MANILA, Philippines – Lloyd Go mounts a lonely battle in faraway Saudi Arabia in pursuit of a breakthrough win and a boost to his Asian Development Tour ranking as the Saudi Open unfolds at the Riyadh Golf Club Thursday.
Go is actually at No. 5 in the current ADT Order of Merit ranking with two runner-up feats, a couple of third place efforts and two more sixth place finishes with the rising Cebuano star confident of finally pulling it through with two tournaments left on the 2022 ADT calendar.
But to contend for the crown this week, Go needs to start out strong, the $200,000 event being a 54-hole championship with a slew of aces also eager and ready for a scorching round at the wind-raked desert course offering a different kind of challenge for the men of the tour.
Heading the cast are tournament winners Shahriffuddin Ariffin of Malaysia, Thais Suteepat Prateeptienchai, Chonlatit Chuenboonngam, Sarun Sirithon and Varanyu Rattanaphiboonkij, Harrison Gilbert of Australia, American Dodge Kemmer, Swede Oscar Zetterwall, Japanese Shinichi Mizuno and Mathiam Keyser of South Africa.
Go, who missed nailing his first win on the Philippine Golf Tour at Eagle Ridge-Aoki last July, is also set to see action in the ADT final leg in the Taifong Open on Dec. 22-25 in Chinese Taipei.
Go, who lost in sudden death to Chinese Chen Guxin in the BRG Open in Vietnam last September, drew an 11:25 a.m. tee start with Ariffin and Prateeptienchai, winners of the Combiphar Players Championship in Indonesia and the Selangor Masters in Malaysia, respectively, last month.
The top 10 in the ADT OOM will earn their cards for the Asian Tour next year, thus virtually netting the Cebuano shotmaker, who also had stints on the China and Canada tours, a spot in the region’s premier circuit in the coming season.