot of fun. I’ve got to go low again tomorrow as I’m sure they are going to set it up really difficult over the weekend. I’ve to be ahead of the game.

Pannakorn Uthaipas (Tha) First round 68 (-3)

I’m very happy with my score today especially since this is my first time playing here. I’ve not been playing well lately and I needed a performance like this to lift my confidence and morale. I think the key to doing well here at Woo Jeong Hills is your tee shots. It’s important to get your tee shots onto the fairways. If you miss them, you’ll be in big trouble. I’ve been working hard on my driving and it has been okay today. I hope for more of that to continue this week.

Cheonan, Korea, June 20: Korean-American Kevin Na will be taking a walk down memory lane when he tees up for the Kolon-Korea Open Golf Championship which starts on Thursday.

World number 63 Na, is the highest ranked player this week and he makes no bones that he is returning to the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club as a much improved player having started his career on the Asian Tour more than a decade ago.

The 34-year-old finished tied-13 at the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship last year and has also enjoyed two top-five results on the PGA TOUR this year.

While eager to make an impression with the home crowd, Na is also delighted he has the opportunity to catch up with old friends again as the Korea’s National Open makes it return to the Asian Tour Schedule for the first time in 10 years.

Korea’s Sangmoon Bae is hoping to rediscover his winning form at a tournament which he has won twice.

Having spent two years away from competitive golf with his military obligations, Bae is trying to find his rhythm again and establish himself as one of the genuine contenders at the KR₩1,200,000,000 (approx. US$1,125,000) event.

Defending champion and Asian Tour member Yikuen Chang of Korea is determined to make up for the heartache of missing out on another home win last month.

With the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship being part of The Open Qualifying Series this year, Chang is also eager to play his way to the world’s oldest Major and rub shoulders with the world’s best players again.

Did you know?

• Kevin Na started his career on the Asian Tour. In only nine tournaments in 2002, he had five top-10 finishes, including a win at the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia.
• Na immigrated with his family to the United States when he was eight years old and he is now a naturalised American citizen.
• He won his first PGA Tour title in 2011 and reached a career high of 19th position on the Official World Golf Rankings in 2015.
• Sangmoon Bae won the Kolon Korea Open twice in 2008 and 2009.
• He spent two years as a rifleman in the army before he was discharged in August last year.
• Bae is a three-time Asian Tour winner and has also won twice on the PGA TOUR.
• Chang topped the class at the 2016 Asian Tour Qualifying School which was his event since turning professional.
• Chang prevailed in a three-hole aggregate play-off last year, defeating compatriot Giwhan Kim with a par-birdie-double-bogey. He started his final round two shots back of Kim.
• Chang is the first multiple winner on his local tour since 2007.
• He bowed out in a four-man play-off at the 37th GS Caltex Maekyung Open last month.
• The Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean Golf Association and is also part of The Open Qualifying Series.
• Two spots will be awarded to the leading two players (not otherwise exempt) finishing in the top-eight and ties in the event.

Players’ Quotes

Kevin Na (Usa)

I like coming here and more so since it’s my sponsor’s event too. It’s a nice change coming over to Asia and play at this time of the year. I grew up playing on the Asian Tour, I developed my game here and won the Volvo Masters of Asia and it’s always nice to come back. The strength of the field on the Asian Tour has definitely gone up and the purses have gone up too. You can see the potential in these players and it’s no surprise to see players like Kiradech coming over to play in the US now. And more like him coming over in the years to come. As for myself, I definitely got better as a player. Sometimes it does not really relate to how you finish the year. But as a player, I feel my game has definitely improved. I’ve played here before and I can tell that I can play better on some of the tougher holes now because my game has become better.

Sangmoon Bae (Kor)

I’m really glad to be here. I have not been playing really well this year but coming back to this golf course and knowing that I have won here twice before just gives me that added confidence and inspiration. Those memories will also spur me to do well in front of my family and friends. Those two wins in 2008 and 2009 are so long now. Many players have improved and are becoming better. So I just have to be at my best to stay ahead of them. I’ve been struggling on the greens lately because I have not been able putt well. I’ve been working hard on it and hopefully all the hard work can pay off this week.

