Asian Tour Order of Merit leader Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand will be seeking to go one rung better when he challenges for the title again at the US$300,000 Sarawak Championship, which starts tomorrow at Damai Golf & Country Club.
The 23-year-old Jazz enjoyed a joint runner-up finish last year after closing with a superb eight-under-par 64 to finish one shot shy of the winner John Catlin.
He returns to the same venue this week, bidding for a fifth Asian Tour win and a third one this season to give himself a chance to automatically qualify for the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, for the Presidents Cup.
Jazz, who is currently placed 10th on the International Team standings, needs to move inside the top-eight on the rankings when the Sarawak championship concludes on Sunday. A victory will likely seal his move there along with an automatic spot for the match-play event which will be held in Melbourne at the end of the year.
“I feel good coming into this week especially with the way I finished last year. I will try and do the same again and see what happens,” said Jazz, who is coming off a two-week break back home in Hua Hin.
“A lot of good players are here this week so we will see how it goes. It’s going to be fun.”
Jazz noted that the golf course is in great shape. “The course is looking good, better than last year. It’s going to be exciting.
“You need to try and make putts here. A lot of guys can hit the greens so it’s important to putt well. I putted well last year but I have been changing putters every week now so we will see what happens.”
Sitting in 56th place on the Official World Golf Ranking, Jazz is the highest-ranked player in the field. He will headline the event alongside Australian Scott Hend, who trails him by over US$200,000 in second place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
India’s Shiv Kapur, who will be moving his base to Dubai next week, will be making his debut in the event.
The full-field Asian Tour event, which celebrates its second edition this week, is supported by the Sarawak State government.
