It was a very difficult scoring week at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, with only six players finishing in red figures at the end of play on Sunday. The notoriously tricky Taiwan Golf & Country Club layout produced a scoring average of 74.837 for the 72 holes. The windy first round was the most difficult at 75.918 and Sunday the easiest, but still playing more than a stroke over par at 73.376.

A week after he finished T2 at the Yeangder TPC it was Thailand’s Rattanon Wannasrichan who finished top of the podium, after having finished T4 and T8 at the two previous editions of the event. Rattanon finished one shot clear of countryman Suradit Youngcharoenchai and two ahead of local favourite, and the 2020 winner of the tournament when it was on the local tour, Wang Wei-hsuan.

After topping the Putts per Greens in Regulation (GIR) stats at Yeangder TPC, Rattanon again had a superb week on the greens at the Mercuries event, and this time led the field in Putts per Round with 26.75, together with fellow Thai Jazz Janewattananond. His Putts per GIR average also stood out and he was fourth in this category with 1.692.

The winner also kept mistakes to a minimum, and even though he made 10 bogies for the week this led the field in Fewest Bogies or Worse category, and was one fewer than his closest pursuer Suradit who posted 10 bogeys and one double, while Wang made 13 bogeys and two doubles.

Wang Wei-hsuan. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour.

The fact that Rattanon led the field in scrambling for the week with 72.73% was vital for him in winning the title, as his GIR and Fairways Hit stats were not highly ranked at 54.17% (T41) and 30.35% (T43) respectively. Rounding out his stats was Driving Distance which came in at 315.8 yards for a solid T13.

Runner-up Suradit had his best Asian Tour result since 2019, when he won this event, and like the winner had a good week on the greens ranking T4 in Putts per Round with 27.75 and 12^th in Putts per GIR with 1.732. He was also near the top of the Scrambling list, getting the ball up and down 67.74% of the time ranking third behind the winner and Australian Scott Hend. His other stats for the week: Fairways Hit 48.21% (T9), Driving Distance 303.6 yards (27^th) and GIR 56.94% (T33).

Chinese Taipei’s Wang was coming off a T2 at the Yeangder TPC, his best Asian Tour result to date, and the solo-third finish should mean that his card is secure for next year. The big hitter once again proved his impressive power off the tee, leading the field in Driving Distance with 345.4 yards after having placed third the previous week with 337.6.

His off-the-tee power helped produce 18 birdies and one eagle for the week, and Wang topped the Birdies category one ahead of local Tsai Shang-kai and Australia’s Ryan Peake. Another list he ranked first in was Bounce Back with 46.67%, this one tied with Korean Jeunghun Wang.

He placed highly in GIR 65.28% (T6) and Putts per GIR 1.702 (T7), and had solid stats in the other categories such as Putts per Round with 29.25 (T20) and Fairways Hit with 41.07% (T21).

Statistics Categories leaders at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters (of players making the cut):

• Putts per Round: Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA), Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 26.57
• Putts per GIR: Tsai Chang-kai (TPE) 1.556
• GIR: Kevin Yuan (AUS) 72.22%
• Fairways Hit: Hung Chien-yao (TPE) 62.50%
• Driving Distance: Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE) 345.4 yards
• Most Eagles: Hung Chao-hsin (TPE), Lin Yung-lung (TPE) 2
• Most Birdies: Wang Wei-hsuan (TPE) 18
• Fewest Bogies or Worse: Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 10
• Scrambling: Rattanon Wannasrichan (THA) 72.73%
• Bounce back: Wang, Wei-hsuan (TPE), Jeunghun Wang (KOR) 46.67%