Yikuen Chang (Kor)

It’s definitely nice to be back here to defend my title. Finishing with three birdies in a row to force the play-off last year was definitely very special as the last three holes were the toughest on this golf course. That gave me a lot of confidence. The win got me into the Open as well as a five-year exemption on the Korean Tour. I want to go back to Carnoustie and play with the world’s best players again. I played with Henrik Stenson and Adam in the last two days and I learnt a lot from them. My play-off defeat here in Korea last month taught me a lot as I now know what is needed to sharpen my game. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable. I feel like if I can hit the ball really well, I can get my hands on the trophy again.

June 18: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat equalled his best finish in a Major tournament after carding a final-round three-over-par 73 to land in 15th place at the U.S. Open on Sunday.

The 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion was just three shots off the lead going into the fourth round, but he slid down the leaderboard after posting three bogeys and a lone birdie for a nine-over-par 289 total at the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

“It was a tough day. I didn’t hit enough fairways or greens unlike the third round and that makes it tough here. I’m happy with my final position as I wanted a top-30 finish, but I’m quite disappointed as I didn’t put any pressure on the leaders at all. I was three shots back at the start of the day but I didn’t stay in contention,” said Kiradech.

He added: “This week was all about being patient and positioning the ball well. But I think I tried to control my game too much today to avoid the trouble and it didn’t work out. I wasn’t as aggressive as I would normally play."

Brooks Koepka of the United States held off the challenge of England’s Tommy Fleetwood to win his second consecutive U.S. Open title. Koepka signed for a final-round 68 for a one-shot victory, while Fleetwood carded a 63 to set a new course record.

Before this year’s U.S. Open, Kiradech’s best finish in a Major tournament was tied-15th at the 2016 Masters Tournament. He also played in this year’s Masters Tournament, where he finished tied-44th.

The big-hitting Thai, who has tasted victory this year at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, moved up to 29th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) list and has virtually secured his PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season.

“I think I’m almost there to get my PGA TOUR card. I was told 380 points would probably be good for this season (to reach the 125th ranked position),” said Kiradech, whose 401 FedExCup points earned after the U.S. Open would rank him 89th in the latest FedExCup points standing if he was a full member.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma made a breakthrough in his professional career by qualifying for the U.S. Open for the first time this year, but he missed the cut by two shots. The current Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings leader is the fifth and youngest Indian to play in the prestigious tournament.

2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Liang Wenchong and 2018 Hero Indian Open winner Matt Wallace also played at the year’s second Major tournament, but they were not able to progress to the weekend rounds. 

June 18: A lot’s happened since my last contribution as the Asian Tour’s official international ambassador, a badge of honour that I continue to wear with pride.

Probably the biggest news is being nominated as the captain of the Internationals for the next Presidents Cup to be played at Royal Melbourne in 2019. Honestly, there’s so much about that sentence that excites me! 

For one thing, Royal Melbourne is right up there among my all-time favourite courses. Aside from its classic design credentials and legendary putting surfaces, it’ll always have a special place in my heart with us having won the Presidents Cup there in 1998 and also my three straight Heineken Classics wins from 2002 to 2004. The prospect of going back there as captain of the International Team is kind of a dream job, you could say. 

The Presidents Cup has from the get-go held significant relevance from an Asian Tour perspective. Of course, there was an Asian-born player (Japan’s Tsukasa Watanabe) in the inaugural competition in 1994. And there have been countless others to have followed in his footsteps. In fact, we had five on the 2015 team alone. That was the year the Presidents Cup visited Asia for the first time, so that was a special week for Asian Tour golf. It’s fair to expect there will be another strong contingent on the plane to Australia in 18 months’ time and perhaps from a wider spread of countries, too. 

Really it’s too early to speculate who might make the team, but obviously there are a few names that jump out. We’ll start with Shubhankar Sharma (pictured with me, above) because he and I go way back. He attended a golf clinic I was hosting during the 2008 Indian Masters; he was 10 years old and you could see he was a serious talent. I told him then I thought he’d be a great player, and he obviously listened! No, seriously, what he’s done in the last 12 months is impressive. 

Li Haotong is another fine young player who springs to mind. He only just missed out on making the team in 2017 and actually, we were paired together in the final round of last year’s Open Championship at Birkdale. He has a fearless approach, a nice attitude. The wind was picking up that day and he wasn’t backing off. It was a hell of a round. It would really make waves him being the first Chinese player to be on the team.

