With the Asian Tour heading into an exciting climax to the season, Lu will be among the bubble boys fighting to keep their cards at the US$500,000 event which is held at the Legacy Golf Club for the first time since it was inaugurated as an Asian Tour event in 2009.

Lu’s winner’s exemption on the Asian Tour will end this year and he needs a strong performance to ensure he continues to keep his card for the 2019 season. While he understands the importance of the week, Lu also knows he has to stay patient to take on the strong challenge from the local contingent led by defending champion Jazz Janewattananond.

Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai, whose name translates to “Diamond”, is heartened to be back home after plying his trade on European soil for majority of the season. The Thai prodigy, who is also along the cut-off line, hopes to sparkle at the event hosted by his mentor Thongchai Jaidee.

Phachara enjoyed a stellar season in 2017 where he secured four top-five finishes including three runner-up finishes to take a career-high third place on the Asian Tour money ranks. He will bank on his experience of playing in Europe, to give him a final push and secure his spot for next season.

Australia’s Andrew Martin, who earned his Asian Tour card for the first time through Qualifying School this year, is also itching for a breakthrough victory to leave his mark on the Asian Tour.

Juggling between playing on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and the Asian Tour, Martin, who is ranked 67th on the Habitat for Humanity Standings, will put his fatigue aside as he attempts to break into the top-60.

Thongchai, who has hosted three successful events on the Asian Development Tour (ADT), will assume responsibility of tournament host for the first time on the Asian Tour with the intention of drawing attention to the Jaidee Foundation.

The money will go to the Yim Kids Foundation, an Accor initiative to improve the health, education and wellbeing of Thai children in need, and to the Beaumont Partnership Foundation, which aims to make quality education available at all levels of society in Thailand.

Mark Cameron of Asean Event, which organised the challenge with Fore Management Group, said they had three fundamental objectives.

“First, we wanted to create a golf event whereby hospitality professionals could mingle and network together. Complementing this hospitality theme, we wanted to showcase all the highlights of what the Bangkok hospitality industry had to offer within one round of golf.

“Thirdly, and most importantly, we wanted to raise money for local charities and we are proud to have surpassed our original target of Bt100,000 this year.”

Glenn Andrews, the managing director for Asia at SiteMinder, said it was also about “giving back to the hospitality industry”.

“As many people know, it’s an industry that operates 24/7, and it was great to see so many hotel general managers and restaurateurs out there this year, enjoying the hospitality on offer.”

The event took place on November 15 at the Vintage Club in Khlong Dan. The restaurants and hotels providing food and beverage were McThai, Pratika, Cali Mex, Budget Leisure Travel, Roots, Pullman Pattaya, Hooters, Novotel Bangna, Fenix XCell, Wine on Tap and Becks.

Placed second on the Habitat for Humanity standings, Park is looking forward to close the gap on leader, Shubhankar Sharma of India, who has opted not to play this week, with a fine showing in the US$500,000 event held at the highly-rated Legacy Golf Club.

With only three events left to play on the schedule and a winner’s prize purse of US$90,000 on offer this week, Park will have everything to play for when he makes his debut appearance at the event which will be hosted by Thai veteran Thongchai Jaidee.

While the battle for the prestigious Merit crown continues this week, the spotlight will also fall on players vying to finish inside the top-60 on the money list to retain their playing rights for the next season.

The 35-year-old Korean will spearhead a star-studded 132-men field with no fewer than 30 Asian Tour winners, including defending champion Jazz Janewattanond, who won in July for his second Asian Tour title.

Jazz, who turned 23 on Monday, hopes to make up for the disappointment of missing the cut in Hong Kong last week by putting up a strong title defence worthy of his status as the rising star from the country, albeit on a different course.

Korea-American Sihwan Kim, placed eighth on the Habitat for Humanity Standings, continues to seek his Asian Tour breakthrough at the event, held in honour of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit.

Kim has been knocking on the door to his maiden win all season, claiming five top-five finishes, including a tied-third result at the last edition of the Queen’s Cup.

Thongchai will assume responsibility of tournament host for the first time on the Asian Tour with the intention of drawing attention to the Jaidee Foundation, which focuses on giving back to the under-privileged golfers in his hometown.

In doing so, Thailand broke their record of 13 goals achieved in the round-robin stages in 1996 and 2004. They advanced to the semi-finals after conceding just three goals from four matches.

But despite the goal glut, the national team has been widely criticised for being too defensive, which has always been a focus for Rajevac since he took up the job in 2017.

Bangkok United’s Sanrawat agrees with the Serbian’s tactics, which he says he was initially not fond of. “As a player who loves to play an attacking game, I didn’t understand why I had to play defensively. But if you understand the coach well, you realise he’s just attempting to help in the areas where we need to improve. So I accept what he’s trying to do,” said the 29-year-old, who has assisted on four of the goals scored by his team.

“We may not play beautiful, attacking football but we have been more systematic as a team,” Sanrawat said. “We haven’t conceded as many goals, even as our opponents tried to intensify their attacks, and we can counter-punch at any time. This is a new dimension in Thai football.”

