Prayad Marksaeng
The Open Championship International Final Qualifying Asia gets underway later this week in Thailand.
Four tickets to the Open will be at stake at the two-day qualifier at Amata Spring Country Club in Bangkok from February 24 to 25, 2011 and has attracted a field of 77 players headlined by home heroes Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayad Marksaeng, who hold a combined 19 Asian Tour titles between them.
Liang Wen-chong, China’s first Asian Tour Order of Merit champion in 2007, will bid for a second appearance in the world’s oldest Major and will be joined by top contenders including Pariya Junhasavasdikul and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, Bangladeshi Siddikur and Singaporean veteran Mardan Mamat, all top-10 finishers on the Order of Merit last season.
Such is the appeal of qualifying for the Open Championship that no fewer than 25 Tour winners will tee up in the IFQ Asia to gain a place at Royal St George’s, England from July 14th - 17th.
Other prominent names bidding for an Open ticket include Indian duo Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar, who have both played previously in the Open, Australia’s Scott Hend and Darren Beck and England’s Miles Tunnicliff, a winner on the European Tour.
Malaysia’s Danny Chia, who made history when he qualified and subsequently played four rounds at the Open at St Andrews last year, will also bid for a fourth appearance in the championship.
Many of Asia’s upcoming stars will be in the fray as well, including Thai duo Piya Swangarunporn and Namchok Tantipokhakul and Korea’s Baek Seuk-hyun, who all enjoyed impressive results in Asia last year.
Japanese amateur Hideki Matsuyama, who won the Asian Amateur Championship on home soil last year, will also be in the qualifier where he hopes to emulate Korea’s amateur Eric Chun, who qualified last year in Malaysia.
This is the first time that the IFQ Asia is being held in Thailand after previously be staged in Malaysia and Singapore.
