February 13: Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat gets good vibes whenever a World Golf Championships (WGC) event is around the corner.

Who can fault him though for his feel-good attitude as he enjoyed three impressive top-five finishes in the WGCs in 2018 which culminated with Kiradech becoming the first Thai golfer to earn a PGA TOUR card.

With the US$10.25 million WGC-Mexico Championship returning next week, the grip it-and-rip it Thai star is excited to return to Club de Golf Chapultepec from February 21 to 24, 2019 which provided the stage for his first career top-10 in a WGC a year ago.

The tied-fifth finish sparked a glorious run of results as he qualified for the quarterfinals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, losing to eventual winner Bubba Watson, and later finished tied-four in the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai in October.

“I was just playing well when I got to Mexico last year,” recalled Kiradech, the 2013 Asian Tour number one.

“It showed that I can win one of these events. The way I’m putting in the work in my game, I think I’m not far off (from winning). I need to keep knocking on the door. To play well in three big events and get the results, it was good to show that. I also had a chance at the U.S. Open … I was right up there after the third-round last year (before finishing in 15th position).”

After missing the weekend rounds at the Farmers Insurance Open and finishing tied-33rd at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the burly Kiradech will tee up in this week’s star-laden Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club, California before heading to Mexico City.

The Thai remembers the challenge of adjusting his game due to the high altitude at Chapultepec, which is some 7,000-plus feet above sea level that results in golf balls traveling farther.

“It was difficult to control the distance initially but I had a fantastic week in Mexico. The goal now is always to aim for a top-10 every week. I think I already have a third of FedExCup points to keep my PGA TOUR card for next season (from his WGC-HSBC Champions result), so hopefully it makes my life a bit easier,” he said.

With four European Tour victories under his belt, Kiradech is obviously targeting a ‘W’ next on the PGA TOUR. He hopes to put to good use some lessons learned from the experience of contending in the WGCs.

“I feel my game is improving. It’s all about my mental game now, and course management. When the moment comes again, I will have to control myself better and plan a bit better. Sometimes I need to back off from a shot and realise that I don’t have to hit the target every single time,” said Kiradech.

Perth, Australia, February 13: Thailand’s Prom Meesawat is hoping to better his result when he returns to the starting tee for the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth which begins on Thursday.

The Thai led the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth after 54 holes at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club last year but fell at his first hurdle when he lost to Australian Min Woo Lee, who won 2-Up against the Thai in the second round of the knockout match play.

Having welcomed his baby boy three months ago, the father-of-two is enjoying the time of his life now and is hopeful of carrying forward his domestic bliss onto the golf course this week.

India’s Viraj Madappa, a one-time Asian Tour winner, is ready to get his season underway in his debut appearance at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth.

Despite missing the cut at the Asian Tour season-opening event in Singapore last month, Madappa believes he has grown in maturity and confidence since his breakthrough on home soil last August.

Major winner Geoff Ogilvy of Australia is meanwhile looking forward to a memorable homecoming having spent 20 years in the United States.

He missed 14 of 16 cuts on the PGA TOUR last year and is planning to wind down his career as he attempts to spend more time with his family.

Did you know?

• Prom Meesawat is nicknamed “The Big Dolphin” because of his physique and that he hails from Hua Hin, a coastal town in Thailand.
• He finished two shots ahead of the rest of the field after the stroke play rounds last year. The burly Thai golfer, along with seven others in the top eight, went straight into the second round of the knockout matchplay on Sunday. This arrangement will be retained this year.
• He lost to Australian Min Woo Lee, who finished the match 2-Up against the Thai.
• Viraj Madappa became the youngest Indian player to win on the Asian Tour after lifting the 2018 TAKE Solutions Masters trophy in August.
• He won at the age of 20 years and nine months, breaking the previous record set by Gaganjeet Bhullar, who was 21 years and three months old when he won his first Asian Tour title at the 2009 Indonesia President Invitational.
• He followed up that win with another two top-10s at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship and season-ending Indonesian Masters to end 2018 in 35th place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.
• Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open in 2006 and also three World Golf Championships.
• He was once ranked as high as third place on the Official World Golf Ranking in 2008.
• The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is the final event for players to boost their world rankings and break into the top-50 so as to qualify for the World Golf Championships- Mexico Championship next week.
• The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is the only tournament in professional golf that features an innovative stroke play and match play format.

