Asian Tour Yearbook: 2023

SUPER SUTEEPAT MAKING TAIFONG HIS SECOND HOME SECOND IN TAIFONG IN 2022, FIRST IN 2023 Suteepat Prateeptienchai [RIGHT] made five birdies on the trot on the front nine enroute to victory. T hailand’s top golfers have always had a strong affiliation with Chinese- Taipei. Many of them have enjoyed success there, and when you ask them about it, the answer is normally they have a lot of friends there and the food is great. Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai is a fine example of this, and to be more specific the particular place on the island nation he is happiest in is Taifong, for very obvious reasons. At the end of 2022 he finished joint second in the Taifong Open at Taifong Golf Club. It was the final event of the season on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the result allowed him to wrap up the ADT Order of Merit (OOM) title and earn his Asian Tour card for the 2023 season. And exactly one year later, with the event promoted on to the Asian Tour at the same venue, he cantered to a four-shot victory in the US$400,000 Taiwan Glass Taifong Open to secure his first victory on the Asian Tour. The Asian Tour rookie, who had a two-stroke lead at the start of the day, shot a fine four-under-par 68 to finish on 19-under – in the second from last event of the season on the Asian Tour. Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai fired a 66 to finish second with Malaysian Shahriffuddin Ariffin who came in with a 69. It was the best performance by both players on the Asian Tour. Pavit Tangkamolprasert from Thailand and Korean Seungtaek Lee tied for fourth, after they both returned 68s. Five birdies in a row from the third set up Suteepat for the win and allowed him to stroll to victory despite the enormity of the occasion. Thirty-year-old Suteepat, a professional since 2017, burst onto the scene in 2022 with three ADT wins, all in Indonesia, which marked him down as a potential star of the future. He enjoyed a strong debut season on the main Tour with five top-20 finishes before putting the finishing touches to his season with a fine victory. “Really happy, I love this place,” said Suteepat, who won US$72,000 and leapt 137 TA I WA N GL A S S TA I FONG OPEN TA I F ON G GO L F C L U B | NOV EM B E R 3 0 – D E C EM B E R 3 | P R I Z E MON E Y U S $ 4 0 0 , 0 0 0