Chiba prefecture, Japan, May 7: Thai veteran Prayad Marksaeng is relishing the opportunity to compete in another ‘home’ event as he knows he is still young enough to vie for his 11th Asian Tour title at the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup which starts on Thursday.

At 53, Prayad has also enjoyed multiple success in Japan and with more than two decades of playing in the Land of the Rising Sun, he is way too familiar with conjuring the winning formula again.

While Prayad maybe at ease with playing in another event in Japan, he is wary of the challenges coming from his younger rivals and hopes to draw from his experience to stay ahead of the game at the Sobu Country Club.

With the involvement of the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation, the tournament has welcomed a large number of amateurs over the years.

New Zealand’s Ben Campbell, who earned his Asian Tour card from Qualifying School last year, had the opportunity to play in the event before he joined the play-for-pay ranks and still holds fond memories of his time then.

As a professional now, Campbell is hoping for that breakthrough on the Asian Tour, having come close on a few occasions already.

Having secured his Tour card through the Asian Development Tour (ADT), Japan’s Shinichi Mizuno is on a steep learning curve but is hoping to make the cut for the first time in four attempts this year.

The Nagoya- born Mizuno moved to Hong Kong when he was a six-year-old and won his maiden ADT title at the season-ending event in Malaysia last year.

Did you know?

• Prayad Marksaeng is one of Thailand’s most successful golfers with 10 Asian Tour victories.
• He was a member of Thailand’s winning golf team at the 1987 South East Asian (SEA) Games and turned professional in 1991.
• Prayad has won multiple times in Japan and started playing on the Japan Senior Tour after turning 50 in 2016.
• He topped the Merit rankings on the Japan Senior Tour in 2016 (4 wins), 2017 (4 wins) and 2018 (5 wins).
• Ben Campbell was ranked as high as sixth on the World Amateur Golf Rankings before he turned professional in 2012.
• He earned his first Asian Tour card through the 2018 Qualifying School, where he finished tied-seventh after five rounds.
• Campbell enjoyed one top-five finish in Perth this year. In his rookie year in 2018, Campbell finished tied-second in Bangladesh and tied-third in Fiji.
• Shinichi Mizuno earned his breakthrough on the Asian Development Tour when he won the season-ending event in Malaysia last year.
• With that victory, Mizuno finished in seventh place on the Order of Merit to earn his playing rights on the Asian Tour this year.

Ends.