South Africa’s Justin Harding is looking to pick up the winning momentum again at the 34th Shinhan Donghae Open which tees off on Thursday.
The 32-year-old was in the form of his life earlier this year when he won two titles in his first two starts on the Asian Tour. Now, he wants to put the euphoria behind him and focus on playing well at the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club.
Placed 13th on the current Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings, Harding is aiming to break into the top-10 with nearly US$1-million on offer this week.
Harding is in the running to qualify for the upcoming lucrative events in Malaysia and China where he needs to break into top-10 and top-four respectively on the Merit rankings before the cut-off date on October 7.
‘It was a great experience (playing at the PGA Championship) being involved in an event of that stature and playing my way into it over the recent months has been really rewarding,’ he said.
‘That run has finished, and now I’m looking to start on another one.
‘I’m going to be visiting a lot of places now that I’m on the Asian Tour. Before coming to Korea, I’ve only competed in this part of the world in 2008 in Japan. I’m enjoying it so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of this week.
‘I’m aiming to play three solid rounds of golf and see where that can lead to. I’ve got to make some money and move up the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings so that I can qualify for the some of the big events on the schedule. That’s the number one goal at the moment.’
Harding is the highest-ranked Asian Tour player in the field this week.
