Japan’s Naoki Sekito will take aim at extending his remarkable streak of success when he contends at the OB Golf Invitational which gets underway next week.
The 21-year-old Japanese has been on red-hot form this season, recording three top-three results in as many appearances, including a breakthrough victory on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last month.
With good friend and defending champion Shohei Hasegawa of Japan not featuring in the event, the in-form Sekito will be gunning to defend the title on his behalf at the US$65,000 event staged at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.
“I have played three ADT events so far and have had a good run of finishes and one win in the bag. I am playing really well recently and even broke my personal-best score record,” said Sekito, who stunned the field with a sizzling 61 in the final round in Brunei but had to settle for second place.
“Shohei is a good friend of mine and we practice a lot together in Japan. I will try my best to defend the title on his behalf,” added the Japanese, who is from Hiroshima.
Currently ranked second on the ADT Order of Merit, Sekito remains confident of taming the championship course which is a regular host venue of the Indonesian Masters on the Asian Tour.
“Everyone has said Royale Jakarta Golf Club is one of the best golf courses in Asia so I am really excited to see it. I know it is a tough course and I just don’t want to expect too much from myself and just play freely,” said Sekito.
A talented 144-men field will challenge for honours alongside Sekito including former ADT Order of Merit winners Miguel Carballo of Argentina (2018) and Thailand’s Pannakorn Uthaipas (2017) as well as ADT champions American Sam Gillis, Thailand’s Namchok Tantipokhakul and Japan’s Masaru Takahashi.
Other notable names include Indonesia’s number one Danny Masrin, who will spearhead the local charge along with one-time ADT winner George Gandranata at the second edition of the OB Golf Invitational, which marks the seventh leg on the ADT schedule.
