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OWGR Watch: Week of The Masters Tournament


With lucrative events such as World Golf Championships (WGC) and Majors looming, the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) becomes all important. Here we follow the Asian Tour players that are making a charge up the rankings and their quest to play their way into these events via the OWGR.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, currently ranked number 42 on the OWGR, is already eligible for all the above events.

 

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional. 

 

Last week’s winner of the Bangabandhu Cup Open Golf in Bangladesh, Sadom Kaewkanjana took home 14 OWGR points and rose to number 287 from 628 the previous week. He started the year ranked number 1,350 and has gained over 1,000 spots in a just over three months, a very impressive start to his professional career.

Sadom Kaewkanjana of Thailand

Other Asian Tour players who we are following closely when it comes to qualifying for the upcoming Majors and WGC events via the OWGR:

  • Jazz Janewattananond (THA)

Having another solid event and top-five finish in Dhaka last week by placing tied-fifth, Jazz moves up to another career high ranking once again and lands at number 70 this week. Continuing his ascent up the OWGR and looks to have solidified his chances for a special invitation to the US PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in New York May 16-19.

The next important step on the OWGR for him will be breaking into the top-60 by either May 20 or June 10, which are the cut-off dates for exemptions into the US Open Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California June 13-16.

  • Justin Harding (RSA)

Harding played the Valero Texas Open last week in San Antonio, Texas, but missed the cut after rounds of 73 and75 and slides down one place on the list to number 49.

Playing in the Masters Tournament this week, he will have an opportunity to make big gains with a high finish in the star-studded field, thereby improving his chances for an exemption into the upcoming US Open.

  • Kurt Kitayama (USA)

Kitayama did not play last week and slips to number 107. His immediate challenge is breaking into the top-100 and a chance for a start in the US PGA Championship.

Depending on his playing schedule, there are only two events between now and the cut-off date of May 5 on the Asian Tour and European Tour where he can make up ground , Trophee Hassan II in Morocco and GS Caltex Maekyung Open/Volvo China Open (played same week) in Seoul/Shenzhen.


April 9: Here’s what Sadom Kaewkanjana had in his bag when he won the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open.

Driver: Titleist TS3 8.5*                                      Shaft: Mitsubishi-Chemical Kuro Kage XT 60 X

HB1: Titleist 818H2 19*                                       Shaft: Mitsubishi-Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 90 X

Irons: Titleist AP2 718 (4-P)                                 Shaft: Precision Project X 6.0

Wedge1: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 50* F Grind

Wedge2: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 54* M Grind

Wedge3: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 58* L Grind

Putter: Odyssey Versa 7 WBW

Ball: Titleist Pro V1 x (2019)

Shoe: FootJoy

Cap: Titleist

Bag: Titleist

Glove: Titleist

 

Note: 2 Iron Titleist T-MB 718 w/ Mitsubishi-Chemical Diamana Thump 90 X.

No 3 Iron


By Calvin Koh, Head of Press Operations and Media Partnerships

Everyone wants to be in their Sunday best.

After all, it’s a day where the scent of glory beckons for the genuine contenders.

18 holes are usually what sets apart the contenders and pretenders on pressure Sunday.

The room for error has shrunk and there’s always drama that lies ahead when the first tee shot is hit.

A sparkling run of birdies, several bogeys to mar the card from nowhere, the ball finds the water. Anything can happen.

Pressure does not care about form and can be very cruel.

Mention it to the likes of Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung, Brazil’s Adilson Da Silva and India’s Khalin Joshi and they can tell you how tough it can be to calm those nerves on a Sunday.

The trembles in their fingers when faced with a three-foot putt to win and complete the job in front of the staring television cameras.

A victory would mean the world to all of them, having seen victory just slipped by their grasp on numerous occasions before they finally made peace with pressure and win.

As Fung once said before his breakthrough at the Queen’s Cup: “I’ve been too nervous going into the final day whenever I’m in contention. Thinking too much and wanting it too badly But I’ve learnt how to deal with it now.”

When the going gets tough, it comes down to a constant word that they usually recite quietly in their minds- Focus.

Da Silva knew how important it was for him to ‘stay patient and play one shot at a time’ before he lifted his maiden title at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, eight long years after he first played on the Asian Tour.

He was not suffocated by the crowded leaderboard where the top players were only separated by a single shot then.

