Hua Hin: Wolmer Murillo will be hoping local knowledge and memories of his success on the Mena Tour’s Thailand swing last season will spur him to more glory in this week’s MahaSamutr Masters at Banyan Golf Club from Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Venezuelan won the Mountain Creek Open by three shots and followed it up with a second-place finish in the MahaSamutr Masters a week later when the tour first travelled to Thailand last year.
Murillo, who is attached to the Banyan Club, will be keen to pick up where he left off, but will have his work cut-out amid a strong field.
In all 139 players from 26 countries, including 13 tour event winners, and 25 homegrown talents from Thailand will be competing in the first event of this year’s Thai Swing.
Among the notables will be rising teen-star Victoria Tip-Aucha, who is set to become the first woman to play on the Mena Tour, and Indian amateur Rayhan Thomas, who is coming in fresh off a 13th-place finish at the Junior International at Sage Valley in South Carolina, USA.
Thomas, 17, from Dubai, will be favourite to win the amateur division, which has attracted 16 players, including four from Thailand.
Having finished second at the Mountain Creek Open and third at MahaSamutr Masters last year, the top-ranked Indian amateur knows a thing or two about the conditions in Thailand.
“It feels good to return to golf courses where you have enjoyed some good finishes,” he said. “I have been working very hard with my coach Justin Parsons and the good thing is that I am feeling confident about my game.”
The UAE’s Ahmad Al Musharrakh will spearhead the challenge in the Mena Division, and is also confident of racking up some good results.
“I am working on certain aspects of my game and hope to get things dialled in sooner than later. It’s always a work in progress,” he said.
The Mena Tour was formed in 2011 to provide a local pathway into professional golf. It offers world rankings points, as well as invites into PGA and European Tour events, playing privileges on the Sunshine Tour and exemptions into the final stage of Sunshine Tour and Asian Tour Q-Schools for the best performing players.
