Jakarta: England’s Grant Jackson will have everything to play for when he tees off at the Asian Development Tour’s season-ending US$60,000 Linc Group Jakarta Invitational starting on Wednesday to keep alive his hopes of earning an Asian Tour card for 2014.

Jackson, currently fifth on the ADT Order of Merit with a season’s haul of US$27,180, needs nothing less than a victory at the Jababeka Golf and Country Club to stand a chance of overhauling fourth placed Lindsay Renolds of Canada.

With current number one Nicholas Fung of Malaysia having already secured his Asian Tour card through the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, the next best three players on the ADT rankings will be ‘promoted’ after this week’s 2013 season finale.

American James Bowen, Malaysia’s Iain Steel and Renolds, currently second, third and fourth, will be the players in the field along with Indonesia’s Rory Hie, who will spearhead the local challenge.

Jackson, who claimed his breakthrough win on the ADT in Malaysia last April, hopes to fulfil his goal of playing on the Asian Tour by putting up a winning performance this week.

“This week is kind of crucial for me as I would need to win to possibly get into top four on the final ADT Order of Merit. Securing an Asian Tour card for 2014 will mean a lot to me. It’s the reason why I came to play in Asia and it’s been my only goal for the season,” said Jackson today.

“It’s a shame I didn’t put myself in a better position coming into the final tournament but I guess that’s how it goes. All the guys play well to win here on the ADT. I will try my best and we will see how things go,” added the 32-year-old Englishman.

Renolds knows he will face an anxious week as he has set a high target for himself heading into the final event on the 2013 ADT season as he seeks to preserve his current position on the rankings.

“Now that Nicholas has already saved his Asian Tour card, I’m aiming for the second position. The only way I can make sure I maintain my position is to aim higher. My form is good lately so I’m aiming higher this time,”said the 27-year-old, who has eight top-10 finishes on the ADT in 2013.

“Last year was great despite not getting any win. Of course it would be great if I can win but I have been very pleased with how I performed this season. Hopefully I can play well this week to keep my Asian Tour card for 2014,” added the Phuket-based Renolds.


Local talent Hie hopes to prove his worth again as he challenges for home glory. He contended at the Indonesia Open, which made its return onto the Asian Tour Schedule last November, but faded on the last day.

“I had a tough experience at the Asian Tour’s Indonesian Open a couple of weeks ago. I was playing well at the start but got impatient in the last round. I learnt my lesson from that experience. I feel like my game is in good form so I am looking forward to playing well this week,” said Hie, the highest ranked golfer in Indonesia.

The winner of the Linc Group Jakarta Invitational will take home a prize purse of US$10,500 and receive six Official World Golf Ranking points. The top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.

The ADT was launched in 2010 with five tournaments before growing to eight in 2011 and 13 in 2012. This week’s final event will be the 16th leg of the season.