Kuala Lumpur: Thongchai Jaidee will play in his 200th Asian Tour event at his favourite hunting ground when the US$3 million Maybank Championship starts today.
The Thai veteran will fittingly mark a new milestone in his career at the Saujana Golf and Country Club where he won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005 for the first two of his eight European Tour wins.
The 48-year-old Thongchai admits that he is preparing for the senior tour where he is eligible to play on at 50. The former solider is still committed and passionate about the game but will juggle between playing on the professional tours and overseeing the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation.
He also has plans to build an international school in Lop Buri, his home town.
A return to Malaysia always brings out the best in Thongchai.
He will contend for the title at the tournament co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour against a stellar line-up which includes in-form Li Haotong of China, major champions Henrik Stenson and Danny Willett, and Thai Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
"It feels great to play in my 200th Asian Tour event this week. I never count how many events I play so to find out about this is simply amazing. I feel very good especially when it is at Saujana and in Malaysia," world No.217 Thongchai said.
"I struggled with my putting and I didn't perform well in 2017. My rankings took a huge dip. I want to forget about 2017 and focus on my game this year. Honestly, my target is the seniors' tour. I'm 48 this year so I have two more years before joining the senior ranks.
"Golf is my life and I love to play golf. I turned professional late but when I look back at my career, it looks great. The young boys in golf now are so good. They have proper training and equipment. That has made them so successful so early in their career."
Li, who was part of Team Asia in the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia three weeks ago, is full of confidence heading into the Maybank Championship after his spectacular victory in Dubai last week where he defeated four-time major champion Rory McIlroy.
The win propelled the 22-year-old to 32nd place in the world ranking and became the first Chinese golfer to break into the top 50 in the world.
Poom the 'Assassin'
Thailand's Poom Saksansin had a chance to say 'thank you' to Henrik Stenson of Sweden at the Maybank Championship after receiving a memorable gift from the major champion earlier this month.
Poom met his golf idol Stenson at the EurAsia Cup and together with his teammate Kang Sung-Hoon, they caused one of the biggest upsets of the week by defeating the Swede and Alexander Levy 5 and 4 in the opening fourball match.
Team Europe eventually won the showdown but Poom emerged as one of the standout performers where he also defeated Paul Casey of England in the singles match.
Despite his heroics in the tournament, Poom was still too shy to ask for an autograph and photo but Stenson was gracious to sign a shirt with the words "To Poom, thanks for kicking my @$$".
"We need to rename him assassin instead of Saksansin!" said Stenson. "Alex and I got a heavy beating there and deserved it.
"He is a good player and they played fantastic the first round. They beat us fair and square,"
Poom said: "I received this Henrik Stenson autographed shirt from [Team Asia captain] Arjun Atwal in Singapore. I wanted to get it from Henrik at the EurAsia Cup but Arjun told me to beat him first and I did it. After that I was too shy to ask it from him.
"I'm so happy Arjun helped me to get this autographed t-shirt. Henrik is my idol because he looks so cool and never smiles. I like him a lot because he is world class and he signed this shirt."