Justin Harding (Rsa)

It has been a good start to the year. I obviously didn’t have the result I was looking for in Singapore but I thought I played alright. Just a couple of holes caused me a bunch of shots. Other than that, I took advantage of my invite to Dubai and I got into Saudi the next week. I’ve been playing good golf and making fewer mistakes. This has been key for me for the last 12 months. It just about trying to keep yourself in the tournament for as long as possible. I’m getting closer to WGCs and the Majors. It’s a matter of doing what I’ve been doing and seeing what happens. Things will take care of themselves if I continue to post good results. It adds a little bit of pressure, knowing you are the highest ranked player this week. But I guess it’s a testament to the fact I’ve been playing really decent golf lately. It’s nice to be in the featured pairings, getting on TV, having the home support back home as they can watch it live and sweat it out with me. It’s good fun. A win would have got me into the WGC next week and I’m hoping for something similar or maybe a chance to lift the trophy this week. This week is an interesting week itself with the match play on Sunday.

Poom Saksansin (Tha)

It’s nice to be back here in Perth. Nice golf course and weather. I feel like my golf game has improved a lot. I played with one of my best friends in a domestic tournament last week and I liked his golf swing. I copied that and I feel it has helped me. I looking forward to playing well to get into the match play on Sunday. I feel I have a good chance. There are only six holes and anything can happen. If luck is on my side, like in Jakarta, I have a good chance.

Lucas Herbert (Aus)

It’s good.  It sets up really well for me with the results that I’ve had, but it’s a really cool place.  I love being here.  Perth is an awesome city.  Getting back here is always a fun week of the year.  I like match play but only getting six-hole matches is good.  You have to be on your game really quick and really early.  I mean, it’s not so much anymore about whether I like it, it’s more adapting to it, whether it’s match play, six-hole match play, everything like that.  It’s been good fun the previous two years and sort of seeing how it’s all played out, obviously improved from the first year we tried it, and it would be good to see. I am pretty sure there will be improvements this year I still think about that six-hole match against Kiradech in the semi quite a lot, and I still go back and watch the highlights quite a bit, because I hit some pretty good shots in there as well. He (Kiradech) hit an unbelievable shot in the shoot-out hole to beat me, so it wasn’t like I kind of lost it and, you know, fell apart.  He played really well to win that match.  It was a little bit heart breaking, but I mean, I thought I played pretty well and did everything I could. He was just better than me when it came down to the clutch.

Perth, Australia, February 11: The best players from the Asian Tour will be back to headline the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth when the A$1.6 million event starts at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club on Thursday.

Following a three-week break, the action on the Asian Tour resumes with the European Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tri-sanctioned event set to delight the crowd in Western Australia.

The stakes at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth are also going to be higher as it is the final event for players to boost their world rankings and break into the top-50 so as to qualify for the World Golf Championships- Mexico Championship next week.

South Africa’s Justin Harding, who finished third on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings after two standout victories in Indonesia and Thailand last year, is among the hopefuls eyeing a good result in Perth.

“I played nicely in Hong Kong and Mauritius towards the end of last year and also posted a couple good results in Dubai and Saudi Arabia this year. So I’m just seeing if I can keep riding the wave and momentum and push on,” said the South African.

Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is also hoping to seek inspiration from his compatriot’s winning performance last year and achieve a similar feat at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, which is the only tournament in professional golf that features an innovative stroke play and match play format.

“It was pretty amazing to see what that win has done for Kiradech (Aphibarnrat) last year. He broke into the top-50 in the world and went on to play the Masters.

“I remembered we were just talking before the tournament started last year and how he did not even get to play a practice round as he was the last player to enter the tournament. He then went on to win the tournament. It’s pretty inspiring,” said Jazz.

