Prayad aiming at second home title in Asian Tour International

US Masters-bound Prayad Marksaeng will lead a powerful local charge at the inaugural Asian Tour International which tees off next week.

Prayad, a six-time winner on the Asian Tour, will be on the hunt for a second title on home soil in the space of three months after he ended the 2007 season in style by winning the season-ending Volvo Masters of Asia.

Victory earned him fifth place on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit as well as an invitation to the US Masters next month and with a solid track record, the Thai star will be eager to secure another title under his belt.

Prayad will be joined by former Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant, two-time winner Chinnarat Phadungsil, Thammanoon Srirot and Chawalit Plaphol at the Pattana Golf and Sports Resort.

“I’m looking forward to competing on home soil again,” said the smooth swinging Prayad, who will be the third Thai to compete in the US Masters. “It’s great that we will have a new tournament in Thailand and I’ll try my best to win.”

Thaworn may hold the most number of victories on the Asian Tour with nine titles but surprisingly, the Thai veteran has never tasted glory in front of his home fans. The 41-year-old will be determined to sparkle and end his drought.

Leading the group of young guns is teen sensation Chinnarat, who will be eager to rekindle his best form at Pattana Resort. Chinnarat has happy memories of competing in Thailand as his maiden Asian Tour title was recorded when he was still an amateur at the Double A International Open in Pattaya in 2005.

The 19-year-old Thai continued his fine form into 2006 when he claimed his second win at the Crowne Plaza Open in China.

Another home-grown talent who will be expected to challenge for honours is 23-year-old Prom Meesawat, who enjoyed his breakthrough victory at the SK Telecom Open in Korea in 2006 where he defeated an elite field that included Korean star Choi Kyung-ju and 2006 Asian Tour number one Jeev Milkha Singh.

Prom produced a solid 2007 campaign when he registered six top-10s and finished seventh on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit and will tee up next week in good form after finishing tied third in the Enjoy Jakarta Astro Indonesia Open last month.

“It is truly exciting to have a new tournament on the Asian Tour here in Thailand. It is also great to see Thai players supporting the event and we hope to provide a memorable experience for the fans.

“The Asian Tour International is an inaugural event and we hope there will be more events coming up in Thailand to help expose the younger players to top level golf,” said Prom.

Former US PGA Tour member Scott Hend, who finished fourth on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit last season, will be gunning for his maiden triumph in Asia while other big names who will compete in the Asian Tour International include Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, American Bryan Saltus, Filipino duo of Juvic Pagunsan and Artemio Murakami, Lin Wen-tang and Wang Ter-chang of Chinese Taipei, India’s Gaurav Ghei, Airil Rizman of Malaysia and Englishman Chris Rodgers.

The Asian Tour Invitational, a full field Asian Tour event, will be the seventh leg of the 2008 season.

March 14, 2008

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