Thaworn Wiratchant

Thaworn Wiratchant
ถาวร วิรัตน์จันทร์
Personal information
Born (1966-12-28) 28 December 1966
Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight150 lb (68 kg; 11 st)
Sporting nationality Thailand
ResidenceBangkok, Thailand
Career
Turned professional1987
Current tour(s)European Senior Tour
Japan PGA Senior Tour
Former tour(s)European Tour
Asian Tour
OneAsia Tour
All Thailand Golf Tour
ASEAN PGA Tour
Professional wins36
Highest ranking68 (6 January 2013)[1]
Number of wins by tour
European Tour1
Asian Tour18 (1st all-time)
European Senior Tour2
Other16
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2013
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT31: 2006
Achievements and awards
Asian Tour
Order of Merit winner
2005, 2012
Asian Tour
Players' Player of the Year
2005, 2012
Japan PGA Senior Tour
Order of Merit winner
2019

Thaworn Wiratchant (born 28 December 1966) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour where he holds the record for most victories, with 18 total wins.

Professional career

Wiratchant's biggest win came in March 2005 when he won the Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open. This event was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the European Tour, meaning that Wiratchant became the second Thai after Thongchai Jaidee to win on the European Tour. He topped the Asian Tour money list in 2005, becoming the first player to win more than half a million U.S. dollars on that tour in a season. He also recorded what would have been the lowest aggregate score on the European Tour with a total of 255 strokes. However, this record is not considered official as preferred lies were in operation throughout the week.[2]

Wiratchant won the Asian Tour money list again in 2012 after a solid season with three victories, including a playoff win over Scot Richie Ramsay at the Hero Indian Open.[3]

Senior career

Wiratchant played in a number of events on the European Senior Tour in 2017, receiving an exemption for players aged exactly 50 who had previously won a European Tour event. In his second event on the tour, the WINSTONgolf Senior Open, he finished runner-up behind Phillip Price. He gained entry to the end-of-season MCB Tour Championship by being 23rd in the Order of Merit. Rounds of 66-65-62 gave him an eight strokes win over Mark McNulty.[4] The win lifted him to 9th place on the end of season Order of Merit.

Amateur wins

  • 1987 Singapore Open Amateur Championship

Professional wins (36)

European Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 27 Mar 2005 Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open1 −25 (63-63-66-63=255) 5 strokes Raphaël Jacquelin

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

Asian Tour wins (18)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 17 Mar 1996 Sabah Masters −6 (72-71-70-69=282) 2 strokes Lin Chih-chen, Jeff Wagner
2 25 Jun 2001 Alcatel Singapore Open −16 (68-69-68-67=272) 1 stroke Hsieh Yu-shu
3 13 Aug 2001 Volvo Masters of Malaysia −17 (69-67-67-68=271) 3 strokes Scott Kammann
4 19 Sep 2004 Mercuries Taiwan Masters −5 (69-69-71-74=283) 2 strokes Chen Yuan-chi, Chris Williams
5 27 Mar 2005 Enjoy Jakarta Standard Chartered Indonesia Open1 −25 (63-63-66-63=255) 5 strokes Raphaël Jacquelin
6 18 Sep 2005 Taiwan Open −18 (73-65-68-64=270) 1 stroke Chapchai Nirat
7 30 Oct 2005 Hero Honda Indian Open −16 (68-66-68-70=272) 2 strokes Gaurav Ghei
8 20 Nov 2005 Carlsberg Masters Vietnam −7 (72-66-72-71=281) 2 strokes Chris Rodgers
9 16 Sep 2007 Midea China Classic −21 (65-63-68-67=263) Playoff Chinnarat Phadungsil, Simon Yates
10 8 Jun 2008 Bangkok Airways Open −13 (66-69-68-68=271) 3 strokes Shintaro Kai
11 13 Sep 2009 Macau Open −15 (67-68-66-68=269) 6 strokes Gaganjeet Bhullar
12 19 Sep 2010 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship −10 (69-67-70=206)* 1 stroke Chinnarat Phadungsil
13 17 Jun 2012 Queen's Cup −7 (70-67-72-68=277) 3 strokes Juvic Pagunsan, Siddikur Rahman
14 8 Sep 2012 Worldwide Holdings Selangor Masters −16 (66-69-68-69=272) 3 strokes Gaganjeet Bhullar
15 21 Oct 2012 Hero Indian Open (2) −14 (69-68-67-66=270) Playoff Richie Ramsay
16 15 Sep 2013 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship (2) −13 (69-67-71-68=275) 1 stroke Chan Kim
17 8 Jun 2014 Queen's Cup (2) −12 (71-68-67-66=272) 1 stroke Poom Saksansin
18 30 Nov 2014 King's Cup −20 (68-67-66-67=268) 2 strokes Andrew Dodt, Anirban Lahiri

