Jakarta: There is plenty at stake at this week’s $1.5 million BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE, the final Asian Tour professional event of the season, with some big names in the star-studded field gunning for the coveted Asian Tour Order of Merit crown and inaugural International Series Order of Merit title as well as individual glory.
With a winner’s purse of $270,000 up for grabs, the entire top ten of the International Series Order of Merit are all still in with a shout of securing the top spot and a golden ticket to play on the 14-tournament LIV Golf League next season. The top 11 could also theoretically all claim the Asian Tour Order of Merit crown.
The winners of the six International Series events on this season’s schedule are all in action in Indonesia, and all will be gunning for the win that will confirm the Order of Merit title.
They won’t have it easy, in a star-studded file that also contains Major winners Ernie Els and Graeme McDowell, as well as three-time winner Lee Westwood and former winners Bernd Wiesberger, Anirban Lahiri, and Jazz Janewattananond.
Scott Vincent is in pole position as the current OOM leader. Looking ahead to the final two rounds of BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE, the International Series England winner said: “I’m really not focusing too much on winning. This week, there is a lot at stake but that’s not my focus because I cannot control any of that. What I can control is my effort and my heart so those are the two things I’m working on this week.”
Sihwan Kim is top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit but is one behind Zimbabwean Vincent in the International Series rankings. The American, winner of the International Series Thailand, the first event of the season, added: “[The title] was my first professional win so it was big and the fact that it got me into LIV, it was a huge deal for me.
“Winning any OOM is big and it means you played well for pretty much the whole season.”
Janewattananond of Thailand, winner in Morocco last month, knows all about victory in Jakarta having won here in 2019. He looked back on his recent win and said: “To wait that long to win my first International Series title in Morocco, I’m proud of myself and what I’ve accomplished.”
Speaking about The International Series, he added: “It has been great for every Asian Tour player. It’s a big opportunity and it’s a pathway to something bigger.”
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, who is currently ranked third in the International Series OOM, picked up his second win of the year when he claimed the International Series Singapore title in August, while South Korean Taehoon OK secured an emotional victory on home soil in Jeju Island and showed some fine form in a T5 finish in Morocco last month.
Andy Ogletree is the form horse coming into the tournament, having cruised to a first ever professional win at the International Series Egypt in Cairo last time out and is looking to end his season in style by claiming this week’s BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE title.
