Lahiri, a four-time Asian Tour winner, will headline the popular tournament alongside defending champion Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand and local hero Lin Wen-tang at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club from September 11 to 14.
Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg, David Lipsky of the United States, Rahil Gangjee of India, Baek Seuk-hyun of Korea, Richard T. Lee of Canada, Antonio Lascuna of the Philippines and India’s Rashid Khan, who are all ranked inside the top-10 on the Order of Merit list, will also shoot for the title in what is one of the strongest ever fields at the Yeangder TPC.
Daniel Chopra of Sweden, a two-time PGA Tour winner and a one-time champion on the Asian Tour, will head to Linkou International while all eyes will also be on the in-form Chan Shih-chang of Chinese Taipei.
The tenacious Lahiri will be eager to continue his solid performances from earlier in the year where he won his fourth Asian Tour title at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters and posted three other top-10 results. He also helped Team Asia secure a dramatic 10-10 tie with Team Europe in the inaugural EurAsia Cup presented by DRB-HICOM in Malaysia.
His strong performances earned him the prestigious Arjuna award back home which he received from the President of India last week. Despite his early-season success, Lahiri is focussed on claiming more accolades.
“There’s a lot of golf left and I need to play consistently till the end of the year. It has been a great year for me but I think it’s time to put the first half of the season behind me, restart and re-focus,” said Lahiri.
Local talent Chan, who has won three Asian Development Tour (ADT) titles this year and two local events, will be among the hot favourites at the Yeangder TPC, which is celebrating its fifth edition on the Asian Tour.
Chan, who is sponsored by the Yeangder Group, was rewarded with playing rights for remainder of the Asian Tour season after his successful exploits on the ADT and he hopes to celebrate the occasion by winning on home soil next week.
“This is one event that I am hoping to win more than any other tournament. I want to keep the trophy in Chinese Taipei. I’ve had a good result last year so I will strive to do better,” said Chan, who finished fourth in last year’s edition.
“It’s great that I have been given playing rights on the Asian Tour for the rest of the season. I am looking forward to it. The ADT has been a great platform to hone my skills and I hope to bring my good form onto the main Tour,” he added.
