CRAFTY KIRADECH GUNNING FOR PGA GLORY IN 2016
A brilliant run this season has the Thai ace riding on a tide of confidence, writes Kittipong Thongsombat
Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s rise to fame in 2015 reads like a chapter from a golf fairytale, but the Thai ace is setting his sights even higher in the year to come. He is targeting a place among the world’s top 20 and is aiming to become the first Thai to win a PGA Tour title next year.
The 27-year-old Kiradech is content with his achievements this year that saw him claim titles at the Shenzhen International in China and the Paul Lawrie Match Play in Scotland. These successes were the highlights of his impressive run on the European Tour in 2015.
The victories in China and Scotland raised the number of European Tour titles captured by Kiradech to three with his first coming back at the 2012 Malaysian Open, which is co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.
The start to the year gave no inkling to anyone, including Kiradech himself, that he was destined to climb more than 100 places up the world ranking ladder.
In February, Kiradech was 146th in the world after missing the cut at the Malaysian Open but he then embarked on the path to a fantastic recovery which took him to the respectable 37th spot in the world rankings.
With a top-50 finish in the world rankings secured this year, Kiradech is eligible to play in at least 10 PGA Tour events and he is busy working out which tournaments will serve his cause the best.
“Besides four majors and the WGC [World Golf Championships] events, I am now entitled to take part in 10 events on the PGA Tour next year,” said Kiradech, who also stole a share of headlines by finishing joint sixth in the 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“I am working with the IMG team to finalise the tournaments in which I will take part.”
Kiradech, dubbed as Asia’s John Daly, said the opportunity to play in 10 tournaments should prove enough for him to earn the PGA Tour card provided that “I can hit the ball as well as I am doing in practice these days.
“I will try to avail all the chances of playing on the PGA Tour offered to me and hopefully, I would do enough to earn both money and a full PGA membership card for the 2017 season.
“As for the majors, if I can make the cut in all the four events, I would take it as success.
“My ultimate goal next year is to win a title in the USA and finish in the top 20 in the world rankings — or at least retain my place in the top 50.”
With his focus being on securing a PGA Tour card, Kiradech will play less on the European Tour with Asian and Japan tour events already being scratched off his itinerary.
Kiradech said: “Because of my wins this year in Europe, I am eligible to play on the tour until 2017, so I am not worried much about that.
“I have to reduce my time in Europe to focus on the USA events.”
This year, Kiradech played in 25 tournaments on the European Tour and finished 13th in the Race to Dubai with total earnings of €2,055,618 (about 82 million baht).
Next week, Kiradech will bring his successful season to an end with an appearance at the three-million-baht Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in Nakhon Rachasima, where he hopes to play at his best and win the tournament. Earlier, he was victorious at the Thongchai Jaidee Invitational event in Hua Hin.
Kiradech said: “If I win next week, it will cap a golden year with victories in both international and domestic events.
“Importantly, it will be great to win both tournaments dedicated to the country’s golf legends [Thongchai and Boonchu].”
Next year, Kiradech will start his campaign at the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia from Jan 15-17, followed by another three European Tour tournaments in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Singha Corporation chief Santi Bhirombhakdi yesterday reaffirmed his mission to support Thai golfers at all levels in a meeting with Kiradech.
Santi said he was satisfied with the efforts being made in Thailand to develop golf with fans being able to enjoy the sight of Thai players vying for titles at different tournaments almost every week.
“I am happy to see them make progress in their careers,” he said. “However, their best has not been enough so far. They would have to try harder.
“Apart from the skills, they have to be disciplined as well.”