Harding and Jazz along with Thailand’s Poom Saksansin and American Kurt Kitayama are among the leading Asian Tour contenders for the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth.

The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, which will also welcome 26 Asian Tour champions, combines 54 holes of traditional stroke play across the first three days with an exciting knockout match play format for the fourth and final round.

A regular cut will fall after 36 holes before the field is then further reduced to the top-24 players following 54 holes of regulation play, with any ties for 24th place being decided by a play-off.

Those remaining players will then earn their places in the six-hole shootout.

Any matches tied after the six holes will be decided by playing the new Shootout Hole – a purpose-built 90-metre hole constructed at Lake Karrinyup, with a tee placed adjacent to the 18th fairway and utilising the 18th green.

The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is a revolutionary golf tournament designed to retain the traditions of the game whilst appealing to a broader audience.

Perth, Australia, February 12: South Africa’s Justin Harding is ready for another wild ride as he makes his debut at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth which starts on Thursday.

As the highest ranked player in the field this week, the world number 65 admits he is feeling the pressure of living up to his ranking but is also hoping to soak in as much fun as he can at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

The South African, who just celebrated his 33rd birthday last Saturday, has been enjoying a splendid run since he burst onto the scene on the Asian Tour last July.

Harding’s breakthrough in Indonesia was the catalyst that saw him going on to notch another win in Thailand a fortnight later before securing another four top-10s to end the year in third place on the money list.  He started 2019 with a tied-seventh finish in Dubai, a tied-14th place in Saudi Arabia, and a fourth-place finish in Melbourne last week.

Thailand’s Poom Saksansin is hoping to continue where he left off after closing his 2018 Asian Tour season in style by winning the Tour’s season-finale in Jakarta last December.

The Thai’s match play record is exemplary with his high profile scalps at the EurAsia Cup last year and is optimistic his recent swing change will set him on his way to the Sunday showdown.

Australia’s Lucas Herbert, who lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Kiradech Aphibarnrat last year, is meanwhile looking to make amends, given his proud record at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Did you know?

• The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is the final event for players to boost their world rankings and break into the top-50 so as to qualify for the World Golf Championships- Mexico Championship next week.
• The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perthis the only tournament in professional golf that features an innovative stroke play and match play format.
• It is a revolutionary golf tournament designed to retain the traditions of the game whilst appealing to a broader audience.
• Justin Harding finished third on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings after two standout victories in Indonesia and Thailand last year.
• He started the year in 85th position in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) and moved 20 places down to his current 65th after enjoying two top-10s in Dubai and Melbourne this year.
• Poom ended his 2018 in style by winning the season finale in Indonesia last month for his third Asian Tour title.
• Poom claimed his breakthrough at the Indonesian Masters in 2016. He went on to claim a wire-to-wire victory for his second Asian Tour title in India the following year.
• The 25-year-old Thai is dubbed ‘The Baby-faced Assassin’ for his high-profile defeats of Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey on the Asian Tour last year.
• He started the year with a tied-24th finish at the Asian Tour season-opening event in Singapore.
• Lucas Herbert has two top-10 finishes in this event the last two years.He finished third in 2018 and tied-ninth in 2017. He finished tied-second in both years after the three stroke play rounds.

Perth, Australia, February 7: Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is not about to rest on his laurels as he heads back into action with the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth getting underway next week.

Jazz continued to underline his status as one of the rising stars of the game when he defeated a host of world-class players including Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Davis Love III for his third Asian Tour victory in Singapore last month.

But he has since moved on from that win and is determined to put up another good showing at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club when the Asian Tour, European Tour and ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia tri-sanctioned event is played there from February 14-17.

“That win in Singapore was pretty exciting. I got back home to Hua Hin and everyone threw me a party. But it’s straight back to business and the grind of practising after that,” said Jazz.