Among the Thai team, Sanrawat has created by far the most scoring opportunities – 11 – for his teammates and has made the highest number of passes at 220. He says he has no fear of becoming a targeted man in the double-leg semi-finals against Malaysia on Saturday and next Wednesday.

“I couldn’t care less if it is tougher for me from now on because all the attention is on me. If other teammates are less marked and we win, I’m fine with that,” added the player from Samut Prakan.

“With the number of goals we have scored, fans should be happy. But if they still have negative thoughts, there’s nothing we can do. For us as a team, we are all happy to achieve this,” Sanrawat said.

The Thai-Malaysian game starts at 7pm on Saturday at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and can be viewed live on Channel 7. In the other first-leg semi-final, Philippines play host to Vietnam at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod on December 2.

UP-AND-COMING Supachai Jaided said he still has a lot to learn despite being regarded as one of the future stars of Thailand after scoring three goals for the Kingdom in the AFF Suzuki Cup.

The 19-year-old scored his third goal in the tournament during the last group-stage game against Singapore at the Rajamangala National Stadium on Sunday. The home team won the match 3-0 and stormed into the semi-final stage as Group B leaders with 10 points.

The Buriram United striker was named Man of the Match afterwards. He had earlier scored once each in matches against Timor Leste and the Philippines.

“I’m honoured to be given the award but the team’s victory is far more important,” said Supachai, who will turn 20 on Saturday. “Every time I enter a game, I’m not focused on |scoring a goal or winning an award. I’m more concerned with helping the team and trying to follow the coach’s tactics. It’s the team result that counts the most.”

For the second straight game, the teenager was handed a first-team place by coach Milovan Rajevac. He has been touted by many as the future hope of Thai football after his impressive performances in Asian Games in August.

“It’s good for the team to have such a quality young player. There are many good forwards in the Thai League but this boy is a Thai with a great future,” Rajevac said in praise of Supachai.

However Supachai said he still had a lot to improve: “No matter how people see me, I still consider myself a kid with more to learn. I have to keep working hard to make sure that I deserve to be part of the team.”

Thailand will play the first leg of the semi-final against Malaysia, the Group A runners-up, on December 1 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and the second leg at home on December 5. In the other semi-final, Philippines host Vietnam on Sunday.

“Our mission is still not complete. We want to prove to the fans that we are all determined to win. We hope that the fans have been happy with our results so far,” Supachai said.

Driving Toyota Vitz 1,500cc Chanincha was the only Thai to qualify for the final round while countryman Buddhamont Thanaphasuk of CFON Racing Team failed to emulate him.

Chaninchai started the grid at 47^th and after completing the 52km course, he managed to settle at 41^st among 53 competitors.

“This is a very tough circuit. I’ve learned a lot of techniques from this race. Only a small mistake at one corner can make a difference,” Chaninchai said.

Nearly one year before the event returns to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club on December 9-15, 2019, Els launched the new logo with a goal to give the team a more unified focus while also allowing members from different countries to have the flags of their home countries represented.

Els felt that the United States Team can easily point to their flag and the pride that goes along with playing for their country. With the International Team representing countries from across the globe, he looked to create a logo that brought his players together while also including individual countries at the same time.

“It’s a special group of guys from all over the world that make up the Presidents Cup International Team,” Els said. “Being from across the globe, we don’t all play for the same flag. This special group of people needed something to identify with. To lift the spirit of the team, we felt like we needed a logo for ourselves.”

Els looked to friends from the military for inspiration for the logo which as pictured can stand on its own or include individual flags from home countries.

A collection of top players from countries eligible to play on the International Team joined Els for the announcement including Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Australia’s Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, China’s Haotong Li and Ashun Wu, India’s Anirban Lahiri, Korea’s Si Woo Kim, Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer.

Kiradech, the first Thai to earn PGA TOUR membership and currently ranked 16^th on the International team standings, said: “The Presidents Cup has always been our biggest team event for international golfers and for the Asians. If I can be a part of the team, it’ll be a joy for me to be amongst the best 12 International players next year. I’m currently in contention and hopefully I can do it. Looking at the new logo, it makes you feel like you’ll get a lot of energy from it. It means a lot to the players to have our flags included in the International team logo.

“The International team consists of players from all around the world. To play against the United States, which has the best golfers in the world, it won’t be easy. But if we stick together as one team, work as a team for the captain, it is possible to win the Presidents Cup. Ernie is one of my heroes. Years ago at a tournament in Malaysia, we were paired together and after a few holes, he started talking to me and asked where I was playing and I told him I was on the Asian Tour. He then told me I was good enough to play on the PGA TOUR and to hear it from a great player like Ernie, it inspired me and I started thinking about getting onto the PGA TOUR.”

“To have this logo to bond us together and still represent our countries and our flags, is something we can all be a part of and all get behind,” Els added. “The players here tonight represent the future of this team with traditional countries like Australia and Korea mixed together with some new, emerging countries where golf is growing like Mexico, Thailand, India and China.”

