Newly crowned Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand plans to head into the holiday season on an even higher note as he readies himself for the BNI Indonesian Masters supported by Bank BRI and MedcoEnergi which starts tomorrow.
Jazz, who will be the highest-ranked player in the talented field at 59th place on the latest Official World Golf Ranking, closed with a sensational eagle-three to finish runner-up at the highly acclaimed Royale Jakarta Golf Club 12 months ago.
The 24-year-old Thai is now looking to pick up where he left off when he returns to one of his favourite hunting grounds, setting his sights on a fifth Asian Tour title and a third one this season.
Jazz will spearhead an elite field that is set to feature more than 50 Tour winners, including six Order of Merit champions, with defending champion Poom Saksansin, rising Korean talent Joohyung Kim and American John Catlin expected to be among the main challengers at the US$750,000 event, slated to take place from December 12 to 15.
Jazz’s glorious run this season started when he won the season-opening Singapore Open in January for his third Asian Tour title, which is also his biggest victory in his promising career so far.
He would go on to secure another victory at the Korea Open and six other top-10 finishes to become the fourth Thai after Thongchai Jaidee (2001, 2004, 2009), Thaworn Wiratchant (2015, 2012) and Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2013) to be crowned Asia’s number one.
Jazz also displayed his immense potential with a commendable tied-14th finish at the PGA Championship where he entered the final round in joint second place. It was the best-ever result achieved by a Thai player at the PGA Championship.
Apart from his runner-up result last year which marked his best outing at the BNI Indonesian Masters, Jazz has also claimed a tied-fifth place finish in 2014, as well as three top-20 finishes and a tied-33rd place result in his debut in 2013.
“I am looking forward to seeing everyone next week,” said Jazz, who will be making his sixth appearance in the BNI Indonesian Masters next week.
“It has been a good season for me overall. I took advantage of my opportunities and made the best of them. Winning in Singapore at the start of the season opened doors for me and that was definitely the highlight of the year for me,” added the slender Thai.
The BNI Indonesian Masters will form the third leg of the 2019/20 Panasonic Swing and the winner of the event will again receive a coveted spot in the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational in 2020.
By being the flagship event of the Asian Tour, the BNI Indonesian Masters will award the winner with no less than 20 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, ensuring more players benefit from the points breakdown in what is the penultimate event of the 2019 season.
