Chiangmai, Thailand: Asian Tour supremo Kyi Hla Han believes a new wave of exciting talents will start to dominate the region\u2019s premier Tour following stand-out performances by the region\u2019s young guns over the past month.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Anirban Lahiri, 25, started a glorious run for the young guns by claiming his third Asian Tour victory at the SAIL-SBI Open on home soil earlier this month before countryman Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is a year younger, settled for second place in the co-sanctioned Avantha Masters as his bid for a fifth career Asian Tour title fell just short.<\/p>\n
Then last weekend, Thailand\u2019s exciting 23-year-old Kiradech Aphibarnrat stole the thunder by winning the star-studded Maybank Malaysian Open for his second Asian Tour title.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re witnessing some really great golf by the Asian Tour\u2019s young generation of golfers,\u201d enthused Han, who is the Tour\u2019s Executive Chairman and a former Asian number one himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe quality of play which is being produced by the likes of Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar and Kiradech Aphibarnrat has been wonderful to watch, truly world class indeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith age on their side, they could start to dominate the scene very soon, just as how the likes of Thongchai Jaidee, Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh, Prayad Marksaeng and Thaworn Wiratchant consistently contended at the highest level on the Asian Tour in the past decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is wonderful to watch so many of these young players, who were born and bred on the Asian Tour, coming of age. They will only get better and I foresee many of them going on to leave an impression on the world stage very soon. This could be the start of another exciting era for the Asian Tour,\u201d added Han.<\/p>\n
Kiradech claimed a stellar win on Sunday which shot him to the top of the Order of Merit. Along with Lahiri and Bhullar, all three will feature in this week\u2019s inaugural US$750,000 Chiangmai Golf Classic presented by PTT at the Alpine Golf Resort-Chiangmai.<\/p>\n
Major champions Ernie Els of South Africa, New Zealander Michael Campbell and Y.E. Yang of Korea are headlining the full-field Asian Tour event, the first ever in the northern city of Chiangmai.<\/p>\n
Thongchai, who holds a record three Order of Merit crowns, believes the new generation of players coming through will provide the boost for the game to maintain its rapid growth on the Asian Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Kiradech will be the future,\u201d predicted Thongchai.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to plan his career and know what he wants to do. Looks like it will be easy for him to win the Order of Merit this year. I think he will have a good chance to win if he keeps playing like this. This tournament will also be a very good chance for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to see the new generation coming through on the Asian Tour. Golf has improved over here because the opportunities to play on the Asian Tour have provided the foundation for players to become better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have played with Kiradech quite often, played the World Cup with him. He\u2019s got everything except for experience. He needs to get more experience for the future. Winning last week will help him a lot. I think he will be a star player in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chiangmai, Thailand: Asian Tour supremo Kyi Hla Han believes a new wave of exciting talents will start to dominate the region\u2019s premier Tour following stand-out performances by the region\u2019s young guns over the past month.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Anirban Lahiri, 25, started a glorious run for the young guns by claiming his third Asian Tour victory at the SAIL-SBI Open on home soil earlier this month before countryman Gaganjeet Bhullar, who is a year younger, settled for second place in the co-sanctioned Avantha Masters as his bid for a fifth career Asian Tour title fell just short.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n