The ‘Super Dinner’ behind Denwit’s success at the Saudi Open presented by PIF
Ahead of the defence of his Saudi Open presented by PIF title this week, Denwit Boriboonsub has revealed the secret to his success last year, and it’s very much a case of winner, winner chicken dinner!
The Thai star famously claimed three tournaments in a row last December with two of those events coming here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – first at the Aramco Invitational and later the Saudi Open presented by PIF – where KFC was on the menu every single night.
“Yeah, we ate KFC everyday last year, starting at Aramco. Went back to Thailand for a week after that and came back to Riyadh for the Saudi Open and ate KFC everyday again and won again!”
In that week back on home soil he also triumphed in the Thailand Open on the All Thailand Golf Tour. It was a remarkable three weeks especially as the Aramco Invitational was the final event of the season on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the Saudi Open presented by PIF brought the year to a conclusion on the Asian Tour. No player has achieved that feat.
Denwit Boriboonsub pictured with the winner’s trophy at last year’s Saudi Open presented by the Public Investment Fund. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
He said: “It’s the Super Dinner KFC Meal I ate: four pieces of chicken, large Pepsi, large fries. It’s funny because at this year’s New Zealand Open we ate Botswana steaks, the best steak I have had in my life, for six days in a row but missed the cut.”
Last December, age 19, he fired a final round seven-under-par 64 to win the Saudi Open presented by PIF by three strokes from LIV Golf League star Henrik Stenson from Sweden at Riyadh Golf Club, where the US$1million event is again being played this week.
“We will try KFC every day this week, the same meal, and hopefully it will have the same effect,” he said.
“I am playing quite well. It was really windy in today’s practice round, so hopefully it calms down. I don’t think about winning. I just concentrate on my game and hopefully the result comes.
“The only issue now is my short game. I am struggling with my wedge. I can’t play it at the moment, from all distances. I am still trying to figure it out.”
To say Christmas came early for Denwit last year is an understatement.
Denwit Boriboonsub, Jeunghun Wang and David Puig pictured with The Open trophy at the Malaysian Open, where all three qualified for the game’s oldest major. Picture by Khalid Redza/Asian Tour.
Sitting in 133rd position on the Asian Tour Order of Merit (OOM) at the start of December and 30th on the ADT rankings, his playing status for 2024 was looking bleak.
However, in the space of three weeks his world was transformed.
Victory at the Aramco event, in a sudden-death play-off against England’s William Harrold, catapulted him to the top of the ADT OOM – which secured his Asian Tour card for the following season, before victory on the Saudi Open presented by PIF allowed him to finish in 21st place on the final Asian Tour OOM.
He said: “My iron play was key to that success. It just clicked and of course I was holing everything.”
His end of season form carried over into 2024, most noticeably at the season-opening Malaysian Open, where a 10-under-par 61 on the final day saw him tie for third and secure one of the three places up for grabs in this year’s Open Championship.
He also recorded a top-10 at the International Series Macau presented by Wynn and is currently in 10th place on the Asian Tour OOM.
The rising star from Pattaya explains: “I did have a couple of KFCs in Macau, and one in Malaysia – but that was on the last day after my 61.”
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