Thailandâs Itthipat Buranatanyarat believes he can continue his winning run when he heads to the beach and holiday destination of Port Dickson for the RM200,000 (approx. US$60,000) PGM Port Dickson Championship which starts on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old won his first Asian Development Tour (ADT) title in the Philippines last month and is ready to show his knack for winning against the regionâs most promising talents again when the ADT event gets underway at the Port Dickson Golf and Country Club.
âIâm feeling good about my game. Winning in the Philippines has given me a great boost in confidence in my game. Iâve been riding on that good form since,â said the Thai.
While Itthipat has only started playing on the ADT this season, he is already beginning to capitalize on the opportunities that the Asian Tourâs secondary circuit has to offer.
âThis is my first year playing on the ADT and itâs been good so far. I won a local event straight after winning my first ADT title and the gameâs in very good shape,â said Itthipat.
It maybe early days into the ADT season but the young Thai has already set his sights on meeting the lofty targets he has set for himself this year.
âMy aim is to win again to remain inside top-five on the Order of Merit till the end of the season so that I can earn my playing rights for the 2015 Asian Tour season.
âFor now, Iâm just trying to get used to the different golf courses and playing week in week out. And Iâm really looking forward to next week,â said Itthipat, who turned professional in 2014.
Like Itthipat, Chinese Taipeiâs Hsieh Chi-hsien is also looking to extend his winning run on the ADT.
Hsieh picked up his second ADT win on home soil in March this year which came as a surprise.
âIt wasnât in my plans to return to playing on the ADT because I have taken a few months off competitive golf at the end of last year and early this year to work on my game.
âI havenât been playing well since I won my first ADT title in 2012. But winning again on the ADT earlier kind of changed everything,â said Hsieh.
Those two wins on the ADT have propelled Hsieh to the top of the money list where he now hopes to cement his place by the end of the season.
âNo one from Chinese Taipei has won the ADT OOM yet so it will be great if I can be the first. The ADT has changed so much since I last played in 2012. Itâs more competitive out here and weâve got so many events to play this season.
âThere are a lot of good players out here as well so itâs pretty tough to stand out. But everythingâs been good so far on the ADT. Iâve got a win and a couple of top-10s,â said Hsieh.
Since it was inaugurated in 2010, the ADT has grown from five events in the first year to a record 21 tournaments in 2014. The ADT has announced a provisional 2015 schedule of a minimum 17 tournaments with several more to be announced in due course.
For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com
