Zhang aims for a memorable finale

SHINE

Two days after winning in rain-soaked Hangzhou, Zhang Weiwei will be looking to close out her China LPGA Tour season in style this week when the Trust Golf Thailand LPGA Masters tees off on Wednesday at Panya Indra Golf Club in Bangkok.

With three wins to her credit this year, the first Chinese to achieve such a feat, the 22-year-old Hubei native is aiming to become the first player to win four times in a season in what should be an uphill battle against a strong field in the Thai capital.

“This may be the last CLPGA event I will take part in this year because the next events will coincide with the (US) LPGA Qualifying Tournament and the Japan LPGA Qualifying Tournament, in which I will take part,” Zhang said following her practice round on Tuesday on the Ronald Fream-designed layout.

With her dominant seven-shot victory on Sunday at the Hangzhou International Championship, Zhang joined Thais Porani Chutichai (2010) and Saranporn Langkulgasettrin (2017) as the only players to win three times in a single CLPGA Tour season.

“Last week, I did very well with my chipping and putter, which contributed a lot to my championship. I was practicing about three hours of chipping at home every day. This week is my first time to play this golf course. My goal is to play every shot well.”

With this week’s tournament co-sanctioned by the CLPGA, the Thai LPGA and the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tours, Zhang expected the 120-player field to be evenly matched with no home-field advantage conceded to the Thais.

In the first nine tournaments of this CLPGA Tour season, Renuka Suksukont has been the only Thai to win when she captured the Hengqin Phoenix Tree Building Challenge in March. Chinese mainland players have won five times.

“Obviously, the performance of our players is continuously improving. At present, I think our strength is not much different from that of Thai players as a whole,” said Zhang, who has won four times in the past three seasons and currently leads the CLPGA Tour Order of Merit.

“The CLPGA events have helped me a lot since I turned pro. The tour has given me a lot of valuable experience and confidence and is more conducive to my competition on other tours.”

Among those looking to stop Zhang’s momentum is Munchin Keh. Last year, the young New Zealander was runner-up at the Le Coq Sportif Beijing Ladies Classic. She then finished the season strong with an equal third at the PTT Thailand LPGA Masters.

The 26-year-old currently divides her time playing on the CLPGA Tour and the ALPG Tour, her best result this year being an equal runner-up finish at the Worrells NSW Women’s Open in March

“I have a lot of good memories (of Thailand) from last year so I am pretty happy to be back,” said Keh, a third-year pro from Auckland.

“It’s a strong field this week so you’re going to need better scoring, stick to the game plan and hope everything works well. I need to stay patient, not get down on myself and just have fun out there.”

Parinda Phokan goes into this week as defending champion as the Thai dominated last year’s tournament in winning by a six-stroke margin.