![\"CTPanGolfOlympicsDay9KieICTS3mEil\"](\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/CTPanGolfOlympicsDay9KieICTS3mEil.jpg\")
Chinese Taipei\u2019s C.T. Pan believes the hard knocks he has taken this year will toughen him up towards his dream of becoming a PGA TOUR champion.<\/p>\nChinese Taipei\u2019s C.T. Pan believes the hard knocks he has taken this year will toughen him up towards his dream of becoming a PGA TOUR champion.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old Pan makes his debut at THE PLAYERS Championship which starts on Thursday<\/span> knowing that his young career will benefit from the experience of competing against the world\u2019s toughest field in the PGA TOUR\u2019s flagship US$11 million tournament at TPC Sawgrass.<\/p>\n Featuring in his second season, Pan has recorded four top-25s to be ranked 116th<\/sup> on the FedExCup point standing, a position he is keen to improve with a strong showing this week. He was in contention at the Farmers Insurance Open and RBC Heritage earlier this year but final rounds of 79 and 76 respectively dashed his title hopes and proved to be tough lessons.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to do my best out here this week and try to climb to the top of the leaderboard. I\u2019ve had some good rounds this year but one big mistake would stop me from being better or from getting into the top-10. I just need to put it together and find a better strategy,\u201d said Pan.<\/p>\n A former world No. 1 amateur golfer, Pan, who attended the University of Washington, is prepared to bid his time to succeed on the PGA TOUR. The disappointing finishes were bitter pills to swallow but it has made his resolve even stronger.<\/p>\n \u201cAs players, we are always aggressive \u2026 we have to be bold to win. We are trying to push as hard as we can but sometimes in the final round, you don\u2019t have to as the course is playing so hard and if you take a step back, make bogey on a tough hole, it\u2019s no biggie. Sometimes pars are as good. This year, I\u2019ve had two tournaments which I made big mistakes which really hurt me. I lost a lot of FedExCup points too,\u201d said Pan, who finished 88th<\/sup> on the FedExCup standings in his rookie season last year.<\/p>\n Being a rookie at THE PLAYERS, Pan echoed what many players have said about the prestigious event. \u201cEverything here has been off the charts. The golf course is great, it\u2019s challenging. I like it a lot as it\u2019s not overly long and you\u2019ve got to hit it straight. It\u2019s very demanding on every single shot. Obviously, the last three holes are great holes to finish around here. I\u2019m really looking forward to this. The players talk about this being the fifth major and we all know how hard it is to win this tournament,\u201d said Pan.<\/p>\n He remembers well K.J. Choi\u2019s historic triumph at THE PLAYERS in 2011, saying it served as an inspiration when he was a junior golfer. Pan will also be hoping to emulate the success of compatriot T.C. Chen, who won the 1987 Los Angeles Open.<\/p>\n \u201cThe year that K.J. won here, I was really impressed. He\u2019s the first South Korean to win on the PGA TOUR. To see another Asian and the first Korean to win such a big event, it was really inspiring to me. That\u2019s the first PLAYERS that I remember well. I want to be the first player from Chinese Taipei to win this big event.<\/p>\n \u201cThe three closing holes here are special. 16 is a reachable par five but you can see a lot of drama there as someone can make eagle or easily make double too. 17 is just 145 yards but when the wind blows, when you\u2019re under pressure and thousands of fans are watching, all off the sudden, it becomes a 200-yard shot into an island green. Coming down 18, with water on the left on every single shot, it\u2019s a tough finishing hole,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n With the 2017-18 season having passed the halfway point, Pan knows he must jump on a solid run of results to achieve his goal of qualifying for the FedExCup playoffs and make the top-30 to qualify for the TOUR Championship.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is still the same, which is to try to finish in the top-30. Obviously I need to play really well from here onwards. I need to get on a good momentum and get the results,\u201d said Pan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chinese Taipei\u2019s C.T. Pan believes the hard knocks he has taken this year will toughen him up towards his dream of becoming a PGA TOUR champion. The 26-year-old Pan makes his debut at THE PLAYERS Championship which starts on Thursday knowing that his young career will benefit from the experience of competing against the world\u2019s toughest field […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf-golf"],"yoast_head":"\n