Asian Tour

Thai legend Thongchai Jaidee remained in third position where his US$18,912 cheque for finishing equal 35th raised his season’s tally to US$175,220. Thongchai is the only man to win three Order of Merit crowns in Asian Tour history.
At this stage, it is Siddikur who looks to have the best chance of overhauling Chowrasia.
“I’ve been improving and I feel I’ve accomplished the goal to narrow Chowrasia’s lead. That was the plan at the start of the week and I’ve done that. We still have many tournaments left on the Asian Tour and this sets me up pretty nicely,” said Siddikur.
The 26-year-old, who made history last season by winning the Brunei Open to become the first Bangladeshi winner on the Asian Tour, has continued to revel on golf’s big stage. He could have finished a lot higher in Switzerland if not for late blemishes during his weekend rounds.
“It was disappointing to shoot a bogey on the last hole (in the final round), otherwise I would have been higher on the leaderboard. Maybe I need more stamina but overall it was good,” said Siddikur, who double bogeyed the 18th during his third round.
He is hoping to give himself a chance of rewriting more golf history by becoming the Order of Merit champion this year, which would be an amazing feat considering he comes from a country where golf is not played widely.
“I’m playing with a lot of confidence now and obviously a win will cap a great year for me. My goal is to win the Order of Merit and to do that, I need to win one big tournament. It will be great news for golf in Bangladesh if I can win the Order of Merit.South Africa’s Jbe Kruger is fourth on the rankings with US$156,484, followed by Chile’s Felipe Aguilar on US$136,837.
The Asian Tour heads to Singapore this week for the second edition of the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic which starts at Orchid Country Club on Thursday. Peter Karmis of South Africa will be defending his title.