“This will be my third time playing at Lake Karrinyup and I feel like I’ve got to know the course a lot better now. I haven’t played much match play events and the first time I got to play in such a format in my professional career was at the Friendship Cup late last year where I won all my matches. So I hope to get into the shootout on Sunday and see what happens,” added the 23-year-old.

Jazz’s victory in Singapore played a huge role in breaking him into the top-100 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) for the first time in his career.

While the young Thai is pleased with his achievements which will set him up for bigger playing opportunities, he knows how cruel the sport can be and why it is important for him to stay on top of his game.

“There has been lots of ups and downs in my career. You are only as good as your last event. So you got to try to be as good as you can every week. I didn’t think I would be able to break into the world’s top-100 so fast. But now that it has happened, I’m aiming higher and want to break into the top-50. It’s a step-by-step process,” said Jazz.

Jazz was just 14 when he played his way into the history books by becoming the youngest ever player to make the halfway cut at an Asian Tour event in 2010.

He missed the grade at the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2017 but bounced back remarkably with his breakthrough victory in Bangladesh the same month.

Jazz dared to believe he can turn things around and sometimes it takes failure to bring out success.

“I made peace with pressure. I’ve learnt how to handle the pressure somehow and I guess those setbacks helped in my game,” said Jazz.

Jazz will be part of a strong Asian Tour field that also features Order of Merit champions Gavin Green of Malaysia and Australia’s Scott Hend. Other marquee players expected to headline the event include Thomas Pieters, who is one half of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf winning Belgium team, Australian Lucas Herbert, New Zealander Ryan Fox, Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Japan’s Yusaku Miyazato.

Ends.

By V. Krishnaswamy, in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, February 2: Scott Hend and Gavin Green kept themselves in the race for a good finish even as China’s Li Haotong shot a historic four eagles, three of them par-fours, in the third round of the Saudi International at the Royal Greens Golf Club on Saturday.

Hend (69) moved to eight-under-par while Green (67) crept up to seven-under-par to be tied-sixth and tied-11th respectively with the final round to go.

Meanwhile, the action-packed day saw Li Haotong (62) land four eagles in a single round to grab a share of the lead with Dustin Johnson (65) with a total of 16-under-par.

Tom Les (62) was third at 11-under-par and Alex Levy (67) and Ryan Fox (67) were tied-fourth at nine-under-par.

Four players including Hend, Zander Lombard (70), Ross Fisher 65), Joachim Hansen (65) and Min Woo Lee (63) were tied-sixth.

In another stunning development, the 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia was disqualified for “serious misconduct” – damaging some greens in frustration – while the 2018 Masters champion, Patrick Reed went three times into the water while scoring a 10 on the par-five 18th.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar finally found some rhythm and converted the chances he created to force his way into the upper half of the leaderboard after making the weekend on the cutline. Bhullar added a four-under-par 66 to his earlier rounds of 68 and 72 to reach a 212 total. He was tied-27th, after being tied-58th a day earlier.

Justin Harding (70) who was two-over-par on the front nine made a recovery on the backstretch with two pairs of birdies on 13th, 14th and again on 17th and 18th to get to was three-under, alongside David Lipsky (69) at tied-36th.

Jake McLeod (73), who was 65-70 in the first round, slipped with a third round three-over-par.

Hend had five birdies, including three between fifth and eighth, but also missed a two-footer on 11th for a bogey and had a double on par-five 12th.  Hend, hit the flag with his second bounce off the second shot on the 17th, but it bounced off to almost 15 feet from where he missed a birdie putt.

Green played solid and gave himself a lot of chances and converted them, too, as he had seven birdies against four bogeys. Starting with a birdie on second, he gave that back on the next. He quickly made up with a pair on the third and fourth before dropping a second bogey.

Birdies on seventh and ninth meant he turned in three-under-par. Bogeys on the 10th and 13th threatened to ruin the good work of the front nine, but he pulled himself back with a couple of lucky breaks on the last two, which he birdied.

