Singapore: Thailand\u2019s Thaworn Wiratchant showed never to write off an old man when he saved the best for last by snatching the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) title from American rookie Chan Kim to win his record 16th Asian Tour title on Sunday.<\/p>\n
While the 46-year-old has not lit the scene in his previous eight starts before his arrival in Chinese Taipei, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion showed his mettle by going the distance to ink another piece of history and leapfrog from 63rd place to 14th place on the merit rankings with his season haul of US$116,134.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very proud because I can still win at the age of 46. I was really struggling with my irons but I chipped and putted so well. I honestly didn\u2019t think that I could win,\u201d said Thaworn, whose best result prior to this week was a tied 28th finish in Indonesia in May.\n<\/p>\n
Mother Nature played a pivotal role when the Thai veteran clinched the inaugural Yeangder TPC title in 2010 and it proved to be Thaworn\u2019s lucky star again when play was suspended for over an hour, allowing him to regroup and map out his final strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was lucky when I won the Yeangder TPC in 2010. Nature helped me that year because we only played 54 holes!\u201d said Thaworn.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the first four holes, I didn\u2019t think I had a chance to win the tournament at all because Chan Kim played very well. Play was suspended for an hour and it got better for me after that because I birdied five and six,\u201d added Thaworn.<\/p>\n
Kim was left to rue what could have been after three costly bogeys starting from the 15th put paid to any hopes of a fairytale ending in his rookie season.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old could however take consolation that his second placed finish at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club has lifted him to 33rd place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played pretty solid throughout the whole round. I have no complaints. I just had a few bad shots here and there. I want to carry that onto my next tournament and keep it going,\u201d said Kim, who enjoyed his biggest prize cheque of US$55,000 since he topped the class at Qualifying School in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really fun just to learn from one of the game\u2019s best golfers. I\u2019ve a lot to learn from him and I\u2019m glad I had the opportunity to play with him,\u201d added Kim.<\/p>\n
Philippines\u2019 Angelo Que meanwhile moved up five spots to 11th place courtesy of his third place finish at the Yeangder TPC.<\/p>\n
His spell binding performance, where he needed only 21 putts on the final day to put himself into contention for his fourth Asian Tour win, virtually sealed his place at the World Cup of Golf in November and put himself in the brink of a place in the lucrative CIMB Classic in Malaysia next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great. This week was pretty big. It was a week for me to secure my spot in the World Cup of Golf and my Asian Tour card for next season. At the same time, I think I have a chance to get into the CIMB Classic now. If I keep doing what I\u2019ve been doing then I think I can get to play at the CIMB Classic for the first time,\u201d said Que.<\/p>\n
Thailand\u2019s Kiradech Aphibarnrat continues to lead the Order of Merit on US$679,999 with India\u2019s Gagnajeet Bhullar and Australia\u2019s Scott Hend in second and third place respectively on US$279,193 and US$273,128\/<\/p>\n
The Asian Tour will take a week\u2019s break before heading to Japan for the Asia-Pacific Panasonic Open which tees off from September 26-29.<\/p>\n
Asian Tour Order of Merit Top-20<\/strong><\/p>\n Pos Player Order of Merit (US$)<\/strong><\/p>\n 1 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) $679,999.36<\/p>\n 2 Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) $279,193.59<\/p>\n 3 Scott HEND (AUS) $273,128.13<\/p>\n 4 Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) $238,391.48<\/p>\n 5 BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) $186,068.54<\/p>\n 6 LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) $185,383.29<\/p>\n 7 Anirban LAHIRI (IND) $148,085.24<\/p>\n 8 Wade ORMSBY (AUS) $145,317.27<\/p>\n 9 Shiv KAPUR (IND) $129,934.57<\/p>\n 10 Berry HENSON (USA) $125,616.15<\/p>\n 11 Angelo QUE (PHI) $122,655.05<\/p>\n 12 Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) $121,089.15<\/p>\n 13 KIM Gi-whan (KOR) $117,217.27<\/p>\n 14 Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) $116,134.62<\/p>\n 15 Pariya JUNHASAVASDIKUL (THA) $106,704.53<\/p>\n 16 Rikard KARLBERG (SWE) $104,457.59<\/p>\n 17 SIDDIKUR (BAN) $103,333.50<\/p>\n 18 Joonas GRANBERG (FIN) $86,437.83<\/p>\n 19 Bryce EASTON (RSA) $86,159.05<\/p>\n 20 Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) $84,877.45<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Singapore: Thailand\u2019s Thaworn Wiratchant showed never to write off an old man when he saved the best for last by snatching the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (TPC) title from American rookie Chan Kim to win his record 16th Asian Tour title on Sunday.<\/p>\n While the 46-year-old has not lit the scene in his previous eight starts before his arrival in Chinese Taipei, the reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion showed his mettle by going the distance to ink another piece of history and leapfrog from 63rd place to 14th place on the merit rankings with his season haul of US$116,134.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very proud because I can still win at the age of 46. I was really struggling with my irons but I chipped and putted so well. I honestly didn\u2019t think that I could win,\u201d said Thaworn, whose best result prior to this week was a tied 28th finish in Indonesia in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-isn-front-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n