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Prom needs to stay off bogey train

If Thailand's Prom Meesawat intends to live up to his top billing at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters this week, he needs to stay off the bogey train at the Taiwan Golf and Country Club's Tamsui course.

The burly Prom is the highest ranked player in third place from the UBS Order of Merit to compete in the US$500,000 event. With course conditions expected to be challenging once again, it could be a case of keeping the bogeys off the card rather than shooting a hatful of birdies if players intend to triumph here.

Last year, Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei won the title with his four-under-par 284 winning total as strong winds kept the scores down. In 2004, Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant notched a five-under-par 283 total en route to victory while Lin Wen-ko of Chinese Taipei shot eight-under-par 280 over four rounds to taste success in 2003.

Prom, winner of the SK Telecom Open in Korea in May, will hope to improve on his bogey rate at the Tamsui course. To date, he has dropped 146 bogeys from 17 tournaments played, averaging 2.4 bogeys per round.

In contrast, the Thai talent has shot 213 birdies to be ranked fifth in this category but he will know fully well that keeping an unblemished card over the next four days would be crucial in his bid for a second career victory.

Prom's Greens in Regulation (GIR) statistic of 66.47% ranks him at 36th place in the category but his putting average for GIR is 1.74, placing him as the 14th best putter on Tour.

September 27, 2006