Thais boost Aboitiz cast

WISUT Artjanawat is a marked man in Aboitiz Invitational tournament.

Namchok Tantipokhakul and Wisut Artjanawat, winners of two of the first three legs of the third Philippine Golf Tour Asia, set out for another shot at the PGTA crown as spearheads of a crack Thailand side all primed up for the ninth Aboitiz Invitational which gets going Wednesday at Wack Wack’s East course.

Ratchapol Jantavara and Tawan Phongphun, who finished 1-2 in this year’s PGTA Qualifying Tournament at Luisita, are also in the fold, raring to join the growing roster of Thai winners in the region’s emerging circuit put up by ICTSI in 2017 as platform for local and foreign pros to hone their skills and at the same time to compliment with the existing regional circuits.

Other Thais aiming for top finish in the $100,000 championship organized by Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. are Pasavee Lertvilai, Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Kammalas Namuangruk, Donlapatchai Niyomchon, Natthapong Niyomchon, Tawit Polthai, Puk Pradittan, Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, Nirun Sae-Ueng and Pachara Sakulyong.

But Tantipokhakul and Artjanawat will surely be the marked men in the four-day championship with the former seeking a follow-up to his one-stroke victory of Finland’s Teemu Putkonen in the kickoff leg at Luisita last April and the latter snapping a long title drought with a record win at Daan TPGA Open last May, the first PGT Asia event to be staged abroad.