RELATED STORIES Thaworn believes Amex can pay off for Asia Thaworn continues rise up Order of Merit Thaworn marks 200th appearence with 150th cut Thaworn named Asian Golfer of the Year ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Open: Pain for Choi as Harrington defends Open: Closing 74 gives Liang more major hopes Open: Tough Open makes Lam eye Asian success Open: Angelo Que means to learn and return Open: Late bogies mean early exit for Prayad IGF forms Olympic Committee with eye to 2016 Mission Hills to host AP Summit GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Padraig Harrington hungry for more success Michelle Wie to play on PGA Tour again IGF forms 2016 Olympic Committee Greg Norman proud of achievement Ian Poulter impressive with second place Henrik Stenson happy with his best ever finish

Thaworn is top putter on European Tour

Short-game wizard Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand has earned the honour of topping the putting categories on the recently concluded 2006 European Tour season.

The reigning Asian Tour number one topped the Putts per Greens in Regulation with 1.78 putts per GIR and was also ranked number one in the Average Putts per Round category with 28 putts per round.

He also finished a commendable 80th on the European Tour Order of Merit, playing in 15 events and missing only two cuts at the Johnnie Walker Classic and Barclays Scottish Open.

Amongst Thaworn's highlights in Europe were a tied 31st finish at the British Open at Royal Liverpool and joint 35th in the BMW Championship, the European Tour's flagship event.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, currently leading the Asian Tour's UBS Order of Merit, claimed the season-ending Volvo Masters title in Spain at the weekend.

The most prestigious category, for Stroke Average, went to Ernie Els with an average score from 52 rounds of 70.02 after Sergio Garcia relinquished first place in the final week when his Stroke Average fell from 69.98 to 70.04 during the Volvo Masters. The Els-Garcia combination at the top reversed their positions from the previous season when Garcia came out on top.

Garcia, however, did have the consolation of winning the Scrambles category, getting up and down 66.1% of the time.

Rookie Christian L Nilsson from Sweden put on a big-hitting display to win the Driving Distance Category with a staggering 314.1 yard average drive, more than eight yards longer than the previous year.

Titch Moore is renowned for his big-hitting but it was his accuracy during the 2006 season which enabled him to win the Greens in Regulation category, successfully finding the putting surface 75.6% of the time.

Another of the long hitters, Italy’s Emanuale Canonica, showed he possesses a deft touch around the greens by topping the Sand Saves category, getting up and down 75.9% of times from the bunker.

Driving Accuracy went to Englishman Oliver Whiteley, who marked his rookie season by hitting 77.7% of the fairways.

November 1, 2006