“It was a solid day. I gave myself a lot of good looks. There were some mistakes but that is normal,” he added. “We couldn’t judge the wind to start with, but then got to understand what it was. It was blowing and then stop blowing and start blowing again. Then we decided to play the wind, rather than fight the wind. We used the wind well. I hit a lot of fairways and that helps especially in the wind.”

“It was a solid day and finally the putts fell and I am happy with the way it went. Hopefully I will have another solid round tommorrow,” said Bhullar.

Li Haotong on his four eagles

Twice Li fired eagles to get within a shot of the leader Johnson and then landed two more in succession for an amazing total of four eagles to join him at the top. So Johnson shot 65 and yet had to give up his three-shot overnight advantage as Li Haotong carded eight-under 62 and the two were at tied for the lead at 16-under-par.

Li kept saying he was lucky, though he played brilliantly.

He said: “I think it’s very, very lucky today. Those eagles, especially last couple shots, was really solid, but except that, honestly, my play, wasn’t that good. But I did made a lot of par putts.”

Going through his four eagles, he said: “That ball (on first), the lie, wasn’t that great, and firm grain. If it didn’t go in the hole, it could have been off the green. It’s very lucky eagle over there.

(On) 10th, that’s what I want to play, that way, but just I felt like I pushed a little bit. (I) got a lucky bounce, kicked it left and went in the hole, which is very lucky, too.”

On his third eagle, he admitted, “That was a solid shot (379 yards) and it was one of my best shots in my life. I hit where I want there, so six-foot eagle putt was a little bit nervy.

As for the eagle on 18th, he added, “It  was another lucky bounce there. I mean, off the tee, driving the bunker about two yards short to carry the bunker, and bounce over the bunker, which is lucky. I hit to nine feet. That was solid putt actually, quite exciting on that one.”

Garcia apologises for misconduct

As the 2017 Masters champion Garcia exited before time, the 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed scored a 10 by making a trip into the water three times but still carded 72.

The Tour put out a statement, which said, “Sergio Garcia has been disqualified from the third round of the Saudi International powered by SBIA under rule 1.2a. Rule 1.2a allows for disqualification if a play has committed serious misconduct.”

Garcia said: “I respect the decisions of my disqualification. In frustration, I damaged a couple of greens, for which I apologise, and I have informed my fellow players that it will never happen again.”

By V. Krishnaswamy in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, February 1: Scott Hend of Australia putted out in near darkness for a superb seven-under 63, which was bettered only by world number three Dustin Johnson at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club at the inaugural Saudi International powered by SBIA on Friday.

The best-placed Asian Tour member, Hend (63), who is making a comeback from a modest 2018 when he was hit by injuries, was seven-under for the tournament following a 70 in the first round. He had nine birdies, the most by any player in a single round this week, against two bogeys. Hend is seeking his first win since the middle of 2016.

Meanwhile, Johnson crushed the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club with a 61 to set a new course record and move to the top of the leaderboard. He leads South African Zander Lombard (65-67) and Li Haotong (65-67) by three and then there were Fabrizio Zanotti (67-66) and Scott Hend (70-63) at tied-fourth.

There was a lot of drama around the top-three. As Johnson moved to the top, world number one Justin Rose (70-72) suffered and crashed out while world number two Brooks Koepka (69-70) flirted with danger and even found his ball under a rock in the wasteland once. He finally squeezed in to live another two days.

Among other Asian Tour members, Australian Jake McLeod (65-70) moved to tenth and right behind him Gavin Green (68-68) made a good move up to get to four-under with another 68 and was tied-12th. Justin Harding, who had a 65 in the first round, however, slipped with a 72 and is now three-under-par and tied-18th after three bogeys on the back nine of the course.

David Lipsky of the United States (left) and Li Haotong of China (right).

David Lipsky made a jump up after starting from the 10th. He had three birdies in his first nin, but dropped a double on the second while playing his second nine. Yet he managed a 67 and at two-under-par, he is now tied-33rd.

Gaganjeet Bhullar kept moving in and out of the cutline, before finally coming inside with a 72 and he is now even-par and tied-58th.

