Manila: Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand hopes to widen his lead on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) Order of Merit when he challenges for the Aboitiz Invitational which gets underway on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Pavit, a five-time winner on the ADT, topped the money list in 2014 and is aiming to become the first player to win the Order of Merit twice since the ADT was launched in 2010.
The talented Thai will lead an impressive array of talents which includes American Johannes Veerman and Malaysia’s Gavin Green, placed second and third respectively on the Order of Merit, to the US$100,000 event held at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club’s East course.
They will face a strong local challenge spearheaded by Asian Tour stalwart and former Aboitiz Invitational winner Antonio Lascuna, who has already won four times on his domestic circuit so far this season, Jay Bayron and Frankie Minoza.
ADT winners Panuwat Muenlek of Thailand, Indonesia’s George Gandranata and Oscar Zetterwall of Sweden will also be part of the 121-man field from over 15 countries to feature in the Aboitiz Invitational, which is the 18th leg of the ADT schedule this season.
Pavit leads the Order of Merit with a current haul of US$46,686 thanks to one victory and five top-10s while Veerman, who claimed his breakthrough win in Chinese Taipei last month, trails by slightly less than US$1,200 in second place.
“I really want to win the Order of Merit again. I am sure it will open up a lot of opportunities for me, even more now compared to when I won the Order of Merit two years ago. I am in a good position right now so I will just continue to play my best,” said Pavit.
“The game’s feeling good. I have had some good results playing on the Asian Tour this year and I have gained some confidence. Hopefully I can stay on top of the Order of Merit till the end of the season,” added the Thai, who enjoyed a tied-third place finish on the Asian Tour at the Queen’s Cup earlier in June.
The ADT will reward the top-five finishers on the Order of Merit at the end of this season with Asian Tour cards for 2017.
Like all other ADT events, the Aboitiz Invitational will offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points to the top six players and ties based on a sliding scale.