Every single one of them, like Da Silva, would be thinking it was going to be their day.

But there was only one trophy on Sunday and that was the only one where the Brazilian would finally lay his hands on at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club after telling himself ‘not to worry about other people’s scores and just focus shot by shot’.

Every player cannot escape the truth of the leaderboard. The scores don’t lie and etching their names against the numbers at the pinnacle is always key.

Despite having played numerous tournaments at the Delhi Golf Club since his junior days, Joshi has never tasted success there.

Having the opportunity to stake his claim again, Joshi said: “I’m playing well and it’s just a matter of time.”

Self-belief usually gives a golfing Sunday new meaning.

The Indian had something to prove and his words would eventually prove prophetic

“You know it was just believing in myself and playing aggressive golf,” said Joshi.

And his time finally came on that fateful day at the Delhi Golf Club on a Sunday.

Ends.


Here’s what Stephen Gallacher had in his bag when he won the 2019 Hero Indian Open.

 

Driver: Titleist TS3 8.5*                                      Shaft: Mitsubishi-Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX

Fairway1: Titleist TS2 15*                                   Shaft: Mitsubishi-Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX

Fairway2: Titleist TS2 18*                                   Shaft: Mitsubishi-Chemical Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX

Irons: Titleist AP2 718 (4-P)                                Shaft: TrueTemper Dynamic Gold X100

Wedge1: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 52* F-Grind

Wedge2: Titleist Vokey Design PROTO 60* K-Grind

Putter: Titleist Scotty Cameron TSB

Ball: Titleist Pro V1 x (2017) Left Dash

Shoe: FootJoy

Cap: Titleist

Bag: Titleist

Glove: FootJoy

 

Note: 3 Iron Titleist T-MB 718

 


Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 2: Olle Nordberg provides his insights from the front lines ahead of the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open which starts on Wednesday.

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional 

The Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open has been held at the Kurmitola Golf Club since 2015 and has been the stage of breakthrough victories for Thitiphun Chuayprakong, Jazz Janewattananond and Malcolm Kokocinski in the last three editions of the event.

Last year Malcolm Kokocinski fired a final round six-under-par 65 to beat Ben Campbell and Jack Harrison by three shots, and his record on this course last year was nothing short of spectacular.

In the two Asian Development Tour events held at Kurmitola GC earlier in the year, he finished second at the City Bank Amex Dhaka Open in January and tied-third at the BTI Open in April.

The previous year Jazz won this trophy in his first event back after losing his Asian Tour card in the end of 2016, securing his playing rights as a tournament winner for the rest of the season.

The players most likely to contend for the win or a top finish this week, based on current form or past record at Kurmitola Golf Club, could well be among the ones listed below:

  • Jazz Janewattananond (THA)

Past champion and in second place on the Habitat for Humanity Standings, he is also the highest ranked player in the field at number 73 on the OWGR ranking list.

Jazz has had a great start to the year with a win at the SMBC Singapore Open, a third at the Maybank Championship and a fourth at the 100th New Zealand Open.

Needs no further introductions and reasons why he is likely to be a top challenger for the trophy.

  • Malcolm Kokocinski (SWE)

With his playing record mentioned above at Kurmitola last year it would not be surprising to see the Hua Hin based Swede in contention again on Sunday afternoon.

Kokocinski has struggled a bit in his last few events, but the return to Bangladesh could provide the defending champion a good chance to turn his fortunes around.

  • Siddikur Rahman (BAN)

The local hero and number one golfer from Bangladesh, Rahman finished runner-up in his national Open to Jazz in 2017 and would dearly like to do one better this year.

He won the City Bank Amex Dhaka Open at Kurmitola last year on the ADT by beating Kokocinski by four shots and was tied-sixth at the BTI Open a few months later.

Local knowledge may also be an important advantage this week. Since this is his home course he will know exactly where to place the ball off the tees and how to read the greens.

The event has not seen a Bangladeshi player win the event previously and Siddikur is the top candidate to change that fact.

  • Rashid Khan (IND)

Has had a good start to his 2019 campaign and playing very well lately. Khan was in a tie for 10th place in Delhi last week on the difficult DLF Gary Player course, and already has a win and a tied-third place under his belt so far this year on the Indian PGTI circuit.

Will be looking for a chance to get his Asian Tour card back with a win this week.

