Prom Meesawat is keen to follow his Thai compatriot Thongchai Jaidee in forging a successful career on The European Tour and thinks the European Challenge Tour is proving to be an invaluable learning experience, as he plays this week's AEGAEN Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort on the back of a runner-up finish in Scotland last week.
The 30 year old arrives at Hartl Resort's Beckenbauer Course on the back of a best Challenge Tour finish in the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts, where he only missed out on the fourth hole of a play-off to Jack Senior.
In previous years, Meesawat has played predominantly on the Asian Tour, enjoying exemptions in some European Tour co-sanctioned events, but this season he has joined the Challenge Tour in a bid to improve his game on European courses after a third-place finish in the Volvo China Open went a long way in securing his European Tour status for 2016.
Meesawat credits Jaidee’s success in Europe with helping to inspire other Asian golfers to follow the same dream.
“Thongchai is one of the heroes for Asian players and I’m looking forward to following in his footsteps,” he said.
I'm playing great, and this is another good experience for me to out here playing in Europe
“He’s been playing really well for the last two years and especially this year, and he’s been in the top 15 in The Race to Dubai for the last two years.
“I had a good finish last week and my form right now is good. I’m playing great, and this is another good experience for me to be out here playing in Europe.
“I’m feeling quite confident, but every course I go I just try my best to win the tournament. Everyone has a chance but once you get into contention you really want to be the winner.”
Victory in Germany would make Meesawat the first Thai winner of a Challenge Tour event, though he insists this season is primarily a learning curve for him as he adapts to European conditions.
“It has been a bit difficult playing on the Challenge Tour,” he said. “The courses compared with Asia are a lot different, but it’s good for me to prepare for next season and playing on the main tour.
“It’s good to be out here on the Challenge Tour to get used to the greens and the type of grass. In Asia, it’s a lot grainier and when I played a season over here in 2013 I found it very difficult to read them.
“This is a good chance to just play a lot more this year and get ready for next season on the main tour.”
