Taipei: Bangladesh's Siddikur is happy that he received a reality check ahead of his title bid at this week’s US$500,000 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship which starts at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club on Thursday.
The history maker from Bangladesh, who was the first to win an Asian Tour title from his country in 2010, was on a roll since the start of the season but received a harsh lesson in golf when he missed the cut for the first time in Switzerland a fortnight ago.
The 26-year-old stormed off the blocks quickly, making the cuts in all of his 10 starts until his Swiss campaign put the brakes on his charge.
“I guess that’s what golf teaches you. There’ll be times when your form dips and you fall out of contention. It’s how you get back into the game,” said Siddikur
The 27-year-old did bounce back with an inspired performance by finishing tied-third in Malaysia last week and he believes that it is only a matter of time before another grandstand finish awaits.
“I don’t really want to remember too much about what happened in Switzerland now. The most important thing is that I’m back in form,” said the Bangladeshi.
“I played very well in Malaysia especially the last two rounds and I had a very good rest before coming over here to Taipei. The greens are going to be hard this week and the key to having a good score lies in your short game,” added Siddikur.
Meanwhile India's Gaganjeet Bhullar is seeking his third Asian Tour title at the Yeangder TPC following an impressive run in Malaysia where he was briefly in contention before having to settle for a runner-up spot behind Thai stalwart Thaworn Wiratchant who will also be among the strong field this week.
‘Things are looking good as I played really well last week. I’m really feeling good about my game. I played well in Switzerland as well but it was just that I missed the cut by one shot but otherwise I’m striking the ball really hard and over the years things have been improving in my game,” said Bhullar.
Apart from the season-opening event in Myanmar, the 24-year-old Indian has always finished inside the top-10 in the events which he has made the cut. But Bhullar believes he can only get better and another win can be on the card soon.
“I’m really looking forward to playing well this week and the upcoming weeks. I’ve been very consistent. My game has been improving and this could be my week,” said Bhullar.
Since winning his maiden Tour title in the Philippines last year, American Berry Henson has not tasted much success.
The avid dancer, who is planning to produce a Gangnam style music video, hopes to find his groove and make an impact again, just like how the Korean-inspired video is taking the world by storm.
“It’s a wacky video that I’ve been thinking of doing for some time and hopefully it’ll bring lots of laughter to everyone,” said Henson.
Turning his attention to his performance on the golf course, Henson hopes to rediscover his winning form by staying patient.
“I haven’t been playing good this year. I had some good finishes but I haven’t been able to put everything together so I would like to give myself a C for what I’ve done so far,” said Henson.
“I’ve been struggling and I guess all that I can do right now is to stay patient. Having said that, there’s still a lot of opportunities from now till the end of the year to make a big jump up the Order of Merit. It really only needs one good week and you can jump into that number one spot,” said the American, who is among the players from over 30 different countries that give the Asian Tour its diverse and international appeal.
By Indian Sports News Network
