Defending champion Parinda Phokan, and the world’s leading ranked player Parisa Yoktuan, will start as hot favourites to take out the fourth edition of the TrustGolf Thai Masters starting tomorrow.

The tournament, which also marks the opening event on the 2019-2020 ALPG Tour season and the finale to the Thai LPGA Tour, will once again be a tri-sanctioned event with the Thai LPGA, ALPG Tour and China Ladies Professional Golfers’ Association. 

The 22-year-old Phokan, who hails from Khon Kaen, 450 km from Bangkok has spent her 2019 season competing mainly on the LPGA Tours of China and Taiwan, said:
“For sure there’s unavoidable pressure in defending a tournament, however, I feel very comfortable  playing at Panya Indra Golf Club and believe that will help me play my best golf this week.”

Phokan, who has participated just four ThaiLPGA tournaments this season, boasting two wins at the Hitachi Ladies Classic and the Sampo Ladies Open, added, 
“I am feeling great both physically and mentally so am looking forward to a good week. I played really well at the beginning of the year, then I took some time to get healthy again after and I hope the fans will see that I am back to my best at this season ending event. The fact that this event is tri sanctioned with the other tours means that everyone playing this week is really excited to be a part of this fantastic tournament”

Yoktuan, 25, has spent her 2019 season competing on the LPGA Tour in the US, and has really found her feet in her rookie season compiling a list of solid finishes over the past three months which include a 5th place finish at the Marathon Championship, 29th at the AIG Women’s British Open and a tie for 44th at the Evian Championship.
The Thai player is the highest ranked player from the Rolex Womens World rankings competing this week and her recent form and her ranking of 186 would suggest she is the player to beat over the testing Panya Indra layout.

Of the ALPG players competing this week, Kiwis Hanee Song and Munchin Keh look to have the best chance of contending, while Bree Gill, Tahnia Ravnjak, Chizuru Ueda and Paige Stubbs are all hoping to get their ALPG Tour season started with a strong performance this week.

Other players to watch this week are Chinese stars Zhang Weiwei and Mohan Du, and Thai players Arpichaya Yubol and Chonlada Chayanun, who is hoping to wrap up the 2019 Thai LPGA Order of Merit with a good performance this week.

The “TRUST GOLF THAILAND LPGA MASTERS 2019” will see 120 participants from over 16 nations competing for prizemoney of 4 Million Thai Baht (approximately AUD$193,000) prize money on offer, with the first prize of 600,000 Thai Baht (approximately AUD$29,000)
There will be 44 players from the China LPGA, 20 from ALPG, 19 sponsor invitations and 35 from theThaiLPGA which will include two of Thailand’s leading amateur players.

The tournament will be played over 54 holes from 4th – 6th September at the prestigious Panya Indra Golf Club, just outside of Bangkok, with a cut after 36 holes to the leading 50 players including ties.

Broadcast of 2 final rounds on True Vision Digital Television, True Sport HD 3 :
September 5 – 13.30 to 16.30 local time
September 6 – 11.30 to 14.30 local time

Tickets for the tournament can be purchased onsite at Panya Indra Golf Club, the price is THB 500 per person for all 3 tournament days.
Other updates can be found in www.thailpga.com or Facebook page “THAI LPGA Official Fanpage” (facebook.com/thailpgafanpage)

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