Jakarta: James Bowen of the United States will be aiming to close with a record third Asian Development Tour (ADT) title in a single season when he tees off at the inaugural US$60,000 Linc Group Jakarta Invitational on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, who claimed two ADT victories including a breakthrough win in Jakarta last year, is hoping to start the year with a good result at the 2013 season-ending ADT event staged at the Jababeka Golf & Country Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got good memories here and it\u2019s great to be back again. 2013 has been a great year for me. I hope to start off the year with a good result so I can end the last season by being the first to win three events in one season on the ADT,\u201d said Bowen, who is currently second on the ADT Order of Merit with a season\u2019s haul of US$38,444.<\/p>\n
Bowen looks very likely to earn an Asian Tour card for 2014 as he sits comfortably in second position on the Order of Merit with earnings of US$38,444.\n<\/p>\n
With current number one Nicholas Fung of Malaysia having already earned his card through the Asian Tour Order of Merit, the next highest ranked three players on the ADT Merit list will be \u201cpromoted\u201d onto the Asian Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am really looking forward to playing on the Asian Tour! Playing on the ADT definitely helped a lot in my game,\u201d said Bowen.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Iain Steel of Malaysia, the first player to win back-to-back ADT tournaments in 2013, will also be eyeing for a third victory to boost his rankings on the Order of Merit, where he currently sits behind Bowen in third position on US$36,623.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal for me to play on the ADT was always to try and regain my Asian Tour card. It is a great platform because we get to earn world ranking points as well. With the two wins last year, I am glad I managed to put myself in a good position to secure my Asian Tour card,\u201d said the experienced Steel, who claimed consecutive victories in Chinese Taipei and Malaysia last August.<\/p>\n
Other top ADT players who will be contending for honours include Japan\u2019s Masaru Takahashi, Canadian Lindsay Renolds, England\u2019s Grant Jackson and local talents Rory Hie, George Gandranata and Benny Kasiadi.<\/p>\n
It will be a jostle for Renolds and Jackson on the Order of Merit as the former, ranked fourth, trails Steel by slightly over US$1,000 while fifth ranked Jackson needs a big week to add to his season\u2019s haul of US$27,180.<\/p>\n
The winner of the Linc Group Jakarta Invitational will take home a prize purse of US$10,500 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking points. The top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.<\/p>\n
The ADT was launched in 2010 with five tournaments before growing to eight in 2011 and 13 in 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jakarta: James Bowen of the United States will be aiming to close with a record third Asian Development Tour (ADT) title in a single season when he tees off at the inaugural US$60,000 Linc Group Jakarta Invitational on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, who claimed two ADT victories including a breakthrough win in Jakarta last year, is hoping to start the year with a good result at the 2013 season-ending ADT event staged at the Jababeka Golf & Country Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got good memories here and it\u2019s great to be back again. 2013 has been a great year for me. I hope to start off the year with a good result so I can end the last season by being the first to win three events in one season on the ADT,\u201d said Bowen, who is currently second on the ADT Order of Merit with a season\u2019s haul of US$38,444.<\/p>\n
Bowen looks very likely to earn an Asian Tour card for 2014 as he sits comfortably in second position on the Order of Merit with earnings of US$38,444.<\/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":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n