Going through the statistics records from the last two editions of this event, an important factor has been top finishers GIR performance. If history is of any guide this week, these players with a recent solid performance in the GIR statistic may well be contending for the title on Sunday.

  • Doyeob Mun (KOR)

The winner of the 61st Korean PGA Championship last season, Mun is already a proven winner and a very good all-round player.

He also has one of the best GIR records on the Asian Tour and was placed 14th in 2018 with 71%. Currently ranked fourth in 2019 with 79.2% having played one event.

It would not be surprising to see him as an Asian Tour winner before the end of the year.

  • Soomin Lee (KOR)

After having played the last few seasons mostly on the European Tour, Lee is now back on the Asian Tour where he made his debut in 2015.

His GIR stats are among the better on the Asian Tour, he was ranked ninth in 2018 with 71.7% GIR and is as of this week 13th in 2019 with 75% after one event played.

Having won once on the European Tour in 2016, the Shenzhen International, and twice previously on the KPGA Tour, he will be looking to add another title to his resume this week.


New Delhi, India, March 27: Olle Nordberg provides his insights from the front lines ahead of the Hero Indian Open which enters its 55th edition this week.

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional 

The Hero Indian Open has been played at the DLF Golf and Country Club’s Gary player course in Delhi for the last two years, and it has proven to be a real challenge for the best players in the region and from Europe. In 2018 only 15 players finished the event under par, and in 2017 only seven players managed to end up in red numbers on Sunday afternoon.

The 2018 edition saw Matt Wallace capturing the trophy by beating Andrew Johnston in a play-off on the first extra hole after an 11-under-par total of 277. It was the first of his three European Tour victories last year, a season in which he finished a career best 10th on the Race to Dubai.

The previous year S.S.P Chawrasia cruised to a seven-shot win over nearest challenger Gavin Green of Malaysia, as he defended the title he had won at Delhi Golf Club in 2016. He also became only the third player in history to successfully defend this national open, with a winning score of 10-under-par 288.

Last year’s champion Wallace is competing in the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay this week and is unfortunately not here to defend his title, but there are a number of players in good form looking to capture the championship on Sunday afternoon.

  • Jazz Janewattananond

The highest-ranked player in the field at number 71 on the OWGR list and coming off yet another great event at last week’s Maybank Championship finishing third, the eighth top-ten finish in his last 12 events going back to the end of September last year. He started the year off in fantastic fashion with a win at the SMBC Singapore Open and had a fourth-place finish at the 100th New Zealand Open a few weeks prior to Malaysia.

  • Shubhankar Sharma

Sharma had a good chance to win this event on Sunday last year when he was tied for the lead with Matt Wallace after three rounds. Birdies in two of his first four holes in the final round meant he was off to a flying start, however double-bogies on the fifth and seventh hole derailed his bid for his first home Open title.

He will definitely be looking for redemption this time around.

  • Scott Hend

The champion last week at the Maybank Championship is obviously playing well and making a lot of birdies as well. He led the field in number of birdies made with 25 during the week in Kuala Lumpur, and if he can continue this trend he might be challenging for the trophy again this week.

Hend has missed the cut at DLF the last two seasons but the confidence he would have gained from last week’s win should be a great asset. It is certainly something you need to have playing this course.

Going though the statistics from last year’s Hero Indian Open at DLF, an important factor is a player’s Tee to Green performance. If this remains true this year, the players below would rank highly in a statistic combining Total Driving and GIR category for 2019, and may be contending for the title on Sunday afternoon:

  • Gaganjeet Bhullar (Tee to Green #2)

One of the best all around players on the Asian Tour in 2018, proven by his win in very windy conditions at the Fiji International. Would currently be ranked number two in an un-official TD/GIR statistic this season. Finished fourth in the Habitat for Humanity Standings last year.

  • Gavin Green (Tee to Green #3)

The 2017 Order of Merit Champion did not play a full schedule on the Asian Tour in 2018 but is performing well in the statistic this season. He has played well at DLF in the last two editions of this event, finishing second in 2017 and tied 16th in 2018, and seems to have figured out how he likes to play the course.

  • Johannes Veerman (Tee to Green #8)

Veerman was ranked number 16 in Tee to Green last year and has improved on this in 2019 up to number eight curently. He finished fourth last week in Malaysia and tied 16th in Kenya the previous week, so is obviously in good form overall as well.

