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In-form Prayad going for Japan hat-trick

In-form Thai Prayad Marksaeng will be hoping to ride the wave of success when he tees off at the UBS Japan Golf Tour Championship on Thursday.

Having won the last two events on the Japan circuit and fresh from his third place finish on the Asian Tour last week, Prayad will be on top of the list of contenders at the Shishido Hills Country Club.

He will join a strong Asian Tour charge alongside former Asian Tour number one Thaworn Wiratchant, Filipino legend Frankie Minoza and Artemio Murakami, Lin Keng-chi of Chinese Taipei, Korean youngsters Noh Seung-yul and Park Jun-won and American Han Lee.

Defending champion Shingo Katayama will return to defend his title in the US$1.4 million event.

“I’ve been in good form and I have a steady track record here. I finished in the top-20 last year and enjoyed a top-10 three years ago so it’s definitely a great feeling returning to this event,” said Prayad, who nailed back-to-back success in Japan at the Mitsubishi Diamond Cup Golf and the Mizuno Open last month.

The 42-year-old Thai stalwart is currently ranked 12th on the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit thanks to four top-10 finishes this season. He posted a top-10 at the Johnnie Walker Classic in March and produced a similar run at the Pine Valley Beijing Open in May.

He then fired two consecutive tied third results at the Bangkok Airways Open and the Singha Thailand PGA Championship to set himself on the right track heading back into Japan.

“It’s been a really tight schedule for me in the past six weeks. I don’t think I had time to rest at all having to play in the pro-am for almost all the events as well.

“I am tired coming into this week. I will head to bed early today and hope to be well rested for the challenge tomorrow. My form has been great which has only given me extra confidence to my game.

“But the key to my last two wins was my approach on course. I would always take it a step at a time and never push myself to reach a specific goal. That’s what I hope to do this week. Since I’ve won twice in Japan, there is a lot of expectation for me to perform now, but I will not set any target and will instead enjoy the game,” admitted Prayad, who believes that accuracy will be the key to a low round at the challenging par-72 West Course.

“The narrow fairways and deep rough makes it a real test here. I’ve heard that this year the course is going to play longer than before. Accuracy will be very important for a low score and that’s my strategy,” he added.

The tournament winner this week will also gain automatic entry into the US$8 million Bridgestone Invitational which is part of The World Golf Championship tournament.

Defending champion Katayama is pleased to return to home ground determined to repeat his performance this year.

“I am really looking forward as this is one of the major events on the local schedule. I have been preparing since last week so I am ready to go,” said Katayama.

July 2, 2008