Published on January 11, 2017

Bangkok, Thailand: Free from injury, in-form Malaysian Ben Leong is among 223 hopefuls vying for playing rights at this week’s Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage.
The Suvarnabhumi Golf and Country Club is the venue for the final stage of qualifying which will be played over four rounds.
After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the leading 80 players and ties. They will then play a further two rounds. At the conclusion of 72 holes, the leading 35 players and ties will be ranked accordingly for the 2017 Asian Tour season.
Players from 30 countries are teeing-up at the Suvarnabhumi Golf and Country Club, including representatives from as far afield as Venezuela, Poland, Colombia and the United States.
Joining Leong among the notable entrants are Australian Richard Green, England’s Steve Lewton, Indian C. Muniyappa.
Together with former Tour winners that include Australians Rick Kulacz and David Gleeson, India’s Himmat Rai as well as Thais Arnond Vongvanij, Udorn Duangdecha and Chawalit Plaphol, this year’s Asian Tour Qualifying School Final Stage will present one of the toughest tests to aspiring professionals seeking their playing rights on the Asian Tour for 2017.
Leong is coming into the week on the back of a rich vein of form, having won five consecutive events on the domestic circuit while Green is looking for a return to competitive golf at the highest level after missing out on his playing rights in Europe by the slimmest of margins last season.
Leong said: “I’ve won on the Asian Tour before but then I got injured and stopped playing for a couple of years. I did my rehab, got back to playing on the local circuit for the last three years and it has been good so far.
“It’s nice to be able to win five times in a row on the local circuit. For this week, whoever putts well will earn their Tour card. The fairways are pretty wide and you have got to play your wedge shots really well too.”