Veteran campaigner Danny Chia is hoping that familiar ground will bring him success as he resumes his Japanese campaign in this week’s ¥15,000,000 (approx. US$142,000) Delight Works Challenge, which is the final event of the Japan Golf Tour’s secondary circuit, the AbemaTV Tour.
The 47-year-old will be making his third appearance at the venue, Toride Kokusai Golf Club in Tsukubamirai City, Ibaraki province, having played there the two previous seasons when the tournament was known as the JGTO Novil Final. In the 2018 event, Danny came within a whisker of a first ever win on Japanese soil but lost out in a three-way playoff with eventual champion Yuki Kono and Hirotaro Naito.
While he has managed just two rounds since coming out of quarantine late last week, Danny is feeling good about his ball-striking.
“I just need to get the putter going; I like the golf course and lost in a playoff here two years ago, so hopefully this time I get lucky,” said the former Malaysian No 1, adding that it has been raining there almost every day.
Due to Covid-19, the 2020 AbemaTV Tour only commenced in September with four events on its schedule. Danny noted that there were strict Covid-19 protocols in place to ensure the safety of players and officials.
“They tested us on Monday before the practice round and there will be no caddies. We drive ourselves around the course using buggies and are allowed to use rangefinders,” shared Danny, who remains the only Malaysian to have won twice on the Asian Tour with his victories in the 2002 Acer Taiwan Open and 2015 Mercuries Taiwan Masters.
Danny holds a full card on the AbemaTV Tour and is hoping to regain full status on the lucrative main tour where he played in 2018. He is slated to take part in the first stage of the Japan Golf Tour’s qualifying tournament at Itsuura Teien Country Club in Fukushima on November 17-20. This year’s Japan Golf Tour qualifying tournament only has two stages with the second and final stage scheduled for December 8-11.