The return to Melbourne, Australia, will mark the third time in the biennial event’s 25-year history it has been held at the renowned Sandbelt course, as the event was previously held in Melbourne in 1998 and 2011 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Melbourne also holds the distinction as the site of the lone International Team’s victory in 1998, which saw Peter Thomson’s International Team defeat Jack Nicklaus’ U.S. Team, 20.5 to 11.5.  In 2011, Fred Couples led the U.S. Team to a 19-15 win over Greg Norman and the Internationals. The 1998 event was also held in December, a date that traditionally works well with other golf tournaments held in the country.

The 2019 Presidents Cup will bring the very best for fans interested in world-class team competition with the top 12 players from the United States taking on the top 12 from across the globe, excluding Europe. While golf fans can expect an incredible atmosphere and unmatched access to the competition, the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne will be a social, lifestyle and business gathering that will bring all backgrounds and interests together to enjoy a week-long festival atmosphere. On the course, players from across the world will be celebrated for their achievements, sportsmanship and love of the game. Off the course, fans will be able to find culinary options from around the world as well as hospitality and fan venues to match all levels of spectating and socializing, all while enjoying the very best in Australian culture.

The oldest golf club in Australia, The Royal Melbourne Golf Club was founded in 1891 and moved to its current location in 1926, becoming the anchor of what is now known as the Sandbelt. The gem of Australian golf, The Royal Melbourne Golf Club has two courses, both ranked in the World’s Top 100, which were designed by the legendary Alister MacKenzie. In 1959, in order to host the first of many international tournaments, 12 holes of the West Course and six from the East Course were combined to create what is known as the Composite Course, which also hosted the 2013 World Cup of Golf, won by Jason Day and Adam Scott.

The Presidents Cup is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money.  Players are not paid for their participation, but each competitor allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice.  Since the event’s inception, more than $49.1 million has been raised for charity from event proceeds, as well as contributions made on behalf of the Presidents Cup, including a record charitable donation of $10.7 million from the 2017 event alone.

For more information, or to learn more about the Presidents Cup, information on travel packages, or get their names added to find out about ticket sales visit http://www.presidentscup.com, Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thepresidentscup, Twitter and Instagram at @presidentscup and sign up for the Presidents Cup e-newsletter.

Cit and Rolex are the exclusive Global Partners of the Presidents Cup.

Led by Surapan Somthai, Executive General Manager of Thana City Country Club, the party was attended by leading tour operators, travel agencies, business partners, sport and tourism organization representatives and the media last Friday.

The event  will be held at its traditional home on the popular resort island of Phuket in southern Thailand and this year the focus will be split between the keelboats, multihulls and the next generation of sailors in the International Dinghy Classes.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organized by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket

The action will start on 2nd December with registration for all classes and sail measurements with a practice race for keelboats and multihulls, Skipper’s briefing and the Opening Ceremony at Beyond Kata Resort, Phuket.

There will be five days of racing for the keelboats and multihulls, with a reserve day on Thursday, 6th December. For the International Dinghy Classes, four consecutive days of racing will start from Wednesday, 5th December. The comprehensive classes contested by the International Dinghy fleet are Optimist Boys and Girls, Laser 4.7, Laser Radial, Laser Standard, 420 and 470.

Kevin Whitcraft, President of the Organizing Committee said “We are pleased to welcome all international and Thai sailors to this year regatta which has long been continuously organized for over three decades. Aside from large fleets of Keelboats and Multihulls, we have also continued focusing on dinghy fleets. The Dinghy Classes is a fast-growing racing program designed to promote and encourage youth sailing in Thailand. Many of the young sailors competing will go on to join the crews of full-size keelboat and multihull racing teams, and compete in the larger Phuket King’s Cup Regatta in future years.”

Race day prize giving will be presented during the week. The Royal Awards Ceremony will be held on 8th December at Beyond Resort Kata.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta won the prestigious Asia Boating Awards – Best Asian Regatta in 2016. The award recognized the extraordinary efforts of the organizers of Asia’s premier regatta, in terms of its exceptional organization, promotion, course quality, entry size, competitiveness and social aspects. It was one of many awards the regatta has collected over 32 years.

Despite holding an overnight six-shot lead, victory at the Hong Kong Golf Club was never going to be a straight forward affair especially from a fast-charging Fitzpatrick, who was determined to put a dent to Rai’s title hopes.

Fitzpatrick stormed to the turn in 31 after reeling in three birdies including two in his opening two holes. He cut Rai’s lead to just one with a birdie on 16 but a costly bogey  on 17 proved to be his undoing as he allowed Rai to open a two-shot lead heading into the final hole.

While Fitzpatrick parred the 18, the comfortable two-shot advantage that Rai enjoyed meant he could even afford to three-putt his closing hole for a winning total of 17-under-par 263.

India’s Shubhankar Sharma meanwhile extended his lead atop the Habitat for Humanity Standings after signing for a 67 to cap another commendable week by finishing tied for sixth with Spain’s Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera bello.