Chapchai is confident ahead of S'pore Open

Chapchai Nirat is confident he will not buckle under pressure a second time at this month's star-studded Barclays Singapore Open.

Chapchai took a three shot lead into the final day at Sentosa Golf Club last year but being paired with three-time Major winner Phil Mickelson in the final group resulted in a nervy 18 holes and he shot a 78 for tied seventh spot.

The burly Thai, nicknamed "King Kong" by his fellow pros, learned a lot from that traumatic day and believes he will cope better in a similar scenario at the US$5 million tournament from October 29-November 1.
"Last year, I was leading going into the final round but I didn't perform on Sunday. I got a bit nervous (playing with Phil Mickelson) and didn't play my usual golf. I think I got too quick with my game," he said.

"If I have a chance to contend again this year, I'll know what to do. I've learned from last year's experience."
World number two Mickelson, who finished ninth last year, will be back for another crack at the title along with fellow Major winners Padraig Harrington of Ireland and South Africa's Ernie Els, joint runners-up behind India's Jeev Milkha Singh last year.

The Serapong Course has brought several great champions to their knees in past Barclays Singapore Opens but Chapchai has had a love affair with the links since 2005 when he announced his arrival on the international golf scene by grabbing a share of the first round lead before settling for tied 11th place.

"I always enjoy playing at Sentosa Golf Club. It's a challenging golf course and you need to be on top of your game to shoot a good round there," said Chaphai.

"I somehow seem to play some good golf in the tournament and I'm looking forward to it again."

Chapchai, second on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit in 2007 behind China's Liang Wen-chong, produced good early season form and wrote his name into the record books with a 32-under-par winning total in the SAIL Open in India.

He triumphed by an astonishing 11 shots and his overall score was heralded as a world record low total. The big-hitter has struggled with his game in recent months but feels that he is peaking again in time for the Barclays Singapore Open.

"I've not played really well the past few months especially with my driver. There is no consistency with the driver and I've been struggling with it," said the three-time winner on the Asian Tour.
"There have been signs that it is getting better and I'm working hard at it to get better."

Fellow Thai Prayad Marksaeng has not enjoyed the same affinity with Sentosa as Chapchai but knows exactly how to play the course after gaining valuable experience in three Majors and three World Golf Championships events this season.

"The difficulty is the rough - on some holes it is really thick," said Prayad, who finished 22nd last year. "If you miss the fairway, you cannot recover.

"The set up is more difficult than the Masters and the US PGA Championship. It is like the US Open (set up). I have played all those events this year and hopefully I can handle the conditions at Sentosa better."
Prayad has targeted a top-10 finish to push him closer to the leading 60 in the European Tour's Race to Dubai and a place in the end-of-season Dubai World Championship.

"If I can play well on the first two days I have a chance to be in the top 10," said Prayad, who has won six titles on the Asian Tour. "I want to improve my Asian Tour Order of Merit ranking (currently seventh) and also make it into the top 60 on the Race to Dubai."

He added that the Barclays Singapore Open, which is being co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and European Tour for the first time, was the talk of world golf.
"When I played in the Mercedes-Benz Championship (on the European Tour) all the players were saying ‘see you in Singapore'," he said. "There will be a really strong field this year."