Kiradech has been a very good player for a while now; beautiful natural golf swing, I like the way he plays. Hideki Matsuyama and Si Woo Kim, who’s having a strong year on the PGA TOUR, have tasted Presidents Cup action before and they’ll be keen to play again. Then there’s Satoshi Kodaira who won for the first time on the PGA TOUR this year, so the Presidents Cup has suddenly popped up on his radar, too! Maybe Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, he’s a heck of a player, the youngest player ever to win back-to-back European Tour events. Or Byeong Hun An. 

We could go on, but you get the idea. Between now and next summer any one of a number of players could get on a hot streak and play their way on to the team. The ever-increasing strength of golf in Asia is obvious and, you know, there are so many other talented players from China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, basically right across Asia, all in their 20s, that are going to be in the frame for future Presidents Cup teams. It’s an exciting prospect. 

Anyway, as I’ve said, we have got a while to go. The race for qualification doesn’t even begin until the end of August, when points accumulated on the Official World Golf Ranking over a 12-month period will determine the identity of the leading eight players on the team. We’ll then have four Captain’s picks to make up the final dozen. 

Obviously, the conversations between myself and the captain’s assistants have started already. We’re comfortable with the new format and the one year qualification period is a good change. We can properly start to see where our guys are at after the 2019 Tour Championship and onwards. Also, with the World Cup being played at Royal Melbourne, that’s interesting for us because some of the guys playing that week will be contenders for the International team. Before that, we want to actively encourage the players to play together as much as possible, maybe have some get-togethers. That’s important, especially for the rookies. So that’s on my agenda. Ultimately, we’re going to do everything we can in terms of tactics and team selections that give us the best chance of getting the Cup back. 

To finish, one of the other great things is this is going to feel like kind of a home game for us. Hopefully we’ll have a couple of Aussies on the side, too, and the home crowds are going to come out in huge numbers to cheer us on. Melbourne is a great city, a real sports’ city, and the atmosphere is going go be incredible. I honestly can’t wait.

Sentosa, Singapore, June 19: After a 15th place finish at the U.S. Open Championship, Thai ace Kiradech Aphibarnrat will now turn his attention to The 147th Open next month where he has never made the halfway cut in four appearances. 

The 28-year-old Kiradech savoured a memorable week at the year’s second Major championship by signing off as the best-placed Asian player after closing with a three-over-par 73 to finish eight shots back of Brooks Koepka, who successfully defended his title.

The result at the U.S. Open Championship will give the popular Thai a spring in his step when he heads to Carnoustie from July 19 to 22.

“I am very happy with my result last week. I have enough points to keep my PGA Tour card now. I tried my best and gave my everything on Sunday but it really wasn’t my day. I didn’t give myself a lot of chances and I didn’t put any pressure on the leaders at all.

“But overall, it was still a good result and I accepted it. I’m looking forward to the year’s third Major at The Open. I think my golf game is much better than before. I am able to play under windy conditions now as I can control the ball better,” said the big-hitting Kiradech.

Kiradech, the 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, hopes to take advantage of his recent good form when he makes his fifth appearance at the world’s oldest Major championship. He made his debut at The Open in 2013 and qualified for four straight years before missing out on the 2017 edition.

“I have been working with my swing coaches Pete Cowen and Mike Walker for almost 16 months now. I am also working with my mental coach Lee Campbell. I have a great team and we have all been working really hard. I am very comfortable with my swing now and I feel very confident.

“I guess that’s the reason why I have been playing well for the last couple of months. I’m taking a week off and then I’ll play the Quicken Loans National, the Irish Open and the Scottish Open before heading to The Open,” said the world number 29.

Kiradech has enjoyed a spectacular season so far, claiming his third Asian Tour title and fourth European Tour victory at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth in February before securing his third Asian Development Tour (ADT) win in Brunei in March.

He went on to clinch a tied-fifth finish at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play later that month to break into the world’s top-30 for the first time in his career. Kiradech also enjoyed a top-five result at the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship in May.

“I have played a couple of times at the Carnoustie Golf Links and I know it’s very tough. It’s definitely one of the toughest golf courses at The Open, especially when the wind is up. If the wind is up, the last three holes will be very difficult.

“I’m still very excited for The Open this year because I have two young Thai players, Jazz Janewattananond and Danthai Boonma, joining me. I am sure it will be a great experience for them. I would love to share my past experiences with them and offer my advice on how to tackle the links course, if I can.

