Poh set to face acid test at Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship

Newly-turned professional Johnson Poh of Singapore will get another taste of action on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) when he tees up at the US$110,000 Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship which starts on Thursday.

Playing on a sponsor’s invite at the ADT event, Poh will be hoping to leave an early impression at the National Golf Country Club, just like what he has done in his illustrious amateur career.

“I’m delighted and honoured to be given the chance to participate in the Prestigious Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship.

“I am targeting to finish inside the top-20 and stay under-par for the tournament!” said the 23-year-old Singaporean.

Poh joined the play-for-play ranks in June shortly after winning the team and individual silver medals at the South East Asian Games.

Highly regarded as one of Singapore’s most successful amateurs, Poh other career highlights included representing Singapore at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014 and being crowned Singapore National Amateur Champion in 2010 and 2014.

While Poh is aware the level of competition on the ADT is higher, he is confident of carrying his amateur form over to his professional career.

“Competing in the ADT includes competing with some Asian Tour stars too which is very different from the amateur scene,” said Poh, whose first ADT start, also in Chinese Taipei last month, saw him miss the cut by two shots.

“I’ve played two events on the Thai Tour and I’ve achieve a top-20 and a tied-ninth finish after I turned professional. I hope to bring that performance into the tournament,” added Poh.

The Singaporean, who harbours hopes of becoming the next big star to emerge from the Asian Tour, is already embarking on a strict training regime to get his professional career off to a flying start.

“My short term goal will be making it through the Asian Tour Qualifying school and maybe a first professional Win next year! Long term goal will be to become a top ranked Asian player like Anirban or Kiradech and competing in the Majors!

“I practice six days a week where I play between three to four rounds of golf as well as work on my short game. I’ll also do some simple conditioning workout every alternate day to maintain my fitness,” said Poh.

The Ballantine’s Taiwan Championship will also several of the region’s brightest talents including Malaysia’s Gavin Green, Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert and Vietnam’s Michael Tran,  who became the first Vietnamese to win on the ADT following his victory in Indonesia last month.

The ADT will continue to reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2016.

With the Olympic Games looming in 2016 where golf will be reintroduced as a medal sport, players in the region could earn their spots in Rio de Janeiro by earning Official World Golf Ranking points through the Asian Tour and ADT.

For more information on the ADT, please visit www.asiandevelopmenttour.com

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