Winning for Gavin Green is now anything but green.
After three near-misses on the Asian Tour this season, victory at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Sunday was so much sweeter for the Malaysian.
“The defeat in Korea was hard on me. I was trying so hard but this is the game of golf. You can’t force it. I think the second places really taught me to keep the mind more relaxed,” said Green.
Green is no more a nearly man. He is now an Asian Tour winner, who has set his sights on smashing more records and creating history.
“My goal has changed. I’m thinking about the Order of Merit now. It will be a huge deal to win the Order of Merit,” said the Malaysian
The prospect of being the first Malaysian to win the prestigious Asian Tour Order of Merit is very much a possibility as his breakthrough in Chinese Taipei has propelled him to the top of the money list.
“It show my hard work and I’ve been in position a couple of times this year and it shows with my position on the Order of Merit now,” said Green.
Green is also well positioned to represent Team Asia at next year’s EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM by virtue of his rankings.
“I was talking to dad earlier this year about the EurAsia Cup and how nice it would be to make it into the team. You’ve to play really good golf to make it. This win will obviously help me now,” said Green.
Green’s prodigious talent was thrusted into the spotlight early with him several impressive wins on the college circuit in the United States.
It was no surprise when Green charged to a convincing 11-shot victory on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) as an amateur in 2014.
Along with that historic win, came a host of records which was duly smashed.
Green closed the pages on his amateur story with his fifth place finish on the men’s World Amateur Golf Ranking.
Another chapter on his professional career has now been written with tales of his two more ADT victories along with the latest on his maiden Asian Tour win.
At 23, the world is his oyster but Green prefers to stay grounded.
“I’m just enjoying every tournament that I get to play. There are so many good players in the field each week and all I know is I’ve to play my very best each week to be among the best,” said Green.
Australia’s Scott Hend slipped to second place on the Order of Merit while the third and fourth places are occupied by Korean-American David Lipsky and India’s S.S.P. Chawrasia respectively.
The Tour will continue its stay in Chinese Taipei with the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship this week.
Players will continue to vie to boost their Order of Merit rankings again as the leading 10 players on the money list as of October 9 will qualify for the lucrative CIMB Classic from October 12 to 15 while the top-four as of October 16 will tee up in the WGC-HSBC Championship from October 26 to 29.
Asian Tour Order of Merit – Top-20
Pos Player Order of Merit (US$)
- Gavin GREEN (MAS) $527,346.06
- Scott HEND (AUS) $416,929.60
- David LIPSKY (USA) $376,529.11
- S.S.P. CHAWRASIA (IND) $326,481.61
- Daisuke KATAOKA (JPN) $284,489.61
- Phachara KHONGWATMAI (THA) $273,152.41
- Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) $270,178.51
- Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) $250,850.43
- Prayad MARKSAENG (THA) $249,908.02
- Juvic PAGUNSAN (PHI) $217,431.27
- Richard T. LEE (CAN) $212,037.41
- Younghan SONG (KOR) $198,106.59
- Jason NORRIS (AUS) $195,421.00
- Carlos PIGEM (ESP) $192,413.21
- K.T. KIM (KOR) $180,466.93
- Todd SINNOTT (AUS) $179,545.89
- Shiv KAPUR (IND) $178,805.33
- Scott VINCENT (ZIM) $162,444.31
- Panuphol PITTAYARAT (THA) $154,024.65
- Anirban LAHIRI (IND) $145,150.00