“I definitely hope that they can produce good results. I also hope to produce good results myself as it’s the only Major which I have never made the cut before. I just want to keep the ball in play and do my best that week,” said Kiradech.

Reigning Order of Merit champion Gavin Green of Malaysia and India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who leads the Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Standings, will also feature at The Open, golf’s oldest Major championship.

Other players who will spearhead the Asian Tour challenge at The Open include 2015 Order of Merit champion Anirban Lahiri of India, South African Shaun Norris, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda, Masahiro Kawamura and Kodai Ichihara.

Ends.

About Asian Tour

As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region, enhancing the careers of its members while maintaining a commitment to the integrity of the game. The Asian Tour, through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status. Tour Partners include Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Panasonic (Official Consumer Electronics), Habitat for Humanity (Official Sustainable Development Partner), ECCO (Official Footwear Sponsor), Titleist and FootJoy (Official Web Partner), Bloomberg TV (Official International Media Partner), Bloomberg Businessweek Chinese (Official International Media Partner), Wall Street Journal (Official International Media Partner) and Sentosa in Singapore which is the Home of the Asian Tour which also has an office in Kuala Lumpur.

June 17: Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat made a huge move at the U.S. Open after firing a superb third round two-under-par 68 to trail the leaders by three shots on Saturday.

The 2013 Asian Tour number one posted five birdies against three bogeys for a six-over-par 216 total to sit in tied seventh place in the tournament where Dustin Johnson, Daniel Berger, Tony Finau and Brooks Koepka share the lead.

Kiradech fired his first score in the red this week at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club after finding all the fairways. He is now in prime position to secure a first Major title in his second U.S. Open appearance.

“You always feel pressure when in the U.S. Open, one of the biggest and also a Major. To have a chance to play on the weekend makes it such a great week. And to move up a lot on the leaderboard, which is the way to do it in the third round, I just tried to do everything that I could, keep the ball in play and just hope it will be my day," said Kiradech.

Ranked fourth on the Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Standings, Kiradech hopes to repeat his superb performance in the final round as he aims to become only the second Asian golfer to win a Major tournament.

“I think it’s all about keeping the ball in play, under the wind and then put it in the right positions. Some putts you have to be a little bit against it, some putts you have to back off a little bit. It has to be about the game plan. And some holes, a 5 doesn’t mean a bad number. If you miss place your ball on this course, or when you make a mistake, it will hurt a lot.

“This golf course, you have to put the ball in play. You have to hit more fairways, more greens and just keep it going. I’m just trying to play my own game,” said Kiradech.

Ends.

Sentosa, Singapore, June 16: If the action-packed first half of the Asian Tour season is any indication of what is next to come, one will be in for another blockbuster treat the next six months. 

The Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship will welcome the best players from the Asian Tour back to Korea for the second time in two months next week.

With a lucrative prize purse of over US$1,000,000, expectations will be high on Asian Tour members to put up a good showing at the Woo Jeong Hills Country Club as well as Korea’s Yikuen Chang who looks set to put up a strong defence of his title.

Chang was narrowly denied another home win after he bowed out in a four-man play-off at the GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship last month and will be looking to make amends with a grandstand finish next week.

The prestigious Queen’s Cup will then return for its 10th straight edition with a new presenting sponsor in Bangchak Corporation at the highly-rated Phoenix Gold Golf and Country Club in Pattaya.

Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, who won by one shot to claim his first Asian Tour victory at the Queen’s Cup last year will be up against a strong field which includes India’s Shiv Kapur who will be returning to the venue where he won the Royal Cup for his third victory of the season and became the only player to win three times on the Asian Tour in 2017.

The inaugural Sarawak Championship will then lay out the red carpet for the region’s leading stars to the Borneo Island where they face stern challenges from the talented Malaysian golfers.

This is the first time the Asian Tour will host a tournament in Sarawak after staging Asian Development Tour (ADT) events from 2012 to 2017.

The Indonesia Open is primed for another edition when it tees off at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in July. Thailand’s Panuphol Pittayarat, who won again at his national open in Thailand last week, will be among the stars to look out for at the US$300,000 event.

The attention then turns to the year’s third Major when The 147th Open gets underway at Carnoustie in July.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who was recently rewarded with a Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR, will spearhead the Asian Tour challenge alongside compatriots Jazz Janewattanond and Danthai Boonma, who will be making their Major debuts after finishing tied-fourth at the season-opener in Singapore in January.