The Asian Tour members missing out on the cut were Kurt Kitayama (71-70), Ernie Els 70-73, Jeunghun Wang, Wade Ormsby (73-77) and reigning Asian Tour number one Shubhankar Sharma (77-73). Also missing out was Indian amateur Rayhan Thomas who had struggled to 77 after a fine 67 on first day.

Hend said: “It feels a little easier perhaps because the winds are blowing and you can play from both sides. I am a bit more comfortable in breeze than in dead calm. So, it was fine.”

“I don’t know this course too well but it is nice to be in such a position going into Saturday. I had a three-putt for a bogey and missed few others, but I made my share,” said Hend. “The fairways are quite generous but if you get into the waste area you can a pretty ugly lie, so you have to be careful.”

On the course, he added, “It is a young course, it has been only 18 months, so give it a little time. Next year when we come and play again the rough will be up and greens firmer.”

I am getting over the injuries. I had a disc problem in the back, I tore my calf muscle in the right leg. I had many injuries from the week of the New Zealand Open and the Indian Open. I was I injured from there at the Indian Open. I could not play and couldn’t swing for five weeks. Just as my back was getting better I hurt my leg at the KLM. Now I am trying to get over these injuries and this happens when you are getting older. I am working on my fitness, doing gym and lose weight and get back to where I was,” added Hend.

“It seems forever since I won last, so I want to get back to that and I will now play more.”

Gavin Green was moving into some good form.

“I feel I am getting into my game and it is looking good. It is getting better and hopefully it will be a good weekend.”

Right behind Dustin Johnson was Li, ranked 44th in the world and a two-time European Tour winner. He continued his solid form by carding a round of 65 featuring six birdies.

“I’m enjoying this place and love the course, everything has been going well. We always have some new and different challenges for us for on the European Tour.” said Li.

There was a lot of struggle and tension for some other marquee names, too. Patrick Reed, the reigning Masters champion, was three-over-par through six, but fought back superbly with three birdies in last five holes to come through at two-under. Sergio Garcia (69-70) hung in despite two bogeys in his last five holes and one of them came on 18th.

However, Henrik Stenson (68-74) just could not come to terms with the greens and like Ernie Els (70-73), did not proceed to the weekend rounds.

By V. Krishnaswamy

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, February 01: South Africa’s Justin Harding made the most of a last-minute spot courtesy of his top-10 finish last week in Dubai, to get off to a flying start with a five-under-par 65 at the inaugural US$ 3.5 million Saudi International powered by SBIA on Thursday

The two-time Asian Tour winner sits on tied-second with a bunch of six others, two shots behind the leader, Thomas Pieters of Belgium (63), at the European Tour event held at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club within the King Abdullah Economic City.

Among other Asian Tour members off to a good start were India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Malaysia’s Gavin Green, with matching 68s to place tied-31st. Other notable names in the field include Australia’s Scott Hend and South Africa’s Ernie Els, with 70 each at tied-65th; Korea’s Jeunghun Wang, American duo Kurt Kitayama and David Lipsky with 71 each at tied-83rd.

Australia’s Wade Ormsby (73) was 108th while reigning Asian Tour number one, India’s Shubhankar Sharma carded a 77 to sit on tied-126th.

Starting on the back nine, Harding was sedate until well into the second nine. He birdied his first hole and then added a second on 15th, but dropped his only bogey on 16th to turn in one-under. He stayed that way till the end of the third, his 12th hole. Then, he caught fire from there with four birdies in his last six holes with back-to-back efforts on fourth and fifth and then again on eighth and ninth.

Harding said, “I played nicely in Hong Kong and Mauritius and posted a couple good results and last week, as well. Just seeing if I can keep riding the wave and momentum and push on.”

Speaking on his getting into Dubai and from there into Saudi, he said, “It was one of those where I snuck into Dubai, obviously, through Asian Tour, so that was also one which wasn’t really on the schedule at the end of December. I was pretty much going to start my run in Singapore and then go on to Australia.