*Note: The 2010 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship was shortened to 54 holes due to weather.
1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (2–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2007 Midea China Classic Chinnarat Phadungsil, Simon Yates Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Yates eliminated by par on first hole
2 2012 Hero Indian Open Richie Ramsay Won with bogey on first extra hole
3 2015 Ho Tram Open Sergio García, Lin Wen-tang,
Himmat Rai
García won with par on second extra hole
Lin and Wiratchant eliminated by birdie on first hole

OneAsia Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runners-up
1 17 Jul 2011 Indonesia Open −13 (68-68-66-73=275) 1 stroke Choi Jin-ho, Michael Hendry,
Rory Hie

All Thailand Golf Tour wins (8)

  • 2001 TPC Championships
  • 2003 Singha Pattaya Open
  • 2004 Singha Pattaya Open
  • 2007 Singha Masters
  • 2010 Singha E-San Open1
  • 2014 Singha All Thailand Championship
  • 2015 Singha E-San Open1
  • 2020 Thongchai Jaidee Foundation

1Co-sanctioned by the ASEAN PGA Tour

ASEAN PGA Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 12 Jun 2009 Heritage Melaka Classic −12 (69-69-70-68=276) 1 stroke Lam Chih Bing
2 18 Jul 2010 Singha E-San Open1 −12 (71-69-68-68=276) Playoff Namchok Tantipokhakul
3 6 May 2012 Luang Prabang Laos Open −21 (69-63-68-67=267) 8 strokes Jay Bayron
4 1 Mar 2015 Singha E-San Open1 (2) −18 (67-68-66-69=270) 4 strokes Piya Sawangarunporn, Namchok Tantipokhakul,
Rattanon Wannasrichan

1Co-sanctioned by the All Thailand Golf Tour

Omega China Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner-up
1 21 Jun 2009 Dongfeng Nissan Teana Golf Open −20 (70-68-63-67=268) 1 stroke Eom Jae-woong

European Senior Tour wins (2)

Legend
Tour Championships (1)
Other European Senior Tour (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 10 Dec 2017 MCB Tour Championship −23 (66-65-62=193) 8 strokes Mark McNulty
2 10 Mar 2018 Sharjah Senior Golf Masters −12 (68-65-71=204) Playoff Clark Dennis, Peter Fowler

European Senior Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponents Result
1 2018 Sharjah Senior Golf Masters Clark Dennis, Peter Fowler Won with par on fourth extra hole
Fowler eliminated by par on first hole

Japan PGA Senior Tour wins (4)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 15 Sep 2018 Sevenhills Cup KBC Senior Open −15 (65-64=129) 3 strokes Katsumi Kubo, Prayad Marksaeng
2 14 Sep 2019 Komatsu Open −14 (69-68-65=202) Playoff Prayad Marksaeng
3 9 Nov 2019 Fujifilm Senior Championship −16 (68-64-68=200) 6 strokes Toru Suzuki
4 5 Jun 2021 Sumaiida Cup Senior Tournament −13 (64-69-70=203) 2 strokes Prayad Marksaeng

Results in major championships

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Masters Tournament CUT
The Open Championship T31 CUT

Note: Wiratchant never played in the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship.

  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Match Play
Championship T54
Invitational
Champions T60 T39 T53
  Did not play

"T" = Tied
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ "Week 1 2013 Ending 6 Jan 2013" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Wiratchant Enjoys Winning Feeling in Jakarta". European Tour. 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Thaworn wins Indian Open in final-round drama". Bangkok Post. AFP. 22 October 2012. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  4. ^ "Wiratchant wins maiden title after Mauritian masterclass". European Senior Tour. December 10, 2017. Archived from the original on December 17, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  5. ^ "Asia-Pacific golfers take big lead over China". AFP. Bangkok Post. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.