Reigning Order of Merit champion Gavin Green of Malaysia and India’s Shubhankar Sharma, who leads the current Habitat for Humanity Standings, will also feature at The Open.

Other players to look out for at The Open include 2015 Order of Merit champion Anirban Lahiri of India, South African Shaun Norris, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and Mashiro Kawamura.

For the second year running, 30 Asian Tour players will make their way to the picturesque Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course where we can expect a keenly fought contest between the best golfers from Asia, Europe and Australia The Fiji International presented by Fiji Airways.

The Take Solutions Masters which saw Thailand’s Poom Saksansin complete a wire-to-wire victory last year will return to the Karnataka Golf Association Golf Course in Bangalore in August before the Tour heads back to the Land of the Morning Calm for the 34th Shinhan Donghae Open the following month.

Japan’s Daisuke Kataoka will step onto familiar winning grounds when the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup gets underway in September followed by a two-week swing in Chinese Taipei for the Mercuries Taiwan Masters and Yeangder TPC. 

The Asian Tour will make a welcome return to Pakistan after an 11-year hiatus for the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Open Golf Championship before another titanic battle is played out at the Panasonic Open India. 

November will continue to feature several high profile events including the Hong Kong Open, World Cup of Golf and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

The Asian Tour heads back to Vietnam for this first time since 2015 for the Ho Tram Players Championship before it reaches an exciting climax at the Indonesian Masters where the Habitat for Humanity champion will be crowned after 12 thrilling months.

It is going to be exciting and this is #whereitsAT!

Ends.

Southampton, New York, June 16: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat made it into the weekend rounds right on the bubble after carding a two-over-par 72 at the 118th U.S. Open Championship on Friday. 

Kiradech, who was recently rewarded with a Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the 2017-18 PGA TOUR, ensured he would remain at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for the rest of the week by compiling a two-day total of eight-over-par 148.

The 2013 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner trails runaway leader Dustin Johnson of the United States by 12 shots at the year’s second Major.

Korea’s Byeonghun An, who represented Team Asia at the 2018 EurAsia Cup in January, also progressed into the final two rounds despite returning with a 76 but it was the end of the road for India’s Shubhankar Sharma who made his early exit after rounds of 74 and 76.

Ends.

Cheonan, Korea, June 16: Law graduate Natipong Srithong of Thailand is ready turn his attention to the fairways as he heads to Korea for the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship next week.

Having completed six years of undergraduate law study, the 24-year-old wants to switch his focus to golf and aim for his second Asian Tour win.

“Now that I’ve graduated from law school, I’m able to concentrate fully on my golf. It was tough, having to juggle between my studies and golf the last few years.

“But I’m glad all that pressure is off and I can focus fully on doing well on the Asian Tour now,” said Natipong.

Natipong earned his Asian Tour breakthrough in Manila in 2015 and is on the back of two top-five results going into the week in Korea.

A member of the 2013 South East Asia Games gold medal-winning team, Natipong is familiar with the weather conditions in Korea and hopes to put his knowledge to good use when he steps up to the tee at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

“I’m going to hit lots of low ball because it will be wet and cold in Korea and this approach will be favourable. I’ve played in Korea on a few occasions to know what is needed to get a good result there.

“Hopefully my strategy will pay off,” said the Thai.

Fellow Thai Pavit Tangkamolprasert, who recently bounced back from a wrist injury to clinch a record sixth Asian Development Tour (ADT) title last month, is equally optimistic of his chances at the Kolon Korea Open Golf Championship.

“I feel very confident at the moment. When I was injured, I didn’t touch my golf clubs for four weeks. That’s the first time that I didn’t touch my clubs at all. I felt fresh in my mind and I took the time to work out more,” said Pavit.

Pavit also holds one Asian Tour title when he emerged victorious in Macao in 2016 and knows a good mental discipline will be key to another win on the main Tour.

“Winning on the Tour is not easy even on the ADT. The competition is so strong now. The most important thing is to keep your card on the main Tour and don’t think about winning every week. That will only put pressure on yourself,” said the 29-year-old.

The Kolon Korea Open is sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Korean Golf Association and is also part of The Open Qualifying Series.

Two spots will be awarded to the leading two players (not otherwise exempt) finishing in the top-eight and ties in the event.

Ends.