  • Scott Vincent (Tee to Green #11)

A very good all-around player that already has a top result in 2019, finishing fourth in the ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth. Vincent has improved his ranking in Tee to Green from 20th in 2018 to 11th this season, and this may be important this week. Finished fifth on the Habitat for Humanity Standings last year in a season with nine top-10 finishes that included three runner-ups.


New Delhi, India, March 26: With lucrative events such as WGCs and Majors looming, the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) becomes all important. Here we follow the Asian Tour players that are making a charge up the rankings and their quest to play their way into these events via the OWGR.

By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, currently ranked number 41 on the OWGR, is already eligible for all the above events.

Last week’s Maybank Championship saw Scott Hend win his 10th Asian Tour event, and his third win in an event co-sanctioned with the  European Tour. The US$3 million event is the richest tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour in Asia.

Hend took home a winner’s cheque of US$500,000 and propelled to the top of the Habitat for Humanity Standings where he leads with a current haul of US$507,792.

With this week being the final week to qualify for The Masters before the cut-off date on March 31, the players mentioned below will have everything to play for as they seek good showings to boost their world rankings at the Hero Indian Open and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

  • Justin Harding

Harding did not play the Maybank Championship last week, electing to get some rest instead before travelling to Austin, Texas for the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay. By not playing, he dropped one spot to 49th position in this week’s updated OWGR ranking list.

He is now only one position clear of the 50th place, which is the final spot to receive an invitation to The Masters Tournament on April 11-14th. He may need a good week in Austin to secure his place at the Augusta National. If he gets though his group in the round-robin format first stage of the event he will be safe, otherwise a nervous weekend awaits.

  • Jazz Janewattananond

Jazz continued his run of good form since late last year and added another top finish to his 2019 campaign in Kuala Lumpur last week. A third-place finish at the Maybank Championship moves him up seven places to number 71, a new career high for the young Thai star.

A win at this week’s Hero Indian Open would likely move him to number 51 in the rankings best case scenario, but it is difficult to tell before the points for this week’s events are announced later this week.

His Masters hopes might still be alive in any case since The Masters committee does occasionally extend special invitations to international players, which is what happened to Shubhankar Sharma last year following his Maybank Championship win.

A win in India this week would certainly help his case in this regard.

  • Kurt Kitayama

With a tied 41st place at the Maybank Championship Kitayama did not earn any OWGR points, however he still rose one spot up to 104th place this week. He is still only one good tournament away from breaking into the top 100, which should give him a special exemption into the US PGA Championship at Bethpage Black in New York May 16-19th. The cut-off date for being in the top 100 is May 5th.

  • Scott Hend

With his brilliant win in Malaysia last week Hend moves up to number 134 on the OWGR, a gain of 113 spots and the first return to the top-150 since March last year. A solo-second place or win this week in India would see him back in the top 100 on the ranking list, where he was in late 2017.

 


Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 25: Here’s five takeaways from the Maybank Championship where Australia’s Scott Hend ended a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour.

  • The action was sizzling hot, on and off the golf course with temperatures reaching a scorching high of 34 degrees on most days during the week.
  • The final round was set for a grandstand finish with the final group making their approach to the greens until the heavens opened and brought play to a halt for the first time in the week.
  • The Maybank Championship attracted a large crowd over the four days including some from the wildlife.
  • From Old Trafford to Nou Camp and Saujana Golf and Country Club, football legends Nemanja Vidic and Luis Garcia made their guest appearances and thrilled the fans, just like how they did at the stadiums before.
  • All of Scott Hend’s wins have come from Asia and his victory at the Maybank Championship is his first in Malaysia.

Scott Hend (Aus) Fourth round 67 (-5), Total 273 (-15)
What a putt by Nacho. If I was to go out there and hit that putt you would say you would hole it one in ten times. It was an amazing putt, and in the situation he holed it. All credit to Nacho, it was fantastic.
The spirit we played in today was great too. He’s such a nice guy. We were both egging each other on to play well. That’s the way we want to play golf.
I felt like I played fantastic on the back nine. Nearly holed a lot of putts, just missing. Just had to keep my head on and stay patient, stay in there. Worst case scenario was a play-off. If I hole some putts I win.
I had to get off to a fast start as I was three shots behind. That’s all there was to it. I was fortunate enough to turn I in five-under and on the back-nine I shot even-par. I can’t ask for much more on a Sunday when the golf course is playing quite tricky.
I’m fantastic out of bunkers. We pretty much knew the line of the putt. It was pretty much the same putt I hit in regulation. All I had to do was keep my head on, don’t let it explode, just have a nice stroke through the ball.
I’m a grinder and a fighter. So is my caddie Tony. We both have the same mental attitude. It doesn’t matter how old we are, we work hard at what we do. Just takes a bit of luck to win. Obviously I had a bit of luck on the play-off hole. If you don’t have any luck you won’t win.
I had the luck today, unfortunately for Nacho. His time will come, he’s going to win. He’s a great player, he’s going to win.