On his play on Thursday, he added, “I thought I played quite nicely. I managed my game quite well. It’s a golf course everyone is still trying to learn. If you put it in play, it’s short enough to where you feel as if you can attack some flags. You are going to have times where you are going to get frustrated when you aren’t making a bunch of birdies. Scores will be good this week and I’ll be happy to post a good one to start.”

Bhullar was unable to come to terms with the slow greens and despite some fine driving and iron play, he managed only a 68.

“A couple of lip outs and a couple of small misses including one from inside three feet on the fourth did not help. It could easily have been two or three shots better,” said Bhullar.

World number one Justin Rose finished his first round at level-par while world number two and playing partner Brooks Koepka, who was three-under-par through 11, saw a promising start fade away as he signed for a 69. The 2016 Open winner Henrik Stenson was the best round in the marquee group at 68.

The reigning Masters champion, Patrick Reed finished at three-under, while last week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner Bryson DeChambeau, who was one-over through 13, pulled in three late birdies in last five to finish at 68. World No. 3 Dustin Johnson shot 68, while Sergio Garcia carded 69.

V Krishnaswamy in Saudi Arabia

Jeddah, January 31: South Africa’s Justin Harding, who had a sensational final round that helped him snatch a top-10 at the Dubai Desert Classic last Sunday will be looking at another fine finish as he tees up at the star-studded Saudi International powered by SBIA held at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club on the European Tour on Thursday.

Harding leads the fairly large contingent of Asian Tour members, who will be up against the world’s top-three Justin Rose, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, besides Dubai winner, Bryson DeChambeau, the world number five.

The field also includes last two Masters champions, Sergio Garcia (2017) and Patrick Reed (2018), four-time Major winner, Ernie Els, an Asian Tour honorary member, and other Major winners like Henrik Stenson, winner of the 2016 Open, and Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion.

Els, who captains the International team at the Presidents Cup this year will also be looking on the fine form that he showed in Dubai, while finishing tied-12th. Els was tied-third after three rounds, before he fell following a 71 on Sunday.

Indian duo, Shubhankar Sharma, the reigning Asian Tour number one and winner of the Joburg Open and Maybank Championship, and Gaganjeet Bhullar, the 2018 Fiji International winner are also in the field looking at going better than tied-29th and tied-38th respectively.

Other Asian Tour members in the field include Scott Hend, Wang Jeunghun, Kurt Kitayama, winner of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, David Lipsky, winner of the Alfred Dunhill Championships this season and Wade Ormsby are also in the field at the sparkling Royal Greens, which has the spectacular Red Sea as the backdrop.

Sharma, who got used to playing on new golf courses almost the whole of 2018, is quite excited to tee up in the company of the top-three in the world. As excited with this new big-ticket event was Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is now armed with a European Tour card after his win in Fiji last year.

An additional element this week is Rayhan Thomas, who is ranked Number 16 among world amateurs, and has been given one of the invitations.

Even as the world’s best jostle for the top spot this week, the Indian duo of Sharma and Bhullar will be looking to get closer to the top-100 as the first immediate step.

Sharma said, “Playing in the same events as the world’s best is what we all want and it is indeed rare to get a chance outside of the Majors or the WGCs. So, I really relish the prospect of being here this week.”

Sharma, whose next assignment after this will be the WGC-Mexico, where he was tied-ninth in 2018, added, “Last year I played on new courses most of the time because I had never played most events in Europe or the US. This year I will get to play many of them again. But for now, a big purse event is welcome, as I want to do well and get my rankings up again.”

He added, “Last week was alright, but I could have done way better, so hopefully I can make up this week.”

Meanwhile Bhullar was summoning up all the positive feel, as he said: “The 16-17-18 remind me of the course in Fiji, where I won the Fiji International. I am feeling good and am all set to go and this year I am going to play as much as I can and in as many places.”

Bhullar, who has been playing well but not been scoring on account of some unlucky breaks and missed putts, could also have some advantage on the greens which are somewhat slowed to those compared usually seen on the European Tour, including in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Ends.