Asian Tour Yearbook: 2023

A S I AN TOUR 202 3 : A CANDI DATE FOR THE GR E ATE ST SE A SON EV ER his father having a heart by-pass and only just kept his card by taking the last spot on the merit list. That experience clearly made him stronger as he also had six other top 10 finishes in 2023 and hemade every single cut. Even before he won in India, after sharing the first-round lead at the International Series Thailand, the multi- talented Filipino was able to sum up everything perfectly. He said: “It is a bit of a long story. I didn’t play too well last year. “I had some time off, but I was lucky enough to keep my card by about 50 dollars, I was the last person to get in, and I told myself that is never going to happen again. “I worked really hard during the off season, and I guess it is showing. The game has been there, even back home. I am just glad it’s coming together.” It’s worth noting that he only finished 4.24 points ahead of Indian great Gaganjeet Bhullar on the merit list. That’s mainly because Bhullar made it win number 11 in November with an astonishing wire-to- wire victory at the BNI Indonesia Masters presented by TNE – the final event of the year on The International Series. Remarkably, it was the fourth occasion that Bhullar had led an event from start to finish on the Asian Tour, and it was the fifth time he had won in Indonesia. The win also cemented his position as the winningest player from his country on the Asian Tour, ahead of Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, both eight-time champions. Bhullar made a huge impression in the game when he turned professional in 2006, but even he will have been in awe of the Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 2023, Hong Kong hotshot Taichi Kho. Eugenio Chacarra [ABOVE LEFT] won in Scotland, Abraham Ancer [ABOVE] triumphed in Saudi Arabia, and Ben Campbell [FAR RIGHT] was too good in Hong Kong. 10