I’m leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit at the moment and it gives me a good chance to win it again. It’ll be another fantastic achievement and I would like to do it again.

Nacho Elvira (Esp) Fourth round 70 (-2), Total 273 (-15)
It was a bit of bad luck, I’m glad I made it last a little longer with the play-off. Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t.
It was thunder in a bad moment, but the gods did give me one back with that putt. I think I played great all week, solid, consistent, I’m very happy with that. I’m happy that my game has finally showed a little bit of consistency.
I tried to give it all on the play-off hole. I just missed my driver a little bit and gave myself a little chance to make birdie, but I’m happy.
Lifting trophies is the point, that’s what we try to do every week. Hopefully it works out soon.
Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) Fourth round 69 (-3), Total 275 (-13)
It was mostly good for me today. I just struggled in the middle of the round. To birdie the last hole of a tournament is always nice. I’m happy with the tournament overall. A top-three finish is always something special especially in a co-sanctioned event with the European Tour.
Maybe I didn’t have enough breakfast today or something. Everything seems OK and then, I don’t know, maybe I need to work on something. Is there something out there that I need to work on with my caddie or with my coach Pete Cowen? We’ll see what I can improve and work on it from there.
I made some good putts at the start. It’s a good result, I’m really happy with it.
Johannes Veerman (Usa) Fourth round 66 (-6), Total 276 (-12)
This is one of the tournaments which you really want to do well and I’m really happy I did that this week. I love Malaysia, I’ve played a lot of ADT (Asian Development Tour) events here so I feel really comfortable being here in Malaysia. I was playing well the entire week but I felt like I made too many bogeys. So my main goal today was not to drop anymore shots which I managed to do. I couldn’t be happier with how I played. I played well here two years ago and I’ve many good memories of this course. I’m a little bit more experience now and I’m able to manage my emotions better now. It’s nice to make a move on the Order of Merit but it’s a long year and there’s still a lot of golf to play. But at least it’s a start.

Ends.


By Calvin Koh, Head of Press Operations and Media Partnerships

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 24: A split second was all it took to turn Shaaban Hussin’s life upside down.

Shaaban’s promising golf career was immediately shattered the moment he was thrown onto the road shoulder of a highway in Malaysia in the early morning of March 31, 2016.

That horrific motorcycle accident nearly left him for the dead. His left foot was so badly crushed and had to be amputated from the knee down.

All his dreams were also broken just like his left arm.

The months that followed left Shaaban having to deal with a myriad of emotions that included wanting to end his life.

Fast forward three years later, I caught up with Shaaban at the Maybank Championship and he is literally back on his feet again.

An inspiring figure, the 2001 SEA Games Gold Medalist and Malaysia’s number one amateur in 2001 and 2002, felt right back at home at the Saujana Golf and Country Club, in the company of good friends, ‘just playing in the tournament and waiting to tee off’.

He said: “I am really happy to see my old friends out again this week. My old pals like Danny Chia and Nicholas Fung are very happy to see me too.

“Yesterday I met Prayad Marksaeng and Prom Meesawat and some other players from Chinese Taipei. They were very encouraging and I felt confident again after speaking to them.”

Adversity might have set him back momentary but courage has restored his ability to find new meaning in his life again.

Fitted with a prosthetic leg now, he is also a golf coach to juniors who attend his training classes which start from 8.30am till 6.30pm.

“I try not to put myself down despite what has happened to me. At least I still have something to do now. I still can help in the development of golf.

“I want to see the juniors improve and make Malaysia proud. I have played enough tournaments to share with them my life experiences.

‘Never give up’ is what I always tell my juniors. That’s my motto in life.’

I’m glad I got the chance to catch up with this gentleman who has defied all odds to become a truly inspirational figure today.

Ends.

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