Thomas Pieters may not have won the True Thailand Classic Presented by Chang but it was very much a case of mission accomplished at Black Mountain Golf Club as he climbed off his sickbed to seal a place in the WGC-Dell Match Play.
The big-hitting Belgian mounted a remarkable comeback in Hua Hin after bogeying two of his first three holes in an opening 73 that left him needing to make up three shots just to make the cut on Friday.
He did that in some style with a second round 66 and carried that momentum into the weekend with rounds of 66-68 taking him to 15 under and a third place finish.
That was enough to earn him a place in the field at Austin Country Club in two weeks' time and the 24 year old, who claimed back-to-back wins at the D+D REAL Czech Masters and KLM Open last summer, was happy with his performance in Thailand.
"If you had told me at the beginning of the week that I would have finished third here then I would have taken it because I was very sick at the start of the week," he said.
"It's a good result and I can take some positives into next week. I also put a new putter in play this week and it kind of behaved itself, so there are a lot of positives.
I came here to try to get into the Match Play and I have taken care of that so I can take confidence from the fact that I came here to achieve that and I have managed to do it - Thomas Pieters
Another player taking confidence from the week is Piya Swangarunporn, who finished with a course record 63 to catapult himself into second place behind winner Scott Hend.
The Thai came into the week at 798th in the Official World Golf Ranking and is hoping this can now be a springboard for his career.
"Today was one of the best rounds I have ever played. Everything about the game was good and it all came together for me," he said.
"It is a big day for my career and I hope to play more big tournaments like this one in the future because this week has given me a lot of confidence."
