More than 50 Asian Tour winners and six Order of Merit champions will form part of an elite 144-man field who will tee up at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin for the highly-anticipated International Series Thailand on March 3-6. The US$1.5 million tournament is the first of 10 International Series events that will take place this year along with the Asian Tour’s backbone of established events.
Reigning Asian Tour number one Joohyung Kim of Korea, four-time Asian Tour winner John Catlin of the United States, as well as Thai aces Jazz Janewattananond, Sadom Kaewkanjana and Phachara Khongwatmai are among the notable names slated to play.
Tour veterans Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayad Marksaeng of Thailand, Australia’s Scott Hend, India’s Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh, along with Singapore’s Mardan Mamat - boasting a collective total of 57 Asian Tour titles - will add to the star power of the event.
Hend, one of the most successful players on tour with 10 victories including three in Thailand, is the last player to triumph in an Asian Tour event at the award-winning Black Mountain course when he won the Thailand Classic in 2016.
England’s Steve Lewton, who leads the 2022/23 Order of Merit following a tied-fourth finish at the season-opening Saudi International last week, will also compete as well as American Berry Henson who is an ambassador and resident of Black Mountain Golf Club.
Thai amateur Ratchanon Chantananuwat, who has been hogging the limelight since the Asian Tour’s resumption in Phuket last November, will make another appearance having received a sponsors’ invitation. The 14-year-old prodigy has not missed a single cut in his last five starts on the Asian Tour and even came close to winning last month before settling for third at The Singapore International.
Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO Cho Minn Thant noted: “This is the first of our International Series and it is no surprise to see the cream of the Tour have entered. This will be a ground-breaking event.
“It’s been six years since we last played at Black Mountain Golf Club. They have been a great host in the past and I am sure they will play a great host once again. We are looking forward to a great week there.”
Other leading players in the impressive field include Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei, India’s Shiv Kapur, Japan’s Ryosuke Kinoshita and Hideto Tanihara, Wade Ormsby of Australia and Bio Kim of Korea.
At press time, the Malaysians registered for the event are Nicholas Fung and Ben Leong.
