Asian Tour Book 2024

SUTEEPAT’S LOVE STORY WITH TAIWAN CONTINUES THAI STAR SECURES SECOND ASIAN TOUR TITLE IN 10 MONTHS IN THE COUNTRY Suteepat Prateeptienchai [right] was one of three players to win twice in 2024. W hen Thailand’s Suteepat Prateeptienchai proclaims his love for Taiwan, it comes straight from the heart and is backed by results. The 31-year-old produced a masterclass of frontrunning at the Linkou International Golf and Country Club and secured a two-shot, wire-to-wire win at the Yeangder TPC. It was his second Asian Tour win on the island in less than a year, as 10 months earlier he had claimed the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open – some 180 kilometres south, in dominating fashion by four shots. Remarkably, a few months after winning the Yeangder event he would return to successfully defend his Taiwan Glass Taifong Open crown, completing a rare hat-trick of titles in the same country. However, the Yeangder TPC was by far the biggest win for the Thai star. This time, apart from the omnipresent Taiwanese wind, he also had to battle John Catlin – the in-form American leading the Asian Tour Order of Merit with two early wins in the season. Catlin promised to spoil Suteepat’s party with five successive birdies in his first five holes – and six in his first seven holes – on Sunday. In that stretch of seven holes, Suteepat made just one birdie – on the par-four third hole – but that was enough to keep his nose ahead of the charging Catlin, who had started the final round six shots behind the leader. Miguel Tabuena, at 16-under, was his closest rival after the first three rounds, and even though the Filipino made three birdies in his first 11 holes, Suteepat maintained the two-shot advantage with three birdies of his own at that stage. Tabuena’s (70) challenge fizzled out with bogeys on the 11th and 14th holes. Catlin (65) could only find a couple of birdies and a bogey after the hot start, which just eased the pressure on Suteepat (69), who could afford to make two bogeys coming in. He did close with a birdie on the par-five 18th hole, where 87 Y E A NGDER T PC L I N KO U I N T E R N AT I ON A L GO L F A N D CO U N T RY C L U B S E P T EM B E R 2 6 - 2 9 | P R I Z E MON E Y: U S $ 1 M I L L I ON