Published July 17, 2008 on November 23, 2021

The Asian Tour Resumes in Phuket on Thursday

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The inaugural Blue Canyon Phuket Championship, which will begin on Thursday will mark the resumption of the Asian Tour’s 2020 season following a 20-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The US$1 million full-field event is part of the Asian Tour Phuket Series and will mark the first event of the two-week swing.

 

The Asian Tour last held a tournament at the Canyon course in 2005 at the 39th Thailand Open where Richard Lee of New Zealand won in a play-off against Scott Barr of Australia.

 

A total of 144 players from 27 countries will be vying for top honours at the highly acclaimed Blue Canyon Country Club’s Canyon course, where golf legends Tiger Woods and Greg Norman have triumphed at the 1998 and 1994 Johnnie Walker Classic respectively.

 

Greg Norman had reclaimed his world number one status following his victory in 1994 where he beat Nick Faldo and set the course record with his final round 64. Tiger Woods had defeated Ernie Els in a play-off to stage a great comeback in 1998. The 13th hole nicknamed “The Tiger Hole” became a signature hole of the course after Tiger drove the green from 270 yards.

 

The four Malaysians who will be participating in the tournament this week include the 2017 Order of Merit Champion Gavin Green, his brother Galven Green, Nicholas Fung and Ben Leong.

 

 

The Blue Canyon Phuket Championship will also see players from Jordan and Saudi Arabia making their first ever starts on the Asian Tour.

 

Reigning Order of Merit champion Jazz Janewattananond will return to Thailand for the Asian Tour Phuket Series. Place fifth on the current Order of Merit, Jazz will be vying to become the first player to successfully retain the Merit crown in back-to-back seasons on Tour.

 

The current Order of Merit leader and  Wade Ormsby of Australia, who won the season-opening Hong Kong Open for his third Asian Tour title in 2020, will also return to challenge for more honours.

 

Scott Hend, a 10-time winner on Tour and the first Australian to lift the Order of Merit crown in 2016, will spearhead the elite field gathered for the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship. Three of his 10 victories came in Thailand.

 

American John Catlin, highest-ranked player at 123rd place on the OWGR, will also feature in the inaugural event. He claimed his fourth victory at the Thailand Open in 2019 and has gone one to win three events on the European Tour since.

 

Korean sensation Joohyung Kim, who won the Panasonic Open India in only his sixth start on the Asian Tour, is also one of the fan favourites slated to tee up in Phuket. The 19-year-old Kim was crowned the Order of Merit champion on his domestic Tour earlier this month.

 

Thai hotshots Sadom Kaewkanjana and Phachara Khongwatmai, who have both won multiple titles on their domestic circuit this year, will be part of the 56-man strong local challenge vying for top honours at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship.

 

A fortnight ago, Sadom won the 2021 Singha Classic held on his local circuit for his fourth win this year while Phachara claimed his second victory in three weeks earlier this month.

 

14-year-old Amateur Ratchanon Chantananuwat, who has been making waves in the local golf scene, will make his Asian Tour debut at the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship. The Thai prodigy become the youngest ever player to make the cut on the All Thailand Golf Tour in 2020. Should he make the halfway cut in Phuket, he will become the third youngest player to achieve the feat on the Asian Tour, following record-holder Jazz and second-placed Kuang Yang.

 

India’s Khalin Joshi, Chikkarangappa S. and Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei will enter the week in fine form, having tasted recent victories in their home countries prior to the Tour’s resumption.

 

The Order of Merit chase will resume in Phuket as players vie to finish inside top-30 on the final Merit rankings to gain entry into the lucrative US$5 million Saudi International, which will be the season-opener for the Asian Tour’s 2022 season.

 

Other notable players in the field include three-time winner Shiv Kapur of India, as well as American Trevor Simsby, who won his first Asian Tour title at the Bandar Malaysia Open before the Tour’s suspension last March.

 

The Asian Tour Phuket Series starts with the Blue Canyon Phuket Championship on Thursday, and will be followed the week after by the Laguna Phuket Championship. The two US$1 million tournaments are part of the 2020-21 season ending events, with two final ones planned for Singapore in January.