Phachara hopes for good show
Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai will bank on his experience of playing in Europe in his bid to get a good result at the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation which starts today.
The US$500,000 tournament, in honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, is being held at Bangkok’s Legacy Golf Club for the first time since it was inaugurated as an Asian Tour event in 2009.
Phachara, whose name means ‘diamond’ in Thai, is heartened to be back home after plying his trade on European soil for majority of the season.
The Thai prodigy hopes to sparkle at the event hosted by his mentor Thongchai Jaidee.
Phachara enjoyed a stellar season in 2017 where he secured four top-five finishes including three runner-up spots to take a career-high third place on the Asian Tour money list.
However, he is among the bubble boys fighting to keep their Asian Tour cards for next season.
“I have not been playing much on the Asian Tour because I have been playing mostly in Europe. Right now I am around the cut-off point on the money list but I know that if I just stay consistent in these last couple of events, I am confident of keeping my card,” he said.
“It has been a year of new experiences and learning how to adapt to different conditions. It was tough having to switch from different weather conditions and playing on different grass. The competition is stiff in Europe and I struggled to do well so I was not able to keep my card on the European Tour.
“I am excited to be playing in an event at home, especially since Thongchai is hosting this event.
“When I played in Europe this year, I would stay with Thongchai a lot and he was my mentor on tour. I really respect him and the Queen’s Cup is a huge event for most Thais, so I hope to do well this week.”
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond is the defending champion.
Other players in the field include Thailand’s Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Rattanon Wannasrichan and Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Taiwan’s Lu Wei-Chih, India’s Shiv Kapur and SSP Chawrasia, and South Korea’s Park Sang-Hyun.
Thongchai, who has hosted three successful events on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), will assume responsibility of tournament host for the first time on the Asian Tour with the intention of drawing attention to his Jaidee Foundation.
The foundation aims to help under-privileged golfers in his hometown of Lop Buri.