Bae Sang-moon is looking forward to his Masters debut in 2012. Picture by Getty Images.
Singapore (December 25): Bae Sang-moon’s meteoric rise in 2011 will be rewarded with a debut appearance in next year’s Masters Tournament. Based on a series of outstanding performances over the course of the past 12 months, the runaway winner of the Japan Golf Tour Organisation (JGTO) Money List will finish the year in 30th place in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) .
With the top-50 in the standings as of the end of December guaranteed a starting place at Augusta National, the 25-year-old will join fellow-Koreans Choi Kyung-ju, Kim Kyung-tae and Yang Yong-eun in April’s Masters.
It will be the first time that Korea will have had a quartet of players in the starting line-up at what is traditionally the first Major championship of each year.
Following his exploits in 2011, it’s unlikely that Bae will be overawed, especially considering that he’ll already be in America having recently secured full playing rights on the 2012 US PGA Tour.
With Choi and Yang now into their 40s, it will be the likes of Kim, Bae and Noh Seung-yul who are likely to spearhead the Asian challenge at the game’s highest level for the next decade.
Although Noh will begin 2012 in 107th place in the OWGR, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that he also will secure a spot at Augusta. Like Bae, he played with authority at last month’s US PGA Tour Qualifying School and is now preparing to showcase his talent in America. He can earn a place in the Masters by winning a PGA Tour event before the Masters (except tournaments held opposite World Golf Championships), or by getting into the top-50 in the world ranking published the week before the Masters.
Also currently on the outside looking in is Ryo Ishikawa. Agonisingly, the Japanese star, who has played at the Masters for the past two years, will end 2011 in 51st position in the OWGR.
No fewer than five other Japanese players – Toru Taniguchi (61), Hiroyuki Fujita (68), Yuta Ikeda (75), Koumei Oda (81) and Tetsuji Hiratsuka (88) – are also in need of exceptional early-season performances if they’re to tee-up at Augusta.
Currently, only one Japanese player is guaranteed to compete in the 2012 Masters – amateur sensation Hideki Matsuyama. Matsuyama made the cut last year and had the distinction of finishing as the leading amateur, the first Japanese to achieve the feat. By successfully defending his title at the Asian Amateur Championship in 2011 he confirmed his return ticket.
He went on to underline his potential by winning a JGTO event, an effort that helped him finish 2011 in 201st place in the OWGR.
In the final OWGR standings for 2011 there are 10 Asians in the top-10 – four Koreans and six Japanese. A further 23 Asians are ranked between 100 and 200 – nine Japanese, six Koreans, five Thais, 2011 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines (156), Bangladeshi Siddikur Rahman (157) and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh (187).
Among those who have fallen out of the top-200 are China’s Liang Wen-chong, who will begin the New Year languishing in 251st place.
OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKING
(Leading Asian Standings – world ranking in brackets)
1, Choi Kyung-ju (KOR, 15)
2, Kim Kyung-tae (KOR, 25)
3, Bae Sang-moon (KOR, 30)
4, Yang Yong-eun (KOR, 45)
5, Ryo Ishikawa (JPN, 51)
6, Toru Taniguchi (JPN, 61)
7, Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN, 68)
8, Yuta Ikeda (JPN, 75)
9, Koumei Oda (JPN, 81)
10, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (JPN, 88)
11, Noh Seung-yul (KOR, 107); 12, Shingo Katayama (JPN, 112); 13, Toshinori Muto (JPN, 113); 14, Tomohiro Kondo (JPN, 114); 15, Michio Matsumura (JPN, 122); 16, Tadahiro Takayama (JPN, 134); 17, Kenichi Kuboya (JPN, 145); 18, Kim Do-hoon (KOR, 149); 19, Thongchai Jaidee (THA, 150); 20, Charlie Wi (KOR, 153); 21, Juvic Pagunsan (PHI, 156); 22, Siddikur Rahman (BAN, 157); 23, Kang Sung-hoon (KOR, 159); 24, Cho Min-gyu (KOR, 169); 25, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA, 176); 26, Chawalit Plaphol (THA, 178); 27, Lee Dong-hwan (KOR, 181); 28, Thaworn Wiratchant (THA, 186); 29, Jeev Milkha Singh (IND, 187); 30, Koichiro Kawano (JPN, 189); 31, Prayad Marksaeng (THA, 192); 32, Daisuke Maruyama (JPN, 194); 33, Shunsuke Sonoda (JPN, 199)
